Following the Heritage Trail....Elkhart County, IN

Before I get started on the Elkhart County Heritage Trail, I wanted to write a few words about our campground in Elkhart. We stayed at the Elkhart Campground right in Elkhart. It is convenient, nice, and reasonable in price. They have lots of amenities and the campground staff is family operated and friendly. The sites are on grass but they are pullthrough and level. MJ's EMS said there was a problem with the power at her site and they came immediately and fixed it. They offer several discounts on the rates including Good Sam and Escapees. It was quiet even though a large park and very well maintained.

We ended up staying an extra day beyond what we planned because Mary Jane's RV needed some work done and we had to find someone to take care of it. We were really glad we did stay though because it gave us time to do the Elkhart Heritage Trail. At the Elkhart Visitor's Center, we picked up a map and free CD guide. The lady at the Visitor Center told us to put the CD in the player and sit in the parking lot to listen to the introduction and instructions on use. Once the narrator told us how the program worked, he said to turn the CD off, turn left out of the driveway and then right at the stoplight. Once we made the turn, we were to turn the CD back on. First we went through downtown Elkhart.

The Elkhart County Historical Museum

Then we headed out into the country. The CD gave us a historical description of each place along the route as well as point interesting spots we wanted to turn the CD off and see.

This area is Amish country.  Elkhart County is the third largest (20,000) Amish enclave in the United States. You will see the Amish in their distinctive clothes and horsedrawn buggies throughout the area. Many businesses in the area are run by the Amish.

 

Das Dutchman Essenhaus is a huge Amish style restaurant.....an Amish kitchen in Middlebury.

Right next to it, you will find the Village Shops.

And The Cabin.

A quiet lake spot along the route.

It was so interesting to hear the historical narrative about how the place was settled. The Bonneyville Mill area is a good place to stop and visit.

The narrator pointed out places we should turn the CD off and visit along the way.

Shipshewanna......The flowers and gardens were really pretty.

Flowers are everywhere.

Here we are in Shipshewanna where we parked and walked all around the streets. There are all kinds of restaurants and shops located in the houses.

Horse and carriage rides are available in many places. You will also see lots of Amish traveling around in their black buggies. The horses move right along at a fast pace.

 

This beautiful display was out in front of a shop in the country.

Many of the farms are Amish with large houses for large families.

There is one three story building in Shipshewanna that has a lot of different shops.

Including a merry-go-round on the third floor.

Again, there are lots of restaurants to choose from.

We had lunch here.....soup and half a sandwich which was very good and reasonably priced. They had lots of baked goods too.

This salsa was for sale at the bakery.

Some buildings were in better shape than others.

A leather boot shop!

The Amish don't like to have their pictures taken but no one was by these buggies at the store. Most places have places to park buggies as well as cars.

Hanging baskets of flowers were everywhere.

Decks are very popular.

I think we were in Goshen in these photos.

There were couples strategically places

Nothing proves this saying more than RVing!

 

There really is a lot to do in Elkhart County. In addition to the RV Hall of Fame and the Elkhart County Heritage Tour, the Shipshewanna Flea Market is open every Tuesday and Wednesday and is very popular. Plus, a very large percentage of American RVs are made right here in the area and most of the manufacturers have tours of their factory's available. Mary Jane and I toured the Phoenix Cruiser factory and it was very impressive. They are a small operation which turns out only two RVs a week but you can tell that is why they are such high quality RVs.

3-4 Aug 2010 - Indiana Stops - Elkhart and Fishers

My next stop after bidding family goodbye in Port Huron, was Elkhart.  Elkhart is supposed to be the epicenture of the RV world but I think the population there may have lost sight of that.  I know that the RV industry was hard hit over the last few years but I had to ask about 6 people before I could find anyone that had any idea where there was an RV park.  I know--I should have found McDonald's and hauled out the Internet and done a google search but this was Elkhart.  I finally found the Elkhart Campground, a pretty large and decent place to stay.  Asking for a pull-through, I was sent off to what looked like a field that was only pull-through if no one parked in front of you.  Since the campground was less than half-full and there were plenty of much better sites that were easier to get in and out of and more convenient all the way around, I went back to the office and asked for a different site.  The roads in the new area were gravel and the site had a picnic table and was much better.

Willy, Gretchen, and Harley took me on a tour around the park.  They had the usual amenities but we really didn't get to try them out.  We did have several nice walks before bedtime.  There was storm that night but  we had A/C and none of the branches fell on the truck or RV so we were just fine.  The next morning, the staff was out cleaning them up.

Finding the RV Hall of Fame the next day was equally challenging.  They moved into a new building a couple of years ago and the first 5 people I asked either didn't know anything about it or thought it closed a few years ago.  This could partly explain why they are not getting the visitors they anticipated and need to survive.  If you are in the area with an RV rally or other group, you are fine.  Traveling alone--not so much in terms unless you have all the information before you arrive.  The RV Hall of Fame has parking areas specifically for RVs which was really nice.  I waited out another rainstorm and then headed in for the tour.  The most interesting part of the museum, at least for me, were the RV exhibits.  They have examples from very early RVs to more modern ones and they are laid out along a rambling roadway.  I really enjoyed it and recommend you allow plenty of time to browse.

Once we were on the road again, we let "Hillary" plot a course for Indianapolis, more specifically Fishers Indiana, home of my long-time friend Mary Beth Lech.  Mary Beth met me in a Walmart parking lot and we went off to dinner together.  It was not the greatest Walmart and didn't look like a good place to stay.  After dinner I followed Mary Beth across town to a Super Walmart close to her house.  Unfortunately there were no overnight camping signs posted.  I explained that it is the town rather than Walmart that won't allow parking so Mary Beth had another idea.  She led me just across the highway to a Super Meijers.  Turns out they were across a county line so when I went in and asked the manager about parking, he said sure--just park on the side of the lot and he would notify security to keep an eye out for us.

Mary Beth asked if I would stay long enough to go out for breakfast with her in the morning.  I also got to meet her cousin so we had another great visit.  It is always great to meet up with friends.