I spent my youth fishing here at the dam. The mill burnt down when my dad was a kid. There have been several attempts to place a new mill at this site. I am sure it would make the place a larger attraction for tourist. However, without the mill it does make for a nice place of quiet reflection.
This is the State of my birth. I have so many choices of places to show you. We could have gone with the State Parks of Turkey Run, Shades, McCormick's Creek, or Brown County. I could have tried tourist attractions including Holiday World, Indiana Beach, historic Vincennes or the Indianapolis Speedway. There are Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial, Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore and the Hoosier National Forest. I could have gone with one of the two Indiana colleges I attended, Indiana State University and Rose-Hulman.
If you travel Indiana you must get off of the Interstate system. The State of Indiana takes all the Interstate highways through Indianapolis. It has one of the worst routing choices of any State for the Interstate system. To get from any major city in the State to another via Interstate you must go through Indianapolis. So I suggest the following alternatives. Gary to Terre Haute, Vincennes and Evansville use US 41 and Indiana 63. Terre Haute to Bloomington use Indiana 46. Terre Haute, Vincennes, New Albany (Louisville) use US 150. Gary to Fort Wayne use US 30.
While I like the history to be found along US 40, It would be the one road I like to travel the least. It has become a 30 M.P.H. road of continuous stoplights from Terre Haute to Richmond. I would use I-70 and get off to see attractions on US 40. Then get back on I-70 as soon as possible. This is unfortunate in that this is the highway with the most history.
The most fun with any travel is to stop at the out of the way places. Places that have not made it to tourist trap status, yet. Stop at the dinners and bars in towns like Coxville, Dana, Linton, Montezuma, and Crawfordsville.
Next are the big and small festivals such as the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival, the Fontanet Bean Supper, Clinton Little Italy Festival, the Beanbloosom Blue Grass Festival and the Banks of the Wabash Festival.
If you like old trains ride the line trough the National Forest from West Baden Springs/French Lick to Cuzco.
All and all I think this State provided the setting for me to grow-up as the educated hick (e.g. Matlock) I am today.