Summer

Have you ever noticed that every summer day feels like a celebration? Like the possibilities are as endless as the blue skies and the fields of corn? The summer's abundance can be seen and tasted at local farmer's markets, where each basket is filled to brimming with fresh fruits and vegetables. Bristol's market features local farmers selling their fresh-from-the- field produce every Thursday. Seasonal delights include everything from arugula to zucchini and a whole lot in between. Goshen's Mill Race Farmers Market is a shrine to fresh, organic and homemade. Local growers fill tables with heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, sweet as sugar melons, you name it they grow it.

What better way to share the joys of summer than with a few hundred thousand friends and neighbors at the County Fair. For nine days in July, the Elkhart County 4-H Fair unfurls 140 acres of family fun. As one of the largest county fairs in the nation, the action is non-stop. Learn from 4-H exhibits and demonstrations. Watch the rodeo and top-name grandstand entertainment. Cheer on harness racing, tractor-pulls and the demolition derby. Act like a kid again at the giant midway and stuff yourself on a bounty of fair foods.

Summer along the Heritage Trail is also ideal for long walks and short putts. With seven challenging and well-maintained courses to choose from, you'll discover landscapes that vary from open layouts with native-grass fairways to mature courses with small greens and tight tree-lined holes.

If your idea of summer is time spent on the water, sit back and enjoy the relaxing pace of cruising on a restored 1948 paddle boat. June through October, The Elkhart River Queen meanders along the majestic St. Joseph River, touring the gorgeous waterfront homes and area history.

And be sure to stick around for the Annual Amish Acres Arts & Crafts Festival in August. This festival welcomes over 300 artists and crafters from around the country. Live entertainment and scrumptious foods—everything from apple pie to zucchini bread—have helped to earn the festival the honor of being named one of Leisure Group Travel magazine's Top 50 Outstanding Festivals and events.