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<\/a><\/p>\nThe restaurant at Pokagon\u2019s Potawatomi Inn is a fine place to eat; their Sunday brunch is decadence itself.\u00a0 Still, whenever I\u2019m in the area I try not to miss Clay\u2019s Family Restaurant (7815 N Old 27, Fremont) just a few miles north of the park, just south of the Michigan state line.\u00a0 Their food is just darned good and their pies are heavenly!\u00a0 Clay\u2019s IS, after all, the home of the annual Pie Day in June, when, for a fixed price, they offer unlimited samples of every pie they make. ( Following in My Foodstops: Pie in the Sky | Dancing with History, Wandering through Time, Embracing the Earth<\/a> )<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Steuben County is lovely to explore, what with its lakes, woods, small farms, and small towns.\u00a0 About ten miles west of Clay\u2019s on SR120 (a very old road, formerly the Vistula or Toledo Road) lies Orland, a small village, but it boasts the Fawn River State Fish Hatchery, constructed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration), listed in the National Register. \u00a0DNR: Fawn River State Fish Hatchery<\/a><\/p>\n Orland, originally known as Vermont Settlement, was the earliest settlement of European-Americans in the county (it and the settlement started in 1834); the area was formerly hunting ground of the Potawatomi tribe.\u00a0 Orland has a strong association with the pre-Civil War Underground Railroad. Indiana brags Underground Railroad houses like Virginia et al. boast \u201cWashington Slept Here,\u201d and just about as misinformed, but in this case it\u2019s true.\u00a0 Abolitionist Samuel Barry hid runaway slaves in his house, which still stands.\u00a0 DNR: Underground Railroad Sites: Orland<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0If you\u2019re in Orland Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday, check out the Joyce Library downtown.\u00a0 It\u2019s charming, but check out the second floor, where the library first started.\u00a0 It still has its original woodwork and a lot of the original books!\u00a0 Many of us remember when most public libraries looked like this.<\/p>\n If, rather, you go east from Clay\u2019s on SR120, you will encounter Fremont, founded in 1834 as Willow Prairie and platted three years later as Brockville.\u00a0 The village rechristened itself once again in 1848 to honor explorer John C. Fremont.\u00a0 Fremont, home to about 1700 people, has a charming downtown and a number of National Register-listed buildings.\u00a0 Their library, surrounded by a bit of restored prairie on the west edge of town, offers several pieces of outdoor sculpture.\u00a0 Behind the building an environmental trail winds through a woods.<\/p>\n The county seat and the \u201cbig city\u201d in Steuben County is Angola, platted in 1838.\u00a0 Its beautiful courthouse square features an impressive Soldiers Monument, topped by the allegorical figure of Columbia, erected in 1917 in the center, formerly the location of the town pump.\u00a0 More men per capita enlisted in the Civil War from Steuben County than any other in Indiana.\u00a0 The courthouse, dating to 1868, sits in the southeast corner of the square.\u00a0 Opposite, in the northwest corner, are two historic movie theaters, the Strand and the Brokaw.\u00a0 Angola is the center of recreational activity for the lake-filled county (101!, boasts the county website), which likely contributes to the continued survival of these theaters.<\/p>\n One of those lakes, only a mile to the southwest, was the first resort open to middle class black families.\u00a0 Listed in the National Register, the Fox Lake Historic District is a modest collection of lake cottages built in the 1920s and 30s.\u00a0 The area still retains much of its heritage with traditional activities, like the Labor Day picnic, that are decades old.<\/p>\n History, lakes, small towns, lakes, roadside farm markets, lakes, and more!\u00a0 While it is much like going home, I still discover something new every time I journey to Indiana\u2019s northeast corner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I always love a chance to go to the northern part of our state where the glaciers left behind lots of lakes and rolling terrain. And Pokagon State Park, one of our earliest, dating to 1925, in Steuben County is … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n