Blustery Cold In Amish Country - (Goshen, IN)

Wow, it was windy overnight.  We finally had to pull the bedroom slide in to get some sleep.

It was so windy, we couldn't even hear the trains at the back of the fairgrounds.  But it didn't drown out the diesel engines of the motorhomes on both sides of us that decided to leave at 7:30 this morning.  :)

When we got up, it was cold and rainy and the wind was still blowing hard.  I don't know what the wind chill was, but it was miserable outside.  The weather supported our thought to stay here another night.  So I went and paid.

Eventually, the rain stopped and I bundled up to finish re-attaching the generator exhaust pipe like it should be.  Hopefully, with the added clearance on the rig, I won't have to deal with that much anymore.

This morning at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds, there was some type of big auction.  Interestingly, the fairgrounds and camping is not run by the county, but rather by a non-profit private entity.  By 8:00 a.m., the parking lots were full all around us, including the horse and buggy parking.  :)

All morning we heard the clop-clop-clop of the horses' shoes on the county road in front of the fairgrounds.  All the buggies seemed to go at the same pace with the horses at a jog.  There was a familiar rhythm to the clopping.

While I was out taking pictures of the horses and buggies, this Nighthawk was just sitting in the gravel in our RV section.

Inside the rig, Linda was looking out the windows now that the RVs on both sides were gone.  She spotted this swallow ...

going in and out of the exhaust pipe on a neighbor's motorhome.

I don't know how long that motorhome had been here, but the guy pulled a significant nest out of there after Linda walked over and told them about their uninvited guest.  Just another thing for us RVers to put on our departure checklists:  "Check for bird nests in exhaust pipes".  :)

Linda had sort of wanted to do some local exploring and she was fascinated, as many people are, by the Amish.  I had managed to avoid the "Midwest's Largest Flea Market" held in Shipshewana every Tuesday and Wednesday May through October.  But I agreed to do some tourist stuff today, mostly because I was hungry.  :)

On our way to Shipshewana, we stopped in Middlebury for the first touristy thing - lunch at the Das Dutchman Essenhaus.

The camphost at White River Campground on our way up here recommended it.  It looked a little too commercial for me, but I was hungry and we gave it a try.

When you go in they ask you if you want "family style" dining or "menu dining".  Keeping with the touristy theme, we opted for the "family style" dining which is the draw for many.

"Family style" means that they gauge your party size and they just bring out all the food in dishes and set it next to your table.  You pass the food around just like you would at home.  If you run out, they bring you more.

First, the "home cooked" food was pretty good.  I've been other places like this where the experience is more important than the food.

The basic menu is all-you-can-eat fried chicken, noodles, mashed potatoes & gravy, dressing, corn or green beans, fresh-baked wheat or white bread, a salad, and beverages.  You also get one dessert (no "all-you-can-eat" there) off their extensive dessert menu.  You can get the dessert to go if you wish.

My only problem is that the "experience" is a bit pricey at $15.50 per person (it's the same for lunch or dinner).  I kept having to tell myself it was like dinner for us so that the $40 (after tax and tip) wasn't so painful.  Twenty bucks each isn't so bad for dinner out, but it was painful for lunch.  :)

I was wishing we had gotten their before 11:00 and had breakfast.  It was much more reasonably priced, and I was really more in the mood for a good breakfast.  Oh well.  I know for next time.  :)

While we were there, Linda picked up a book about the Amish in the gift shop.  This morning she was wondering how the Amish manage in our modern world and she had questions.

She Googled a couple of questions and learned that the Amish pay taxes except that those that are self-employed don't pay self-employment taxes (basically Social Security & Medicare taxes).  They consider Social Security & Medicare to be "insurance" and insurance goes against their "God will provide" beliefs.

Hopefully, the book will answer more questions.  We both are interested in different cultures and, considering our own simplification of life, we wanted to learn more about the Amish.

So, our next stop was the Menno-Hof Amish-Mennonite Visitors Center in Shipshewana.  

It's sort of an interactive, modern museum with a partially guided, partially self-guided tour ($6 per person to do the tour).

Unless you are a religion scholar, the part of the guided tour after the opening movie is kind of confusing.  But eventually we started to get it.

According to the information we gathered, the Mennonites, Amish, and Hutterites are all part of a larger group known as the "Anabaptists" which emerged in the 1500s.  I won't get into the details of why the "Anabaptists" emerged, but it was basically due to their views of baptism.  The Menno-Hof website provides a great overview.

The history was all very interesting.  The Mennonites, Amish, and Hutterites all became separate groups of the "Anabaptists" over time.  Though their base beliefs are the same, the practice of those beliefs has diverged.

The Mennonites, the largest of the three worldwide with over 1,200,000 members in 63 countries, have accepted more in the way of modern conveniences than the other two.

