Hey Puppy

Hi everyone!  I thought I’d give Paul a break today and write about one of our busiest days yet here in Indiana.  We woke up early (8 am!) had a quick waffle and jumped into the gangster mobile to head out to Amish country.  First stop, Shipshewana!  We always go to “Shipshe” whenever we come to Elkhart.  It’s a little town that features a lot of Amish attractions from shops to restaurants to historic museums.   It’s a fun place to soak up Amish culture. 

Luckily we went on Flea Market day. You can always find great things here at the Flea Market.

Paul thinks that they should have named this Whack-a-Mole

Lovely home decor, like this giant moss covered wicker basket

For a belated birthday gift, Paul said I could pick anything out at the Flea Market and he'd buy it for me... ANYTHING. I was just about to pick out one of these precious cuties when something beautiful and exquisite suddenly caught my attention from the corner of my eye...

I found it!!! This is what I want.

You can also buy some really elegant apparel here, like this classy yet versatile "popcorn" shirt

Paul looking marvelous in fashionable eyewear ($5 each!!)

After we finished with the flea market, we decided to visit some of the other things Shipshe had to offer… like the free sampling of Amish foods!

Cheese sampling at Yoder's Red Barn, a huge store for fine Amish goods and treats

The signs say only one sample of each item per person. But I took that as a "suggested" sample ration. I ate a ton of everything and I had no bad side-effects!

We must be the worst customers ever, becasue after eating a couple of pounds of samples, the last thing we want to do is buy more food to eat.

We then headed off to another Amish market area (there are several big barn-like buildings with a lot of different shops inside) in search for a snack (we didn’t consider the samples as a snack because samples are not snacks no matter how many you eat!)  We ran into Jo Jo’s  Pretzel shop that Paul remembered serving incredible pretzels the last time we were here.  They’re freshly made and piping hot when you get your order.

Hot, chewy and soft and served with mustard. Best pretzel we've ever had!

We spent some time wandering around the neighborhoods that featured little Amish stores and bakeries down each lane while taking in the lovely Amish aromas. 

All of the main shopping areas have a section for the Amish to park their horse-drawn carriages.

Shipshewana is always a fun place to visit!  If we ever moved to Indiana, Paul and I are going to open up a Middle-Eastern restaurant right here in Shipshewana and call it “Shipshawarma.”  *cymbal crash*

After we finished with Shipshewana, we headed out in search for something that Paul has been dreaming about for years, the elusive fresh blueberry pie. 

Let’s go back in the time machine:

The first time Paul came to Indiana several years back, it was later in the summer and smack dab in the middle of blueberry season.  Driving back from Shipshe we stumbled across a bakery that was operated right out of an Amish house on a random country road.  We stopped and that’s where Paul had his first taste of Amish fresh blueberry pie, and he has been dreaming of it ever since.  Sadly, the next time he was here a couple of years ago, it was too early in the season and when we visited the same bakery we had to settle for apple pie (still good but not as awesome as blueberry pie.)

Back to the present!

Would we be lucky this time around???  We had to find out!  We searched for the hidden bakery and luckily found it pretty easily!

This is the place! Far into Amish country and easy to pass up if you're not in the know of the great things this place has to offer.

The huge Amish kitchen with their daily offerings

BUT DO THEY HAVE FRESH BLUEBERRY PIE???  Paul was dying of the anticipation, he was antsy and foaming at the mouth and very close to having an anxiety attack.  We quickly looked at the pies listed on the board.

NOOooooOOOOoooOOOOO!!!!

Our hearts sank, but that’s okay.  Again, it is much too early for blueberry season to be in full swing, it just can’t be helped.  But the Amish man tending the bakery was so nice and friendly that we couldn’t leave without buying a little something.  We decided on fresh strawberry pie, a blueberry turnover, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies.  When the man learned we were visiting from Hawaii, he threw in a loaf of bread for free!  We left happy and ready for more Amish country exploring.  If you’re ever in the neighborhood or you found this post through a google search, go as fast as you can to Country Lane Bakery, they’re fantastic!!

Up next???

THE CHEESE FACTORY!!!

