Our visit to Amish Country

Amish Country, Indiana:

We’ve spent the past week exploring the Amish Country of Elkhart, Nappanee, and Shipshewana where their main mode of transportation is the horse and buggy rather than car. The Amish do not have electricity in their homes, and send their children to private one-room schoolhouses.

We visited such a schoolhouse where we were told the children attend only through the eighth grade. After that, they work on their family's farm or business until they marry. The Amish feel that their children do not need more formal education than this, however, a small percentage do continue and complete high school. They speak a dialect of German called Pennsylvania Deutsch at home; they use High German at their worship services; and they learn English at school. They speak English when they deal with anyone who is not Amish. We were informed Ohio had the largest settlement of Amish, next is Indiana and then Pennsylvania.

We can’t wait to dine on honest-to-goodness Amish home cooking. Donna grew up in Pennsylvania and remembered it to be plain but tasty superbly seasoned and prepared.

We did have several giant meals where authentic Amish foods were served. We enjoyed such dishes as; iron kettle of thick ham & bean soup, freshly baked hearth bread, real fresh churned butter, homemade apple butter (yummy), green beans with smoked side meat (Donna’s favorite), beef & noodles, mashed potatoes, sage dressing & giblet gravy, roast turkey, cider-baked hickory smoked ham, homemade lemon meringue pie, vanilla date nut pudding at one meal (yes, family style); for the other meal, we had real mashed potatoes (fluffy & lite), noodles & beef, sweet potato casserole, homemade bread, and chuck roast beef prepared using an old-fashioned Amish recipe, baked in its natural juices that melted in your mouth and with each bite your flavor buds were massaged over and over……. Yes, we are on a diet and we do count our points…….seventy million so far this week….

Another surprise, Elkhart, Indiana is the RV capital of the world and as we traveled the back roads off of the Interstate, there were many small to million dollar corporations manufacturing trailers, fifth wheels, and motorhomes. It is like a bee-hive around here.

Our visit to the Newmar Recreational Vehicle Company confirmed our belief; the Amish are terrific craftsmen and workers. There were many employed there whereby they performed their work with skill, efficiency, and in a business like manner……no idle hands, chit-chat or loitering, they gave the company a good days work for a good days pay.

The Amish are also known to be very good business people and their industrious traits reflect in their homes and farms which are immaculate and their lives appear to be prosperous and rewarding.

We can attest they are excellent farmers from the taste of their tomatoes and corn ($2.75/doz) which has been our entrée for dinner every night.

And with the crazy drivers on the highways, they must have great fortitude or unbridled faith to drive their horse and buggies on the shoulder of the road with those cars whizzing by……..no thanks….

Also unleaded gas is $1.82 and diesel is $1.89 per gallon.