The Hutterites, found in the U.S., Canada, and Japan, live in communal societies with commonly owned land and money, and they are said to be the only communal society in modern history to achieve permanance and stability.

The Amish are the most conservative with no electricity, phones, TVs, radios, etc. in the homes and no cars.  They are primarily located in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.  They believe in home and family and they believe ownership of cars promotes more opportunity for members to be away from home.  Thus the horse and buggies and bicycles are the primary means of transportation.  They can ride in cars as long as they are driven by non-Amish and they can use phones in their work outside the home.

The Menno-Hof indicated that while the Mennonites gain new members from the "outside", typically the Amish only grow due to birth within the group.  Perhaps the embracement of modern conveniences is the difference?  I have no idea, but that would seem to be logical.

Anyway, we learned a lot and now have a little better understanding of the Amish who live in this area and work in the RV factories.  Perhaps Linda's book will provide more insight.

Now, with it being Saturday and "Mayfest" in Shipshewana, the Amish were out in force.  The roads here have large shoulders and the horses and buggies ride on the shoulders where they can.

Where there are no shoulders, they ride in the roads just like everyone else.  It was amazing how used to the cars and the big trucks the horses seem to be.

The buggies do have mirrors and turn signals, but you still have to watch very closely.  Sometimes they make left turns from the shoulders or as you are going around them.

All the little towns around here have buggy parking and places to tie up.  As we passed through the countryside, it was difficult to tell which homes were Amish and which weren't.  They have some very nice houses and farms.  The main giveaways were the lack of electric lines going to the houses, the Amish clothes on the lines outside, and the buggies in the garages.  :)

While in Shipshewana, we stopped in to check out the Shipshewana Campground South and to see if Susan & Pat were home.  Susan saw us drive by and came outside.  Since their visit with us got shortened a bit the other day when they came to Mor/Ryde, we thought we'd spend a few minutes with them in their Mobile Suites fifth wheel.

After that visit, we went back into Shipshewana to Yoder's Meat & Cheese Company.  That place is fantastic.  It's a good thing we were still full from lunch, or we might have spent a fortune in there.  I was wishing we had saved our $40 from lunch to shop with.  :)

Finally, after another stop or two, we headed home.

It was still windy and cold and the rain came and went.  Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, but still cool.  For sure, we will be moving on, although I still don't know to where as of this writing.  :)

You'll find out shortly after we land.  Until then.  :)

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Comments

[Jim Kraft]

The Essenhaus is quite nice but I agree that it pricey. We stay there a lot and always go to the Hilltop Cafe (just west of the Essenhaus on Rte 20. It is a small local kind of place wirh good food (priced nicely) and great pies. The Inn at the Essenhaus is one of the cleanest places to stay you will ever find and the rolls at the bakery are to die for (and if I lived there I suppose I would due to clogged vessals. Enjoy Michigan, it is quite pretty up there.

Jim

[Dee Walter]

I grew up in Northern Indiana and had many Amish friends. It's neat hearing they're still thriving. It just so happens we have a tent with a family of seven Mennonites come in last night beside us. I hope to talk to them today. Dee

[Jld52405]

Howard, we live near several Amish communities in Iowa and there is so much we can learn from them. One of the things that has stuck with me is that they do not celebrate special occasions because everyday is special and a gift from God. What a concept.
We will be in Goshen for the Escapade in September so it was fun reading your blog today.
JanieD

[Gayla Hickey]

We found the "Newmar" factory tour at Nappanee very interesting.

If you need any custom cabinet work, Carlyle (the owner) at Focal Wood Products does excellent work. He added a computer desk along with window sills to our Dutch Star last summer. Also bought a coffee table.

[Tom & Marci]

Hi guys,

Glad you spent some time in Shipshewana -- we always enjoy a visit there! We typically go with the "Menu side" at Essenhaus . . . can't really justify the price of family style unless you're a really big eater.

We love the meat & cheese store, and E&S bulk foods, and we ALWAYS save room for a pretzel at Jo-Jos in the Davis Mercantile!

Safe travels to Michigan -- let us know if your route brings you up US-23, although from where you are, your best route might be up US-31 (or 131, can never remember which one it is!), and then across 72 to get to Thunder Bay.

Tom & Marci

[Ali Workentin]

Enjoyed reading your post about the Amish country. My husband was born and raised Mennonite. It is definitely a culture full of history. Thanks for the pictures. We were hoping to get to Iowa this last Fall but due to major motor home problems we only made it as far as Montana and then Utah.

I enjoy your blog and looking forward to reading it each day.

[LakeConroePenny]

It is a shame that most Amish and Mennonites consider dogs to be livestock, and then treat them so cruelly in their puppy mills:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7187712&page=1
and
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192478
Happy Trails, Penny, TX