A Walking Tour of Notre Dame

In retrospect it seems odd, but I grew up an hours drive from South Bend, Indiana, yet never had the occasion to visit the Notre Dame campus. Regardless, I've always felt a kinship with the school, since we both call Indiana home. On a recent visit, I finally toured the campus, marveled at the famous gold dome and snapped many images of "Touchdown Jesus."

Notre Dame offers popular two-hour walking tours, led by students, happy to share their beloved university.

One of our first stops was a glimpse at their very own post office. I'll bet you didn't know Notre Dame is the only university in the U.S. to have it's own post office and their own zip code. For you trivia buffs the zip is 46556.

We passed a number of residence halls, each with it's own chapel. Unlike other large universities, Notre Dame has no fraternities or sororities and students walk to communal dining halls for their meals.

Along the way we saw "The Rock," built as a tribute to coach Knute Rockne, after his death in a plane crash. In terms of famous names associated with Notre Dame, Knute Rockne, remains high on the list. In testimony to his popularity, at least 18 books have been written about him. Publications containing his quotes continue to be regular sellers.

"The Rock" is an athletic facility. It's a fitting memorial to the hard working coach. Check out the nose on the bust of Rockne in the main foyer. It has been polished smooth by decades of football fans stopping by on Saturday mornings to give it a "good-luck" rub.

During the 1920s, a period often referred to as the golden age of sports, the name Rockne of Notre Dame was as well known as that of any figure of public life. Rockne's refinements to the game, such as the forward pass and the back-field shift, created controversies and changed the face of college football forever. To this day, Knute is still talked about with reverence and our guide called him "the best football coach that ever lived," without blinking an eye.