indiana welcome center

I love the atmosphere and the story it tells. The museum is a bit overpriced and should be totally free as it tells their story so why should I pay for it?

Exhibits provide a close up view of many different historical subjects in Indiana. Gift shop is quaint with a lot of nice stuff. It's a nice place to take visiting family and friends for an hour or so. Afterwards, go eat at Cracker Barrel which is close by.

I enjoy visiting the visitor center! They have a museum and also a traveling display which changes so surprise me, I saw pictures of artist from the national parks! The people are friendly and very helpful for local events and also for people visiting chicago

Visiting during the holidays there are beautiful trees to see this year we will be seeing Santa with our favorite pets for pictures.

The first thing you'll notice is the shape of the building - it's odd shaped and something to talk about - and that's about it for this place. It's small and really nothing exciting happens except around Christmas time when they have the Christmas Story exhibit - which is free. Local establishments also have decorated trees you can vote on as well. They have a Dillenger museam you have to pay for, and it's not worth it. Small gift shop and the usual tourist brochures. Don't go out of your way to stop, but if you get off on the Kennedy Avenue exit there is a Wendy's right there and if you have time to kill stop in.

Ralphie Parker lives on during the holiday season a this rest area on I-80/94 in Indiana as the welcome center is transformed into Higbee's Department Store windows and the Santa Mountain from the classic film, A Christmas Story. Taken on to honor native son and author Jean Shepherd, this tribute is great. From the statue of Flick outside "stuck!" to the flagpole by his tongue to the gift shop stocked with every piece of movie-related memorabilia imaginable (including my personal favorites...the major award leg lamp in several sizes and a full sized bar of lifebuoy soap for this tire-changing "fudge" slips of the tongue. Check the website before traveling as there are several special events and exhibits planned as part of the festivities. Oh and the bathrooms are clean and plentiful too ;-) Enjoy and merry Christmas!

Very beaufiful welcome center. Astounding during Christmas time with the Christmas Story exhibits, Santa slide mountain, and all the Christmas trees decorated by local groups. But I'm sure bummed out that the Dillinger musuem area is being moved to the Crown Point courthouse. I thought that was a perfect accesible spot for out of town visitors. Not many will see it now...

We had read about this review on a friend's blog so took a road trip to visit it. A very nice surprise in a Travel Center. If interested in the gangster era, this is a must stop and very nicely done. My husband loves this type of history and he enjoyed very much as things were done in chronological order of John's life and included several original clothing items, guns, etc. This museum doesn't take a long time to go through so if you're passing that Travel Center along I94, it's worth a stop and for a nominal fee you can tour the museum.

I thought the Dillinger Museum was informative and entertaining. It was well put together, showing a chronological depiction of the events in John's life along with key turn of the century historic events to put the time period in perspective. The museum contained several original items such as the pants he was shot in and his original grave stone. It only cost $4/person. They do need to fix the lighting because it appears the artificial lights are ruining some of the pictures/storyboards. Many of them were faded and hard to read. The museum also has several wax figures set up in potentially disturbing situations for kids, however these figures are only visible if you push a button or turn a door knob, etc, and they give plenty of warning that it may be graphic for young kids. However, I found it interesting that the last set-up was of a dead Dillinger laid out with fake blood. They warn this may be disturbing to young kids, however all around this part of the exhibit are ACTUAL pictures of Dillinger dead with REAL blood in the pictures. There's probably four or so pictures all around showing this, including a close-up of his face and a mold of his face in his dead state. I just found it weird they felt the need to put a warning on the wax figure when there were actual pictures all around it that kids could easily see.Lastly, we had to stop of a few seconds to view the Flick statue from A Christmas Story. I discovered this statue was here by researching roadside attractions for our road trip. I think the Welcome Center should advertise the statue is there somehow inside. Even just a sign that says "don't forget to go see Flick" with a arrow pointing that way or something. I think people could easily miss the statue.The Center itself was very clean and the people were nice. It was a nice little stop for our road trip and would recommend others visiting the museum.

I love gangster history. And when we made the trip to the Chicago area, I wanted to include this in our trip along with seeing the Biograph Theater (where Dillinger was shot by the FBI), Al Capone's grave, and a monument in Barrington, Illinois dedicated to teh FBI agents who died in a shoot out with "Baby Face" Nelson. All told, those afore mentioned historical attractions were a little more interesting than the Dillinger Museam at the Indiana Welcome Center.I guess I was expecting a little bit more since it was originally located down around Dillinger's hometown of Mooresville and there were rumors it was originally to be moved to the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, Indiana (Where Dillinger made his famous "wooden gun" escape). But my expectations were immediately deflated the moment we entered. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the exhibit. I was, however, allowed to take a picture at the entrance. Still, I've visited other gangland museums, like the 2 major ones in Las Vegas, and you can take pictures there! As for the exhibit itself, it's kind of dull and not very much to it. There are family photos and personal letters and such from Dillinger. But it's mostly cheesy dioramas that you can find in any little museum anywhere. They have waxwork dummies of Dillinger and other famous outlaws but they barely resemble the people they're portraying. Add to that, the dummies were not well kept and in need of maintaince. The clothes were a bit tattered and some of the dummies had broken legs, arms, and missing fingers. I can't help but thinking that if the Dillinger Museum was moved into the Gangster Museums of Las Vegas, that the exhibit would be better cared for and more exciting to see. Other than that, there isn't much to the place. It's another state welcome center. There is a gift shop but it's a bit overpriced for the trinkets you get. A Dillinger book, some keychains, deck of gangster playing cards, and postcards cost me $80... Which I immediately regretted spending. We didn't see the "Christmas Story" Attraction. But we did visit the actual Christmas Story house in Cleveland which I am sure would probably be way more interesting tha their set up if the Dillinger Museum is any indication.

This place is clean and very friendly. The Dillinger Museum was very intersting and not too long. Loved the gift shop. They have different things set up in the hall all the time so its nice going back.

Very nice welcome center! Very educational, there is a museum, a statue of Flick from Christmas Story, at Christmas they have several decorated Christmas Tree which are donated and decorated by different clubs. Santa also appears at certain times. The staff is very helpful plus they have all the brochures and maps you might need while traveling in Indiana. Next door there is a Cracker Barrel & also a Residence Inn, Courtyard & Fairfield Inn all by Marriott. On Thursday's from 9-noon local wood carvers are at the welcome center working on carvings. Make it a stop when on 80/94, Kennedy Ave, South! There is a small charge for the museum.

The place is very clean overall and easy to find. The bronze statue of Flick from Christmas story is awesome. Dillinger museum well worth the nominal admission fee. Very friendly and helpful people.

I have been to many state welcome centers, but Indiana is the best, or one of the best. Most states have just a rest stop with free maps and attractions brochures. This location has that, and an active museum, of Indiana history. Currently it's civil war history in Indiana. This is worth the stop!!

As a local I liked the Dillinger exhibit the best.For a visitor it helps to get an overall view of the area.