Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Spend your day exploring the 1,250 acres of The University of Notre Dame, home to approximately 12,000 students. Tour such heralded campus landmarks as the ornate Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the three-story Snite Museum of Art and the Main Building, adorned with the famed Golden Dome.
If you’re in South Bend during the fall, experience football fever on a grand scale by taking in a game at Notre Dame Stadium, home turf for the Fighting Irish. Built in 1930, the stadium seats more than 80,000 fans and fielded such legends as Joe Montana and Knute Rockne. Scrimmage games played during the spring draw large crowds to the stadium as well.
Make your way to the 23-acre Potawatomi Zoo, Indiana’s oldest, and visit its more than 400 animals, including African lions, white Bengal tigers and American flamingos. While the zoo hosts kid-friendly events such as Halloween trick-or-treating days, adults can attend evening wine and beer tasting parties. The zoo is open from March through November.
Stumble across wildlife, including deer and foxes, while hiking or biking through the 160-acre Rum Village Park. The on-site Rum Village Nature Center offers a spot for bird watching as the surrounding woodlands are teeming with a variety of birds. The center has exhibits for kids, including computerized nature games, bee hives and re-created animal burrows which children can crawl through.
Take in a Broadway show or major concert at the renowned Morris Performing Arts Center, an opulent 1921 theater dressed in red velvet curtains and with gold leaf accented ceilings. The theater is also home to three resident companies: Broadway Theatre League of South Bend, South Bend Symphony Orchestra and Southhold Dance Theate. You can also call to arrange a tour of the theater.
Car enthusiasts will enjoy a trip to The Studebaker National Museum, a three-story museum that celebrates the classic but defunct American car once produced in South Bend. The museum displays approximately 70 automobiles, including some models dating back to the 1800s, as well as archives with more than 400,000 drawings, photos and newspaper articles.
Sports fans looking for more than just football in South Bend can go to a minor league baseball game at Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium, home to the single-A South Bend Silver Hawks. The season runs from April through September and includes such promotional events as Friday Night Fireworks, baseball cap giveaways and Star Wars night.
Experience the great outdoors and adventure in the heart of downtown South Bend at the East Race Waterway, a 1,900-foot whitewater rafting course on the St. Joseph River. The course is open from June through August. Riders younger than 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.