Stories

You probably won’t find decorated trees, hanging wreaths, or wrapped presents in an Amish home during the holidays, but you will find the spirit of Christmas alive and well. As I was out and about these last few weeks visiting Shipshewana/LaGrange County retailers, I asked some of the Amish about whether they celebrate Christmas. Everyone […]

Memorial day is always the last Monday in May, and its become the unofficial start of the summer season. The Shipshewana Flea Market is open every week (seasonally) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so it just makes sense to turn it into a 3-day Flea Market for Memorial Day, when many people have the day off […]

It’s rare to find a restaurant with such a history (and such amazing pie!) The Shipshewana Auction Restaurant, located at Shipshewana Auction & Flea Market, is a charming sit-down eatery that serves the buyers, sellers and visitors to the auction and flea market. Customers love to fill up on Amish & Mennonite favorites including chicken & […]

Shipshewana rolled out the red carpet for these young ladies for a birthday party in Amish Country! I recently had the pleasure to attend a beautiful young lady’s Birthday Party, hosted at Kids Kreations in downtown Shipshewana on Harrison Street. When we arrived balloons, cookies, and all the fixings to make a doll were appropriately […]

Many Shipshewana & LaGrange County visitors are fascinated by the Amish culture in our area, and are often curious about the reasons behind the Amish lifestyle and traditions. Here are answers to 10 common Amish questions: In this blog, Loren Beachy, a resident of Goshen, Indiana and member of the Old Order Amish Church, seeks […]

Der Ruhe Blatz Motel is noted on Trip Advisor as a fine place to rest. That’s a very good thing, because the name literally means “The Rest Place” and for the millions of visitors that come to Shipshewana each year it is a great option to stay right in the center of it all! Der […]

“Our campers here are just good down-home folk,” explains Missy, the office manager at Atwood Lake Campground in rural Wolcottville. “We watch everybody’s children, everybody watches your children. The families eat dinners together. It’s a down-home, low-key campground.” “We’re not just Atwood campers, we’re Atwood family,” she said.Atwood Lake Campground is surrounded on three sides by Amish […]

Owners Paul and Margie Gieseking work very hard at keeping Indian Lakes Campground looking nice. They’re very nice people. And Paul tells me the people who camp here are nice – and he wants to keep it that way on both counts. The sweat equity he’s put into this campground shows. Everything about it is nice. From the […]

During the first part of June, I happened to be driving past an Amish home on a dirt county road, on my way to visit my Amish friend Mahlon. At this house, dozens of buggies were parked in a field, and in the distance near the home, a huge white tent stood with two or […]

A friend who recently visited wondered out loud, “I wonder what it would be like to go to an Amish school?” I thought her question was a great one, with now being the end of the school year and students graduating. And so, with pen in hand and “detective” hat on head, I set out […]

Three words describe Amish Log Cabin Lodging located within North Park Campground at the corner of SR 5 & SR 120 in Shipshewana, Indiana. Word #1: Serene 14 cabins with full shower and television line the far back hillside of the property, while six “rustic” cabins glide to the west. These latter cabins are “rustic” […]