THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH

Our home for the next month in northern Indiana.....Shipshewana, the nation's third largest Amish community, the Mid-west's largest flea market, and an area known for their handcrafted wares.

Countryside of Shipshewana, IN

A bonus for adventurous travelers is to discover a special place you weren't aware even existed.  We are fortunate enough to spend an unusually interesting month in Shipshewana, Indiana, a heavily populated Amish community located east of South Bend.

Shipshewana South Campground
Beautiful rural countryside 

 Our campground's central location made it easy for us to visit outlying areas and at the same time enjoy seeing the beauty of the countryside and a simple way of life carried on by the Amish of Indiana.

Amish Traffic - Shipshewana, Indiana

Amish traffic
Shipshewana, Indiana

Farms are productive and carry on years of
traditional farming methods.

Horse and Buggy is the Amish mode of transportation

Not unusual to see draft horses ploughing the farmlands or traveling on the roads

Our visit to Shipshewana brought unexpected surprises every day.  We've been here long enough so we're not surprised to hear the clicketty-clop of hooves as a black buggy and horse pass by our campground, or whenever we see 4 draft horses and a farmer ploughing a large plot of land.  We've been here long enough to admire the Amish simplicity of life and love of family.  

The communities we visited were stitched together and welcomed us with their uniqueness.  The unhurried rural Amish life is woven together with urban distinctive downtowns filled with craft breweries and great restaurants, fascinating museums and historic places, eclectic shops and live entertainment.

Part of our exploration of Northern Indiana included historical and unique cities like South Bend, Nappanee, Middlebury, Topeka, LaGrange, Elkhart, Mikawasa, Wakamusa and Goshen, all within driving distance of our home base campground.

Entegra Coach Manufacturing
Middlebury, Indiana

Coachmen Industries
Elkhart, Indiana

While we explored the RV Capital of the World, Elkhart, Indiana, we found the huge manufacturing facilities of Entegra Motorhomes and Jayco Industries in Middlebury, IN.  A trip to northern Indiana wouldn't be complete without  a visit to the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana.

RV/MH Hall of Fame
Elkhart, Indiana

We arrived at the beginning of the planting of the Quilt Gardens and Mural Sites along the Elkhart County Heritage Trail.  We could only imagine what a couple of weeks will do to the carefully planned 18 Quilt - inspired Gardens and the 21 hand painted, quilt themed, supersized murals.

Nappanee Quilt Garden
Coppes Commons

The beautiful historic town of Middlebury appears to be the ideal community and reminds you of small town America and also offers the Quilt Garden at the Krider World's Fair Garden.

Krider World's Fair Garden
Quilt Garden

Middlebury, Indiana
Main Street

Our month long stay seemed to pass by so fast.  We felt so fortunate to spend time and slow down to another pace of living.  We move into Michigan for a few days and plan on visiting the spectacular 90 acre Gilmore Car Museum, near Kalamazoo, MI.  This is north America's largest car museum and Michigan's #1 attraction!

SHIPSHEWANA, INDIANA

After leaving Cincinnati, we traveled about 280 miles to Shipshewana, Indiana, and stopped only one time to enjoy a picnic inside the motorhome. Just us and the truckers, and it was just too blasted hot to eat outside at one of the picnic tables! We were very happy to arrive safely at the Shipshewana Campground (South), a very clean campground almost in the middle of downtown, and conveniently located to many nice restaurants and Yoder's everything. There are many clues that you are about to arrive in northern Indiana such as peaceful meadows and farmlands as far as the eye can see. Shipshewana is a bustling village filled with shop-lined streets, specialty retailers and many home-style dining establishments.

The Amish in north-central Indiana are the third largest Amish community in the U.S, 20,000 plus. We thought they were friendly and talkative - at farmers markets, the bulk food store and other places they mingle with the English (what they call us). They mostly talk in a German dialect to each other, and English to us. You must respect their privacy as they go about their day to day life - like not photographing them (it is against their religious beliefs).

You must keep a sharp eye out for buggies as you crest hills and round corners. Not once did I notice a horse get spooked - the ones we saw seemed very well trained. Horse drawn buggies clattering down our street, men sporting suspenders and broad-brimmed straw hats, women clad in simple homemade dresses and modest bonnets, and children and babies that were extremely adorable were everywhere we went.

