Amish Country Blog

You may have noticed it when visiting the Elkhart Jazz Festival website, seen it an advertisement, or maybe just heard it from a friend, but the Elkhart Jazz Fest has undergone somewhat of a facelift.  This year’s festival has a new look, a new name, and a highly-anticipated new line-up.

To accommodate the ever-changing demographic of jazz, and its listeners, the Elkhart Jazz and Blues Festival has expanded genres, lowered ticket prices, and strategically placed venues throughout downtown Elkhart for the best overall audience experience.

While jazz fanatics can still count on festival favorites like Bucky Pizzarelli, Rob Parton, and Dave Bennett, there are several new faces joining the festival this year such as Hailey Niswanger – a 20 year-old up-and-coming saxophone artist coming to us from the Berklee College of Music.  If Latin-jazz is your style, be sure to look for Conjunto – this group’s unique blend of instrumentals coupled with a sultry Latin beat will have you dancing in the aisles.

Producers of the event have lowered ticket prices across the board to accommodate the sluggish economy, making the festival more accessible for individuals with any size budget.

Although the festival has been shortened by a day, the quality of performers and hometown hospitality is not in short supply.  Event organizers are excited for the festival, and already looking ahead to the 2011 Elkhart Jazz and Blues Festival.

For more information Click Here.

I’m starting to see people coming back to Amish Country.  The pace is picking up in the Visitor Center and the  Heritage Trail driving tour CD and map are popular.  It’s fun to watch! I have a few things that I need to tell you about Amish Country before you come to help make your trip a little easier.

First is that you need to begin early and stop early.  Amish Country is a farming community at heart, and we get up with the sun, and close down as the sun is starting to set.  If you want to visit shops, or visit businesses, or go to a museum, plan your day for a 9am to 6pm.  You can always start earlier, but just keep that 6pm close time in your mind.  Restaurants do stay open later.

If you want to learn about the Amish, the best place to go is Menno-Hof in Shipshewana.  They are dedicated to telling the Amish and Mennonite story.

Great food is abundant in Amish Country.  Pack a cooler so you can keep all your food purchases fresh. Driving the Heritage Trail is the best way to take in Amish Country, and it takes 3 and a half hours if you follow the audio tour and don’t stop.  It will take most of your day if you want to make stops…and well worth it!  You should plan on making at least a few stops on your way.  And don’t forget to bring your camera.  There are lots of great photo opportunities in Amish Country.

So have fun when you’re out and about in Amish Country, and I hope you enjoy your stay.

Have you driven the Heritage Trail audio tour? Let us know. Leave your comment

Mindy, Amish Country Northern Indiana Contributor

It is going to be a beautiful week in Amish Country Northern Indiana! NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmostpheric Administration, pronounced Noah) says we’re supposed to have temps in the 70’s and it will be sunny until Thursday night.  For those of you who come to Amish Country this week, go drive the Heritage Trail, it will be a great time to be out and about. Start early and enjoy a leisurely pace as you go. Everyone on the trail needs to stop at Bonneyville Mill and enjoy being outside for a long period of time. Stretch your legs, fill your lungs with fresh air, and then get on the trail again. 

Stop at the Essenhaus for that handmade and homemade gift. This is one of my favorite places to shop for someone who already has a lot of stuff, and would like something with more thought put into the gift. Also you can head on over to Honeyville and take pictures of some beautiful farms and landscape. In Goshen, stop at the Old Bag Factory and find that perfect item for that hard to buy person on your Christmas list.  I love coming here and looking a dreaming about all the things that I would love to buy. Then head on to Nappanee. By this time, you’re going to want a snack, so stop at the Dairy Queen.  This restaurant was destroyed by the tornado, and was finally rebuilt earlier this year. They bring your food out to your table.  How great is that! Then, as you just think that you can’t be that car any longer (because it going to be so nice), get out and about in Wakarusa. Enjoy the small town atmosphere. Eat at Cook’s Pizza, and find some take along candy at the Wakarusa Dime Store.  When you head back to Elkhart, go walk the Riverwalk and exercise off all the food you ate. It will be a great day.

If you like, go to the web site at Amish Country.org, and take the virtual Heritage Trail.  You can find it by following this link amishcountry.org/heritage.trail.

Have a great time being out and about in Amish Country this week.

Mindy – Amish Country Northern Indiana Contributor

Last weekend was beautiful. The weather was perfect, low 60’s, with lots of sun.  Mina, Michael and I went to a pumpkin farm on Saturday with some friends. The kids had a great time. We had three toddlers, who liked running around the farm and patting pumpkins. At the farm, they had a box of mini pumpkins, and Mina picked up one, said “ooh” and the put it back, and repeated the process about 20 times. We went through the farms pumpkin fantasy land, which dressed pumpkins up as nursery rhymes.  The kids had fun looking at the dressed up pumpkins. We laughed at all the ways pumpkins could be dressed. They even had jailed pumpkins.