This is another place we always visit whenever we’re in Amish country.  It’s similar to the previous cheese/meat sampling shop we went to earlier, but at this place you get to watch them make the cheese right in the store!

A vat of cheese curds, I'd give anything to go swimming in there.... naked.

More sampling of the cheeses. They make a ton of different varieties. Paul and I tasted all of them, repeatedly.

After our cheese fill, we continued on with our exploration.  We happened across ANOTHER Amish bakery and we just had to stop (I think Paul was still hopeful for finding the fresh blueberry pie.)

This place was loaded with great stuff!!! But no blueberry pie, so sorry Paul. However, we couldn't leave empty handed! Don't be absurd...

We opted for a fresh raspberry pie!

We then decided to start heading on back to Elkhart.  The drive is always nice in the countryside with huge open farmlands, barns, Amish houses, and lots of animals.

I've learned on this trip that I'm challenged in my animal identification abilities. I mistook a field of sheep for a field of beagles, a spotted goat for a baby horse, and a hairy catepillar for a piece of chocolate. Anyway I think this is a horse (?) but I'm not ruling anything else out.

On our drive we couldn't stand it anymore and succumbed to our desires. We pulled over on the side of the road and chowed down on that fine blueberry turnover we bought earlier. It was good, but not fresh blueberry pie good.

At that point we realized we had been snacking all day long and never really had a square meal.  But we didn’t want to ruin our appetite as my Uncle Bob was cooking dinner at my grandma’s house that evening, so we were on the hunt for a small yet tasty Amish meal that we could share just to tie us over.  Something with seasoned meat and a yummy creamy garlic sauce wrapped up nicely in a warm piece of flat bread would be perfect…  but where???  We then remember a restaurant that we had been to several times before that had the perfect solution for these type of predicaments…. the heavenly gyro!!

It's the perfect food! Paul is glowing with happiness and garlicky effervescence.

After our small lunch we did a little more driving and decided to stop by a large grassy field.

At this point Paul passed out from gluttony and napped near a nice flower garden. I've heard of people eating so much that they loosen the top button of their pants, but I've never heard of someone eating so much that they lose a shoe.

After he felt refreshed, we headed straight to another big market on the outskirts of Elkhart.  This one was similar to the ones we visited earlier that day with lots of country knick-knacks and Amish goods.

Paul and I posing for another cutesy couple photo, awwww!

After we browsed for a bit we decided we were done with our Amish adventure and headed on home as it was nearing dinner time.  When we got there dinner wasn’t quite ready yet so we walked over to the big park directly across the street.  There’s a playground there that we always played on when we were kids (no not Paul and I, my BROTHER and I silly!) 

Paul passes out again

This merry-go-round must have been here for thirty years at least. Every single time I get on it, I get sick to my stomach and am nauseated for hours. I must not learn my lessons very well, because I attempt it every time I'm here and the results are always the same. I'm still a little nauseated at the time of this writing.

After the park I snapped some pictures around my grandma’s house for sharing.

Here's my dad napping in the enclosed patio

The front of the house with the gangster mobile

The backyard with my grandma's garden and the barn shed, you can see the huge park that's just across the street.

Here's the back of the house, the enclosed patio is on the left.

Finally it was dinner time!  We were starving as we hardly had anything to eat all day.

Uncle Bob made a salmon loaf. It was good!

Are you ready for the perfect ending to our perfect Indiana day??  YOU GOT IT!!

Paul serves up BOTH pies that we got in Amish country today! Take a good look at my mom's excitement, THIS is where I get my dessert obsession from.

I really liked both pies both but I think the consensus was that the fresh strawberry pie from Country Lane Bakery was the big winner

WAIT!!  That wasn’t all we bought for dessert… can’t forget these babies:

Amish chocolate chip cookies from Country Lane Bakery, very soft and delicious

Okay, finally my belly is full, which can only mean one thing.  IT’S TIME TO GO TO SLEEP!  I can’t wait to find out what we’re going to eat tomorrow!  Be sure to check out the rest of our photos on Flickr if you’re interested (slideshow mode is best to see bigger photo sizes.) Byeee!