Things To Do In Kissimmee, FL

Downtown The Villages, FL: If you haven’t visited Terre Haute for a while, the recent transformation of the downtown area may bowl you over. Threaded by Wabash Avenue, this central commercial district tells a familiar story of neglect and decline, starting in the mid-1960s, followed by a startling resuscitation in the 21st century. Befitting the label, Crossroads of America, there’s still a lot of stunning historic architecture to marvel at, from august brick industrial complexes to the French Second Empire lines of the Vigo County Courthouse (1888), with its dainty mansard roof. Concentrated into a few blocks along Wabash Avenue, Cherry Street and Poplar Street are more than 20 independent eateries, a cluster of museums, two galleries, more than 10 bars and live music venues and a smattering of specialty stores.

Swope Art Museum: One of the grandest buildings greeting you downtown is the Swope Block on 7th and Ohio Street, constructed in an Italian Renaissance Revival in 1901. The namesake, Michael Sheldon Swope (1843–1929) was an entrepreneurial jeweler and Civil War veteran who resided in Terre Haute for much of his life. His bequest led to the foundation of a first-class museum in the Swope Block, eventually opening in 1942 and continuing to offer free public admission. The founding collection is rich, with pieces by the Hoosier Group of Impressionists, Grant Wood, Edward Hopper and Zoltan Sepeshy. Over the last 80 years the museum’s inventory has been augmented with modern and contemporary works by Alexander Calder, Warhol, Eva Hesse and Robert Indiana, as well as several established artists from the Terre Haute area. The annual Wabash Valley Exhibition is a showcase for art from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, while another yearly tradition is the Student Art Exhibition, running since 1967.

Terre Haute Children’s Museum: A renowned children’s museum located downtown on Wabash Avenue is full of engaging, interactive exhibits that help children learn and grow through play. The museum offers specialized attractions for several age groups and is geared for kids up to the age of twelve. The Toddler Zone and interactive areas like The Kitchen and Ag-Citing, where children may pretend to go grocery shopping and operate a tractor, are popular with toddlers and young children under the age of four. In contrast, Health Zone uses cutting-edge multimedia to teach older kids about how our bodies function, while Fiddling with Physics is an exciting, hands-on introduction to ideas like air pressure, electric circuits, and electromagnetism. A Fit Gym and an indoor ropes challenge course are also available; these amenities emphasize the value of leading active lives.

Vigo County Historical Museum: The third point of that triangle of museums downtown is the headquarters of the Vigo County Historical Society, in a beautiful four-level manufacturing building dating back to 1895. The society has been around since 1922, and has built up a huge collection of artifacts. These are presented in detailed exhibits devoted to topics like Transportation, Business & Industry, Haunted Legends and Historic Hauteans. One exhibit deals with a piece of local history that might catch you by surprise. Terre Haute is the birthplace of Coca-Cola’s iconic contour bottle, which was designed by the city’s Root Glass Company in 1915. Root was one of ten competing glass companies across the country, commissioned by the Coca-Cola Company to develop a distinctive bottle, and was chosen in 1916 as the clear winner.

Deming Park: Traveling east from downtown Terre Haute, the stately Ohio Boulevard concludes at this sprawling, 177-acre park. The Deming family were early settlers in the city, and owned a great deal of land around Terre Haute. That grand boulevard was built by the Demings, and they funded it by selling Deming Park to the city. The park is a wonderful space, with an arboretum, 18-hole disc golf course, playground, a public pool and a wealth of other facilities, for fishing, picnics, tennis and basketball. One special touch is the Spirit of Terre Haute, a miniature railway that runs on weekends, April through September and daily during the school summer break.