On the Trail....

There are a lot of different kinds of trails in Elkhart County...There's the Art and Earth Trail...Here's the criteria for the stops on this trail:

Each place had to be authentic and unique to the region, whether it was an Amish farm where you can stop to buy quilts and homemade jam, a luxurious South Bend bed and breakfast once the home of a famous family, or a shop in refurbished Winona Lake where artists’ creations reflect serious thought as well as whimsy. Most important of all, each venue had to be friendly, easily accessible and reflect the values we treasure here in Northern Indiana. You won’t find chains or cookie-cutter businesses listed, just one-of-a-kind shops, restaurants, museums and lodgings dedicated to the most important person visiting here…you.

and the Northern Indiana Foodie Trail. Seriously? Oh, yeah, and Sparky will check it out SOON now that she is feeling better!  Then there is the Heritage Trail, a nationally recognized tour route of 90 miles. You can pick up a free audio self-guided tour CD from the Elkhart Visitor's Center, that leads through seven communities with directional cues (whew! Sparky needs that), and fun stories about the places seen along the way.

site plaque with flower and facts information

We were here last year, so today we just decided to go looking at the Quilt Gardens which are along the Heritage Trail without the accompaniment of the CD. There are a total of 19 eye popping gardens, each showcasing a different quilt pattern in the communities of Nappanee, Middlebury, Goshen, Shipshewanna, Wakarusa, Elkhart, Bristol and Goshen. There are also 20 hand painted quilt murals in these communities as well. Each site has a plaque that tells you about the quilt pattern, a little story behind each one, and what flowers make up the flower quilt garden. For example, one of the quilt gardens is a pinwheel. (not pictured). The plaque talks about the Navajo believing that the whirling log represents the four cardinal directions. It tells why each plant variety was chosen, and that the pink sunstorm vinca plant looks like polka dotted fabric from a distance. Then each plaque has a "did you know?" fact. The same pinwheel plaque tells that the petunia originated in Argentina and was first brought to Paris in 1823.

The whole thing is very cool! If you go to AmishCountry.org, you will get lots more information on what to see and what to do if you are in the Elkhart County area and surrounding Amish countryside....

Here's the interpreted flower garden from the above pattern

We covered 11 out of the 19 gardens today...Eldy patiently drove Sparky all over the county to see the gardens and make a few other stops as well. Before we started on the tour, we stopped at the Davis Mercantile in downtown Shipshewanna, home to many fine stores like Lolly's Fabrics and JoJo's Pretzels, which are Sparky and Eldo's most favorite preferred pretzels for fresh homemade ones. Eldo had a plain one, Sparky had a sour cream and onion pretzel. It was half gone before she remembered to take a picture of it!

That place is ALWAYS busy! The line snakes down through the shop to the back of the room on a Saturday, and many other days as well....Well worth it to see the pretzels made, and have a fresh hot one melt in your mouth!

On to the gardens....Here is a collection of what we saw today...Last year when we were here, we visited the gardens in October, and they were on their last legs. This year, being July, the gardens were in their prime. Beautiful!

It was a beautiful drive today, in the eighties, little bit cloudy. Sparky was SO appreciative of Eldy schlepping her all over the county to get these photos today. Eldo is just happy his Sparky is starting to feel sparky again!

We'll see you later...in a day or two....We're gonna get busy visiting friends and family, but there sure is more to see and do in Elkhart County!

What Else is There to Do in Elkhart, IN?

Elkhart, IN     High:  63     Low:  48    Cloudy       Better temps!

Just ask Sparky what there is to do!  She still has a BIG list of things yet to do in Elkhart County, all of which are within less than an hour's driving time. Time is running out...Twelve days left and here's the list yet to be accomplished:

1. Check out Bonneyville Mill--Indiana's oldest continuously operating gristmill in action in Bristol.
2. Tour the Ruthmere Mansion in Elkhart and get a glimpse of the 1910 lifestyle of Indiana's wealthy
3. Take the Menno-Hof Museum tour to find out about the faith and life of the Amish and Mennonites
4. Check out the restored Lerner Theater in downtown Elkhart--1920's movie palace transformed into a beautiful performing arts center
5. See the Wellfield Botanical Gardens
6. Visit the South Side Soda Shop..featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
7. Eat at the Blue Gate Restaurant in Shipshewanna. We like it better than the Das Essenhaus, and it's a little cheaper.
8. Have a steak at Miles Lab, supposedly the best steak in the area.
9. Eat at Heinnie's Back Barn, another great place for steaks--it doesn't look like much, but man, is it good food!
10. Check out some of the Art and Earth Trail...over 150 studios, galleries, farmer's markets, lodgings and quaint little shops...
11. Visit Cook's Bison Ranch--oops! Only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day...rats!
12. Hall of Heroes Comic and Superhero Museum--Tel: 574-293-0755--the world's largest collection of comic books, superhero memorabilia...
13. The Heritage Trail...an annual event...free CD audio tour..nationally recognized tour route, top rated by editors of USA Today and Life magazine.
14. Pick your own apples off the trees at Kercher Orchards in Goshen, although the apple growers were hit extremely hard this year with bad weather...It looks like we can't go picking this year--2012.
15. Visit the Nappanee Center...all about the history and packed with memorabilia of area cartoonists and furniture crafters. Nappanee is home to about 3,500 Old Order Amish and rural retailers..think QUILTS! and CABINETRY!
16. Stock up at Yoder's Meat and Cheese Company, adjacent to the flea market in Shipshewanna--antibiotic-free, hormone-free, grass fed beef, steroid free, no by-products...Dry aged meats...19 varieties of jerky, 100 varieties of cheese. Let's go, Eldo! Put that at the top of the list!
17. Vist the Guggisberg Deutsch Kase Haus Cheese Factory--ELDO! HOW DID WE MISS THIS ONE IN ALL THE TIMES WE'VE BEEN HERE???!!! (That's Sparky, the CHEESEHEAD, the gal who has a produce drawer in the fridge SOLELY devoted to all kinds of cheese! explains E.) This is moving to number two on the list!
18. Play frisbee golf at Oxbow County Park....

Jumbo jelly beans

And HEY! We forgot to tell you, we visited the Wakarusa Dime Store, serving 400 nostalgic candies...another wonderful little place in Wakarusa, IN, that has been serving customers for over 106 years. Sparky bought Jelly Belly jelly beans, and Eldo bought some jumbo jelly beans, they say the "world's largest". The store sells over 75 TONS of these every year! They are at the Shipshewanna Flea Market on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, May thru October. Remember Bonomos Turkish Taffy? Candy Buttons? Clove gum? Candy cigarettes? Wax Lips? They have it all!

Ooh--ooh----ooh! FIZZIES! Remember them? Those little tablets you plunked into water and they fizzed up like Alka Seltzer tablets and made a carbonated drink?

In the same town of the nearby town of Wakarusa is the Wakarusa Hardware Store, open since 1904. It sells items from the wall of over 900 wooden drawers. You might call it a vintage hardware store. Not very big, but very cool!

Think that's enough to do? And look at all the things we've already done! Who would have thought there's all that in Elkhart? Now you know!    Sparky thinks Elkhart ought to hire her to promote tourism in RV traveling circles....