New Lodging, Attractions in 2007!

This year will bring exciting new choices for visitors to Spencer County from additional lodging to new attractions. Visitors will have a new lodging option with the opening of the Comfort Inn & Suites at the intersections of US 231 & Highway 66 in Rockport. The 53 room facility located in Southern Spencer County also features an indoor pool with whirlpool, exercise room, meeting room and business center. The new hotel will open for business between late February and mid-March. Reservations may be made by calling 812-649-2979.

New Lodging also will be available in the northern end of Spencer County with the addition of 29 rental RV's at Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort. This brings the total number of rental units at the resort more than 200 rental RVs & Cabins, in addition to its 200 RV campsites. Also new this season is the Baby Blitzen addition to the 3,400 square foot Blitzen Bay swimming pool. Reservations may be made online at http://www.lakerudolph.com or by calling 1-877-4RUDOLPH.

Along with having more places to stay while visiting Spencer County, people also will have more to see and do!

A seven-story family water slide tops the list of $4.5 million in additions for Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in 2007. A second new ride, the Turkey Whirl, a themed tilt-a-whirl, also will be added this year. The Thanksgiving section will gain a new restaurant too. The Plymouth Rock Cafe will offer cafeteria-style Thanksgiving dinners with outdoor seating for 300. During the 2006 season, more than 1 million people visited Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, which will re-open May 5, 2007. For more information on the upcoming season, visit http://www.holidayworld.com/ or call 1-877-GO-FAMILY.

The Santa Claus Museum is expanding after a successful first year hosting more than 7,000 visitors. An additional 600 square-feet is being added to the Museum to make room for its expanding collections including artifacts from the early beginnings of Santa Claus, Indiana, the Santa Claus Post Office, Santa Claus Land & Holiday World, and the local tradition of responding to letters to Santa. The museum is currently closed while remodeling occurs, but will be reopen in time for the summer tourist season. For more information, visit http://www.santaclausmuseum.org/ or call (812) 937-2687. Donations to assist with renovation costs also can be made online on the museum's website.

Mushie's Memory Lane Muscle & Classic Car Museum in Santa Claus, Ind., will open its doors in May. The collection, owned by Dennis Vaught of Evanston, includes classic and muscle cars, boats and motorcycles, along with other memorabilia. Mushie's will be open at 10:00 a.m. seven days a week. For more information call (812) 547-7232.

Buffalo Run Farm in Lincoln City will complete of the Dennis Hanks School House this spring. It will include bench seats, a schoolmaster's desk and even a dunce stool. It is meant to replicate a blab school like the ones Lincoln attended as a boy in Indiana. At Buffalo Run, located on land once owned by Lincoln's cousin, Dennis Hanks, visitors also can tour the Legendary Lincoln Cabin and an authentic teepee. To learn more, people may call Buffalo Run at 812- 937-2799.

The Rockport Inn Bed & Breakfast is expanding with the addition of McKenzie's Pub in Mid-February. For more information, people may call 812-649-2664.

The new Spencer County Visitors Bureau office, located at 39 N. Kringle Place in Santa Claus, also will be opening soon. A variety of brochures on regional attractions are available here to visitors who also may ask the staff for directions or other information about the area. The Visitors Bureau, operated by the Spencer County Tourism Commission, will be open by mid-April. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Spencer County Visitors Bureau provides travel information to visitors and media about Spencer County, Indiana, the site of Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home, the world famous Santa Claus Post Office, and the world's first theme park, Holiday World & Splashin' Safari. For more information people may visit the Spencer County Visitors Bureau website at http://www.legendaryplaces.org/ or call 1-888-444-9252.