This Midwestern invites travelers to start their tours of Indiana in the Fort Wayne jungles at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, where 16-foot-tall giraffes and go nose-to-nose with 1,000-pound lions. The zoo's renovated African Village includes hyenas, zebras, ostriches and wildebeests.

In Santa Claus, Indiana (where half a million letters and calls for Santa come each year)  Holiday World & Splashin' Safari boasts the world's tallest water ride. The 10-person boat, w ascends 160' in an open-air elevator before plunging 13 stories at about 50 mph, while being splashed by walls of water all the way down. Big Splash Mountain, part of the Valley of the Springs Resort, is an indoor water park in French Lick which features 40-foot slides. The 154-room resort and its 6,000-square-foot arcade.

Elkhart County's Quilt Gardens featured more than 80,000 flowers in 16 giant gardens planted to mirror old-fashioned quilt designs in Northern Indiana's Amish Country. The Amish host a four-day quilt festival during the summer, and visitors can watch an old fashioned quilting bee, join a quilting class in a school house and visit a quilt shop hop to collect quilt squares from shops throughout Shipshewana.

Indianapolis is home to Conner Prairie with a nationally recognized living history museum in Fishers. Downtown Indy features a fabulous Children's Museum of Indianapolis with numerous galleries and ever changing exhibits.

Madison along the Ohio River lives life along the water. Featured events include boat parades, for instance. With more than 2,000 structures representing 19th century architecture and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, visitors can tour a number of the buildings, including a 19th century horse-and-buggy doctor's office, a Greek Revival style townhouse, Madison's first mansion, an 1816 Federal style home, the only restored 19th century saddletree factory in the US, an 1865 railroad station and Lanier Mansion featuring a formal garden.

The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City preserves the farm and home where Lincoln lived for 14 years. Featuring a memorial and museum, hiking trails and living history farm, the memorial is near the gravesite of Abe's mother, Nancy Hanks, in whose honor the 1,747-acre Lincoln State Park was originally created.  Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Plaza honors the years Lincoln spent in Indiana. It is designed with a circular plaza with limestone pedestals signifying key moments in the young man's life. A larger-than-life bust of Lincoln in the plaza designed by two Indiana artists offers great photo ops.

Switzerland County on the Ohio River has a zipline attraction, Orange County has a new Pete Dye Golf Course at French Lick behind the historic French Lick Springs Hotel, and golf abounds in the region during the summer months.

Brown County known for its fall foliage rounds out the tourist season with some eye-popping colors brought to you by mother nature. Did you realize Indiana has so much going on? Do check it out! (note: this info was supplied courtesy of visitindiana.com, the official destination management organization for the State of Indiana.