Blogs from Shipshewana, Indiana, United States, North America

Well, we travelled to Indiana on October 1st for 18 days, and didn’t want to leave! Every time we think we have found a favourite spot, we discover something we like better. We were in Amish country, and were amazed at the beauty of the area. From the horse and buggies travelling the roads, to the plough horses still used to till the land, to the immaculately kept yards with amazing flowers, it was a peaceful, inspiring area. Homesteads include a very large house with several porches, barn, carriage house, several outbuildings, usually all painted white, and a few acres of silage corn. It was not uncommon to see laundry hanging on lines, as most families still do not use clothes dryers. The orthodox Amish still dress in their traditional black hats, bonnets, long dresses, with ... read more

Friday, June 26 (Amish Communities Tour): We started our day by heading towards the American Countryside Market near Elkhart that Manoli wanted to visit. It was quite busy and contained not only a number of interesting shops, but some folks set up out front as a sort of flea market. We didn’t find anything exciting enough to buy, but we did try a breakfast pretzel stuffed with eggs, ham, and cheese. Yum! Next, we decided to check out two different furniture makers that were supposed to have tours where you could watch them make fine hardwood furniture. The first one, Schmidt’s, was pretty empty and the receptionist seemed to have never heard anything about tours, so we moved on. The second furniture place, Lambright Woodworking, wasn’t buy either, and although they were quite friendly to us ... read more