Shipshewana flea market, Amish food, civic theatre, MIchiana: Bristol and MIddlebury IN. Horses and hitching posts add charm to area
By Margaret Cook
Published: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 04:53:57 PDT
Stand on the sidewalk in downtown Middlebury, Indiana. Listen to the usual small town sounds as cars and trucks politely wait for each other at the stoplight in the middle of town. Watch the traffic more closely; is it moving slower than it does in your home town? Look and listen again. Do you hear something go “clip-clop?” Do you see the black, box-shaped Amish buggy, rolling behind a horse, apparently undisturbed by the long line of traffic following it? This is all part of the charm and allure of LaGrange and Elkhart County in northern Indiana, known as Michiana.
Restaurants abound throughout the area. One of the most famous is the Essenhaus where you can get a breakfast buffet that leaves pleasant tastes on your tongue long after you leave. You can eat your meal in the buggy stationed in the dining room, if it isn’t occupied.
If you like gift shops, take a walk down Middlebury’s main street and browse through the Cinnamon Stick, where you purchase candles, teapots, chocolate and other delightful things. Be sure to say "Hi" to Jo.
Go east at the stoplight, do a hop skip and jump about 8 miles through a serene countryside, Slow down and look around, so not to miss farmers working in their fields, using horsepower. You also will probably see clothes being hung out in the sun to dry. Be, sure to stop at the cheese factory. Enter Shipshewana (the locals call it “Shipshe”). Horses trot through town, pulling buggies and carts. The hitching rails are often full; the horses, nuzzle each other’s noses and shift their weight, as they wait patiently for their owners to finish shopping. If you are lucky, you will find a parking place at the main attraction, believed to be the largest flea market for hundreds of miles. Summer of 2008, eight hundred vendors sold their wares. You can get old stuff, new stuff, food stuff and other stuff. Some booths market locally made products; some sell items made in America, others are filled with imports.
Go north out of Middlebury, on State Road 13 to State Road 120, and stop at Yup’s for ice cream. Turn left on 120, and drive about 10 miles to Bristol, Indiana, home of award winning Elkhart Civic Theatre’s Bristol Opera House. If you like kayaks (or thinking about buying one), stop in and see the folks at Fluid Fun.
I cannot begin to list everything there is to see and do in and around Middlebury, Bristol and Shipshewana in Northern Indiana. So, I guess if you want the whole story, plan to spend some time where town and country co- exist. Visit the towns where hitching rails are the norm, and the clip-clop of horses’ hooves invite you to slow down, look around, and smile.
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I am a freelance writer/photographer, lucky to live on Stone Lake near Middlebury, Indiana, where beauty abounds.
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