8/17/20 - 8/24/20 Goodlettsville, TN to Cave City, KY, 77 miles, stayed at Cave Country RV Campground, one week, $274
8/24/20 - 8/25/20 Cave City, KY to Shepherdsville, KY, 65 miles, stayed at Grandma’s RV Park, one night, $32
8/25/20 - 8/29/20 Shepherdsville, KY to Indianapolis, IN, 134 miles, stayed at Lake Haven Retreat, 4 nights, $155
8/29/20 - 8/31/20 Indianapolis, IN to Bluffton, IN, 115 miles, stayed at Bluffton/Ft Wayne KOA, 2 nights, $84
8/31/20 - 9/10/20 Bluffton, IN to Shipshewana, IN, 80 miles, stayed at Shipshewana South Campground for 10 nights
We’ve traveled up the middle of the country, not seeing much of anything besides corn and soy fields. We stayed near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, but learned there was only one self-guided tour through the cave that didn’t reach many of the interesting formations. BTW - the Access Pass did NOT cover entrance into the cave. That was another $12.00! So I thought we could at least go to the visitor center and look at the displays. National Parks usually have great visitor centers. As I walked to the entrance, I noticed yellow crime-scene tape that divided the entrance into three lines, one for purchasing tickets into the cave, one for the souvenir shop, and one for the cave entrance if you’d bought tickets in advance. So, nice drive in the woods, but no visitor center.
We did pass the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY. That looked cool. But, they weren’t offering tours at the time.
We decided to drive through the countryside and look for barn quilts along their “Barn Quilt Trail”. What a smart way to preserve old barns and drive tourists to explore the area. I love these things! We stopped at a great roadside farm stand and bought fresh veggies, and found a great hole-in-the-wall place called 5 Broke Girls in Horse Cave, KY to have excellent chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and cream gravy. It’s really hard to find good chicken-fried cooking, but the owner is from Ft. Worth, so she knew how to make it right! And, there was an Amish bakery by the highway, so we picked up a dinner-plate sized cinnamon roll.
We found Indianers to be very welcoming. We met a group of about 30 campers at the Bluffton KOA who were all neighbors/friends back in Ft. Wayne who liked to get away on the weekends together. When they found out we’d never been to Indiana, they heartily greeted us and invited us to join them around their campfire that night. We brought the last of our jalapeño cheddar sausage, and they handed us solo shot cups to try Smoky Mountain Apple moonshine and peanut butter bourbon. We were something of an oddity and some of them gathered around to hear about our travels.
This is the best part of traveling - meeting people from all over the country and swapping stories. But we were a little concerned about getting too close. As it got darker, we scooted closer for warmth and to be able to hear each other, because the others got rowdier as the night wore on!
Amish Country
We saw our first horse and buggy just outside Shipshewana. Of all the things that define Amish country, I love that unmistakable “clip-clop“ sound as they drive by. Poor horses only get a small shoulder on the side of the road to drive in. And on the weekends, they have to share that with tourists on bicycles. They must be well-trained. It was funny to see them lined up at the hitching posts outside grocery stores, restaurants and even at the bank. Yes, Amish are allowed to use the bank, but some had to walk up to the drive-through window.
Rules that govern their way of life vary greatly depending on their beliefs. There is a museum in town called the Menno-Hof that tells the history of the Amish people from their Anabaptist beginnings in Switzerland. I was fascinated by where they draw the line. In general, they don’t drive cars, but can go in a car driven by someone else. They don’t have electricity in their house and they don’t have phones, but they can use one at a nearby location.
I met a Mennonite couple who owned Teaberry Wood Products on Morton Street that made baskets and wooden nativity scenes. She wore a dress and covered her hair. He had a short beard. They have a website to advertise their business. One of their sons operates a computer at a factory. And they are Harvest Host hosts, so they have to manage reservations somehow.
One night as I was walking around our campground, I stopped to watch a baseball game going on in the neighboring field between Amish and “English” teams. There were girls on both sides. The Amish girls played barefoot and hitched up their dresses to run the bases. Then I walked to the other side of the campground to feed their huge draft horses the tall grass they dared not reach for because the fence was electrified. At their shoulders, these horses were taller than me and gorgeous!
Shipshewana holds a flea market every Tuesday and Wednesday. People come from all over the world to shop there. Some of the stuff is typical flea market fare, lots of cheap items made in China, but you can also find homemade gems among them - jams, jellies, honey, maple syrup, baked goods, wood products, hand-sewn and hand-woven items. I went twice. It only costs three dollars to park, and it’s free to get in. I was lucky to go on a Wednesday to experience the Auction Barn. People who have items to sell, set their goods up on Tuesday in an assigned lot that’s designated by an area painted on the concrete floor. Buyers can browse to get an idea of what’s there. On Wednesday, A dozen auctioneers move around the space and auction off all the wares. It’s a cacophony of quick-fire bidding, and so much fun to watch! I saw one older Amish farmer buy several large crockery, wooden block and tackle, a plow, chains, and a manual washing machine that he loaded on the back of his horse-drawn wagon. I wanted so badly to take a picture, but they don’t like people taking photos. They don’t believe in making graven images of themselves.
On Friday night, Bill and I were craving Mexican food (I know, Mexican food in Indiana!). We quickly tired of the heavy, German-influenced meat and potatoes they served at the touristy restaurants. So we took a risk and went for take-out at the only Mexican food place in town, El Zorrito 2. When we pulled in, we noticed that that the hitching post, that was as long as the building, was full of buggies, and there many bicycles out front. Inside, we found mostly Amish! It was packed, and they don’t wear masks, so we ordered and sat outside to wait. More Amish came and joined us on the porch. We had the best conversations waiting there on the porch, really interesting, lovely people!
Best food hint - Ben’s soft pretzels sell their pretzels for $1 on the first Thursday of every month! Fresh and hot out of the oven, they sprinkle on your choice of flavoring, like cinnamon sugar or Parmesan, and add a dipping sauce, like cream cheese frosting or marinara sauce! It’s easy to overindulge!