Then we went to the Essenhaus.  I didn’t make a reservation, because I thought we wouldn’t need it on a Saturday afternoon, however, it was packed. Thank goodness we only had a 10 minute wait for 6 adults and 3 toddlers. The waitress was very quick.  Even with the kids keeping us busy because they were sleepy, we really enjoyed the food and the time there. I had the chicken and noodles and it was wonderful . I love their chicken and noodles because it tastes so yummy.  Mina loved her noodles, and although the Essenhaus isn’t known for it, she ate a lot of ketchup. The other two toddlers loved the bread, and the apple butter and peanut butter for the bread.  Our meal and service was wonderful. 

By the time we made it home, Mina was asleep, and she slept for 3 hours. It was a great way to spend our day.

Mindy – Amish Country Northern Indiana Contributor

I have a great babysitter. She took my 16 month old daughter, Mina, and her 3 kids, ages from 4 years to 9 months to Kercher’s Apple Orchard. Mina picked up every stick she could find. She loves saying words, and lucky for my babysitter, apple is a new word, which she said every time she saw an apple. (Can you imagine how many times she said apple?) It was also reported to me that Mina also liked to pick up the apples off the ground, as close to the tree as possible. I don’t know how many bites of apple she had to eat, but she wasn’t hungry for the rest of the night. The kids had a great time.

So in return for her taking Mina out to Kercher’s, we’re going to take my babysitters family to another pumpkin patch in October. I can’t wait to see the kids faces when they see pumpkins dressed up and decorated. We’re going to let them pick up their jack-o-lanterns too. Since Mina’s babysitter is new to the area, we are then going to Das Dutchman Essenhaus to eat lunch…dinner… Do you really eat another meal after going to the Essenhaus?

Fall is a great time. There is so much to do, and it’s nice that our attractions focus on the outdoors. So before you go hibernate for the winter, get out and enjoy the outdoors. If you have a fun pumpkin patch story or photo comment now and share it!

-Mindy, Northern Indiana Amish Country Contributor

It is chili time in Northern Indiana Amish Country. The American Countryside Farmer’s Market is having a chili cook-off this weekend, and I feel the need to talk chili.

I brought out my dutch oven, and thought about what I wanted to make. I usually have the same two ingredients in my chili, no matter what I’m trying to do with it. I love onions and garlic. I will always have onions and garlic in my chili. Then, it’s a matter of how prepared of I am for my pot, or if I just decided in a minute that I wanted to make chili. I love adding beef, and haven’t made any recipe with pork or chicken yet. I have used wine, and mushrooms, and turned it into curry, and have made a more pot roast like dish than chili, but it always starts out the same, with onions and garlic. I love chopping my veggies and meat, although sometimes I’m more in a hurry than others, and instead of chopped pieces we get julienned pieces. Sometimes, I use fresh tomatoes, sometimes, I use canned. It all turns out well. My husband, who hated chili until I cooked it for him, loves it when he sees my pot. I can be sure that it will all be eaten in a few days, even though I start out with hopes of freezing some for later.

Mina, my 17 month old, hasn’t had soup or chili yet, but I give her a bowl and a wisk to “help” me out when I’m taking the time to make my pot. She gets bored after 3 minutes, and then goes and plays with other things that are more interesting. But soon, I’m sure that when she’s older, she’ll have memories of onions and garlic, and wonder what why she loves chili so much.

So make a batch of chili, and share it with friends, neighbors or family. Don’t forget the cornbread–I’ve also put that in the pot once too, not sure I’ll do that again, but it does give it a different texture. So while the temperature is dropping, make sure you go to the Farmer’s Market this weekend and see what chili makers are putting in their chili, and try the chili that vendors are selling to see what flavors and taste you like.  Hopefully, you’ll come home with a need to make chili.

-Mindy, Amish Country Northern Indiana Contributor

Fall is my favorite time of year.  The leaves start turning, and going home, I get to drive down east Jackson St., and enjoy the beautiful color. It’s that time when we need sweaters at night or early in the morning, and I get to start dressing my baby in ‘jammies’ that need footies. (They are my one of my favorite things.) 

The morning air is crisp, but doesn’t assault your mucus membranes when you inhale, like January and February air.  You can keep your windows open in at night, put on an extra blanket, snuggle up to your favorite bedtime buddy, and just enjoy the fact you’re not spending money on cooling the house down, or heating it yet.   

There is The Best of Autumn Outing driving tour on the Amish Country website.  Download it from the Special Tours tab, and go to all the places that celebrate fall. Take a walk down E. Jackson St. and sit for awhile at Martin’s Landing. The ducks are use to people feeding them, so when you go, expect to surround by a group or two. Go to Bonneyville Mill, take your last picnic of the year, and enjoy being outside before you have to stay in for the winter. 