You didn't have to go very far from where we were staying to see the Amish are skilled and disciplined entrepreneurs. At farmers markets and other outlets they sell some of the region's best food, heirloom-quality quilts, furniture and other handcrafted items. The Shipshewana Flea Market, open only on Tuesday and Wednesday, was a hoot to attend, and impossible to see everything! Amish ladies were selling the most delicious baked goods I've seen anywhere - the fried pies were made in front of us, and were delicious. Think Webster, FL on Monday, and multiply that times 10 - no joke!

You better get all your shopping done on Saturday, because the town is closed on Sundays! On Sunday we enjoyed a ride through the country over to Sturgis, MI to guess where?! WalMart!!

We enjoyed visiting some unusual museums - like the Hostetler's Hudson Auto Museum - the most complete private collection of Hudsons in the world! We couldn't believe our eyes!

Later in the week RV and Ray went to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in Auburn, IN, and said it was one of the most unbelievable automobile collections they had ever seen. One of the cars on display was formerly owned by Frank Lloyd Wright and was absolutely incredible.  RV said the collection of Auburns, Cords, and Duesenbergs were one of the highlights of this trip as far as he was concerned.  The ACD Museum is located next door to the National Automotive and Truck Museum.  Unfortunately, RV and Ray ran out of time and were unable to view the truck collection.

Because there are so many small towns of significance around this area, we spent an afternoon in Elkhart, IN, at the RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum and Library. It was interesting to see so many classic trailers, RV's and memorabilia about Rving.  One of the RV's on display was formerly owned by Mae West, well known actress who made the transition from vaudeville to movies.  We are almost certain that we may have seen the travel trailer that Ricky and Lucy drove across the country!  Do you remember that movie?

After lunch, we left Elkhart to travel over to Wakarusa, IN, a charming town with one of the most unusual hardware stores with its "wall of 1,000 drawers, in business since 1904. And we walked through the Wakarusa's Dime Store, with over 300 nostalgic candies, serving customers since 1903. The Dime Store has the biggest jelly beans anywhere as well as wax lips and wax moustaches which we bought for our grandchildren. On our way home we drove through Nappannee, IN, home of many RV manufacturing plants like Newmar and Gulf Stream,  to name a few. It is also the home of Amish Acres, a historic 80 acre farm, giving you the opportunity to buy Shoofly pie, raisin bread, cherry strudel and sugar cookies (to name a few) made in their kitchen daily.

We're finding we have to pace ourselves. There is so much to see and do. The weather is absolutely beautiful, and most of the evenings we sit outside and enjoy a cool breeze. This is definitely an area we plan to return to - the people make it enjoyable as well as the bounty from the farms all around us. Prices of produce and groceries seem very reasonable to us and not having to pay tax on food was quite a perk.

This trip has given us an opportunity to get to know a group of people we didn't know as much about before. We had visited Lancaster, PA, several years ago, so we were somewhat familiar with the Amish.  In Shipshewana we visited the Menno-Hof Amish-Mennonite Visitor's Center for a very interesting non-commercial explanation and tour to learn accurate information about the Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites) and their community, beliefs and history. The tour lasted over 2 hours, and we felt more informed about the simplicity and spirituality of the Amish culture and religion.

LANCASTER AND CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

The rain had slightly subsided in Hershey, so we decided we would go to Lancaster, and a few other central PA cities today. So many of our friends had suggested that we go to Bird In Hand, or Intercourse, or whatever. It really didn't matter. Everything was beautiful and one afternoon doesn't serve any of them justice.... we've got to come back - something you can plan to do when you are fulltiming.

We visited a campground called Country Haven, down the road from Smucker's Gourd's - our friends Jackie and George Mueller suggested. The campground is a postcard and although it seems tucked away from civilization, you overlook an entire vista of Pennsylvania. On the way, we carefully maneuvered past one Amish wagon after another. They ask you not to take their pictures, and if they don't wave back at you, it's because all the tourists are waving at them all day long. You have to remember these are not actors dressed for your benefit. Their homes are not considered museums for you to wonder through. Compared to most, the Amish live a very simple life and concentrate on religion and family.

Also, it was evident Tuesday was laundry day, because everywhere you turned, every family's laundry was hung to dry on the porch, the yard, the field - everywhere. We stopped at a local Amish grocery to purchase bulk cheeses, sausages and dried goods - as well as locally grown asparagus - handmade sausages and thick cut country bacon. We went down backroads and saw quaint covered bridges - something our coach could not have maneuvered at all. We traveled approximately 130 miles in our car. After enjoying lunch at the Bird In Hand Family Restaurant, Bird In Hand, PA, dessert was not an option. We were full all the way back to Hershey, PA.