Amish Country | Shipshewana, IN

I had read about an Amish community in northern Indiana and we were excited to check it out. Driving through the area, there was a lot of farm land and white houses with clothes hanging to dry on lines in the yard.  Horse led carriages transported the Amish down the roads - quite a sight to see cars and buggies sharing the road. I think I expected everything to seem a bit more... trapped in time, or something. Modern tractors and irrigation tools seemed to be in use at a lot of the farms.  Maybe it wasn't all Amish land, or maybe this Amish community is more progressive than the community I saw a couple years ago in Pennsylvania. But, really, if it weren't for the horse carriages going down the road, it would have seemed like we were driving through any regular farmland.

When we got to the Shipshewana city center, we ended up at a restaurant promising Amish food.  It was a giant building, with a function hall/theater, large dining room, gift shop, and bakery - a tourist trap, really.  But we were hungry and decided to stay anyway. Based on the restaurant's menu, Amish food is basically what you would consider American - meet and potatoes, that sort of thing. But the donut we shared from the bakery was quite delicious.

Taking photos from the car as we drove through town kept us from really capturing the area, but here are some shots anyway!

-Amanda



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