Go to Middlebury and find Dutch County Market, Miller’s Apple Cider Mill and Pumpkin Patch Market– buy some pumpkins.  Then head to Goshen and walk the Mill Race, and then go to Kercher’s Sunrise Orchard. Or go to Amish Acers and see all the great things they do for fall and end your day by watching Kiss Me Kate at the Round Barn Theatre. Whatever you do, it will be fun.

If you live here, take all season and discover autumn in our area.  If you’re visiting, take a couple of days to explore the Best of Autumn Outing - it will be worth your time.

Mindy – Amish Country Northern Indiana Contributor

I know that Mancino’s is a franchise that has many locations around the US, but the best location is the one on Main Street Middlebury. The dining area is small, but the seating arrangements make it welcoming to everyone. My favorite part of Mancino’s is not the grinders and pizza, but the homemade Vic’s Ice Cream.

On my last trip, I had the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cone. The flavor of the ice cream was unlike any other ice cream I have had. It was much stronger and had more cookie dough bits in it then I have found in any other brand of ice cream. Mancino’s also has all of the familiar flavors such as vanilla and chocolate, but I urge to step out of your comfort zone and try something new! If you are only feeling slightly adventurous, they do offer free tastes.

-Tasha, Amish Country Northern Indiana contributor

Going Green is important in today’s Earth-focused world. It helps save the environment and encourages new products and innovation to occur. Elkhart County and Amish Country is not going to be left behind in this trend. We already have a leg up on many other states; a large portion of our population uses horses to get around! On the other hand, our county is one of the most production driven counties in the state of Indiana, and that is where our focus must lie. While our communities may be easy to walk around in, many places are spread out around the county. One way to go green on your vacation would be to come as a group and carpool. You can even get a cultural experience and rent a buggy to get you where you need to go!

Just pack the kids and go! That’s my motto! Okay not really, but I strive for that LOL. Actually I was very excited to pack up the family and drive the brand new Heritage Trail audio driving tour this year. My daughter just turned 5 and my son is almost 1 year. I knew, if nothing else, they would love the food stops and they did!

Armed with a handheld computer game for my daughter and lots of cheerios and wet wipes for my little guy, my husband and I started our journey on a Saturday morning.The first food stop we came to was Deutsch Kase Haus. I knew my husband would love this place since cheese is one of his favorite foods. We pulled up and it’s just the cutest little shop. They have a water fountain outside as you walk up the stairs. Once inside, it’s like a cheese wonderland…very exciting for the cheese lover! They have tons of things for sale, Amish noodles, cooking items, old fashioned candies (which my daughter went straight for), Amish Country souvenirs and of course tons of cheese for sale and best of all…lots and lots of cheese samples! We saw a window where you can see the cheese being made, but production wasn’t going that day. By the time we left we were searching for cooler space to put our yummy purchases.
Tip #1 – Bring an extra cooler for all the cheese you will buy!

Our next food stop came when we got to Shipshewana. I knew my daughter would love JoJo’s Pretzels just based on what I had heard about it, but I had never been there. It was lunch time, perfect! JoJo’s was busy but not too crowded. It’s a really neat place, casual with a window where you can watch them roll out their handrolled pretzels. You can also buy hot dogs, really good looking sandwich wraps and more! We all loved the pretzels! They really were the best soft pretzels I had ever tasted. So good, in fact, my daughter tried to eat mine after she finished hers!

Tip #2 – Take your kids to ride on the carousel and see the puppet show at the Davis Mercantile!

Next, we followed the Heritage Trail along to Yoder Popcorn in Shipshewana. We pulled up and there weren’t any cars there, which was good because it was almost naptime. If you have kids you understand what that means. We walked in and, oh my, the smell was wonderful. They had all sorts of corn poppers, oils, salts, tons of popcorn in all kinds of flavors including the carmel corn and even microwavable popcorn, of which we purchased both. And samples! Yes, more samples, cute little bags of freshly popped corn. Yum!

Tip #3 – If your kids love popcorn, make this a must-stop. This popcorn is delicious!

Finally, my daughter’s much anticipated finale came when we had dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus that night because her #1 wish for the trip was to have a piece of banana cream pie! My little guy fell asleep on the buggy ride we took right before dinner, perfect timing. My husband and I ordered fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and a side salad. Let me tell you…that chicken was so good. It really reminded me of my Grandma’s fried chicken a lot. They have a great kid’s menu too. Madison ordered chicken fingers, mashed potatoes a fruit cup and of course her banana cream pie. Can you tell how much she enjoyed it?

There are so many other places we wanted to go…so many Amish bakeries, the Wakarusa Dimes Store, The American Countryside Farmers Market… But those will have to wait until next time! When you have small kids you just do a little bit at a time. There is another trip to Amish Country with my family in the near future and I’ll be back with more must-see stops for you and your family!

Do you have a favorite food place in Amish Country or a tip for vacationing in the area with your family? Post your comment here.

-Jessica Barnhart
Technology Marketing Manager, Elkhart County CVB
Family Travels in Amish Country