Out and About in Fort Wayne, Part II

After touring the very nice F&F Conservatory,
I headed north through the cool drizzle a few
blocks towards the historic courthouse.

Before we embark on our trips
I like to research.
I do a lot of research.

So I researched places that I could
tour that were within walking
distance of our downtown hotel in Fort Wayne.

One seemingly promising place was
the Allen County Courthouse.

I even printed out the
walking tour of the Allen County Courthouse PDF
so I could take the self-guided tour.
I thought I was prepared.

But first, I was distracted by a most singular sight.

I would not like to have this job.

Not at all.

And not a safety net in sight.

This is a large building.

It is built in the beaux arts style.

If you say so.

I wouldn't know.

This is as far as I got.

You see,
there were signs proclaiming that cell phones were prohibited
unless a judge had given you permission to have them.

I went in anyway.

And then the very nice security guard informed me
that cameras were also prohibited.

So I would have to take both outside.

Except that I had walked several blocks from the hotel.

I have asthma and go nowhere without my cell phone for
emergency reasons.

I was also a tourist,
so I had a camera.

The very nice guard told me that cell phones
were banned because they had had problems with
people recording the judges' comments in court.

Silly me, but aren't judges' comments
a matter of public record once they speak in court?

At any rate, I wasn't there to go into a court room,
or to see or to listen to people.

I was there for the architecture
and only for the architecture.

As far as I am concerned,
I was invited by the fine people of Allen County
to tour their beautiful architectural gem
and I was let down by their judicial system.

And that is just too bad.

I did ask the very nice security guard if I was allowed
to take pictures of the outside of the building.

One never knows in this day and age.

He said I could take as many pictures as I liked.

But only of the outside of the building.

Pfft.

A stature of Mad Anthony Wayne,
for whom Fort Wayne is named,
is in the park catty-cornered from the courthouse.

I decided to head back south.

I had had enough of the plebian attitudes by this time.

We were not amused.

At this point I still hadn't decided on my lunch destination.




I see Cindy's Diner across the street.
Now I've made my decision.

I had heard of this place the last time we were here.

Cindy's Diner proudly proclaims that
"We serve the whole world, 15 at a time."

Hint: Cindy's Diner only seats 15 people at a time.
Get it? Good.

Honestly, I think the menu could be tightened up a bit.

The inside certainly is tightened up.

It looks like the locals have their own mugs.

In fact, most of the diners with me were regulars.

This is "command central."

I ordered the cheeseburger platter with french fries
and cole slaw and pickles and onion on the cheeseburger.

The regular next to me was startled to learn that they had platters,
by the way.

Do not go to Cindy's if you are expecting home-made foods.
Everything here is pre-made, from packets and from boxes.

However, it does come from love.

That much was evident from my brief visit.
From the kisses exchanged
and the toddler running around behind the already
cramped counter, this is a very friendly place.

You don't go here for the food,
you go here for the people.

My last stop for the day was the Fort Wayne Firefighters Museum.

They had an iron lung on display because this station
was one of the places that stored the units back
when they were needed.

This part of the station originally housed the horses.

Looking up into the old bell tower.

In the alarm room.

This display speaks about the tragedy of the Aveline Hotel fire.

This House of Hazards was used in the 1950s and 1960s
to teach about fire hazards around the house.

With the use of electricity and flash paper,
the demonstrator could ignite a flash fire anywhere
in the house to show how fires can start through carelessness.

This house was in storage for many years and
was recently restored by firefighter Pat Riley.

Firefighter paraphernalia through the years.

Scenes of more fires in Fort Wayne.

A Fire Safety Room was set up.

"Smoke detectors should be mounted away from stoves to keep from having false alarms."

Gee, I wish the contractor that built our last house
had heeded that council.

I can't tell you how many times we had to fan the
smoke detector simply because it was installed
four feet away from the stove.

"Keep a lid close to all pots on the stove.

In case of fire, use the lid to smother the the fire."

"Never leave rags or towels on the stove. Someone might turn on the stove and then you have a fire."

Always use GFI outlets near water."

"Keep electrical appliances away from water.
Electrical shock may occur."

"Never overload outlets. Too many plugs are a fire hazard."

"If your bedroom is on the second floor,
you should have an escape ladder close to the window."

"Never leave matches or lighters lying around
for children to reach."


"Always have a fresh battery in your smoke detector."

"Never leave candles burning unattended.
They may start a fire."

"Never smoke in bed.
An unattended cigarette can cause a fire."

"Frayed electrical cords should be replace [sic].
They can cause a fire."

This was a nice museum and I enjoyed it immensely.

Thank a firefighter today.