Valparaiso, a charming historic city located just south of the Indiana Dunes National Park, is more than popcorn and turkeys.

The downtown is a plethora of shops, art galleries and restaurants. Valparaiso University is recognized as a major educational center with a charming campus (though interestingly enough another serious food person Doris Christopher, founder of Pampered Chef, is a big donor to the school since her husband and daughter both graduated from there).

Art

Culture is a big part of Valparaiso's identity and the perfect place to first experience what the city has to offer is at the Brauer Museum of Art, which is part of the Center for the Arts on Valparaiso University's campus.

Boasting the largest known collection of works by Junius R. Sloan, one of the Hudson River School painters, the Brauer also features a well known collection of 19th and 20th century American art with works by Frederic Edwin Church, Asher B. Durand, Childe Hassam, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Ed Paschke, the famed Chicago artist. There are also permanent collections of both world religious art and Midwestern regional art.

Architecture