Shipshewana

 Last week, a friend and I went for a little getaway to Shipshewana, Indiana.  It's a town that has embraced all the Amish people livingnin and around it and has a lot of tourists come because of that.  There is a huge flea market that happens twice a week all summer, and lots of fun shops.  There are also quite a few Amish shops.

We left Thursday evening, after I got out of work.  It's about a 2 hour drive from my home to Shipshewana.

We stopped halfway down at this Restaurant and had a wood fire cooked pizza which was really good.  

We had both been to this area many times, but had put the hotel address in our phones just to be sure.  Well, that backfired.  Both of our phones were leading us in different directions, and we ended up in a few fields.  We stopped to ask directions and even called the hotel and still we couldn't find it!  At this point we were laughing so hard, and also feeling like crazy people! It turns out that our phones were leading us the wrong way down the street it's on, so no wonder we couldn't find it.  When we got to the hotel, the guy at check in said it seems to happen a lot when people try to use GPS, so we felt a little better!  :) 

After we checked in, we went back out because we could see the sunset was amazing!  

Then we came in and checked out the hotel.

It was huge and included this ice cream parlor, where they serve ice cream every evening until 9.  When we got there, it was just a little after 9, so no ice cream for us.

When we got up, this was our view.  I think seeing cows beats big buildings any time!

The hotel had a complimentery breakfast that was probably the best I've had at a hotel.  They even made you omelettes to order.

Then we checked out and went to some of the shops.

Excuse the blurry picture, I took it as we were driving.   I love seeing the Amish buggies, carts, the people riding bikes and the homes with the laundry hanging out.

It's also fun to hear the clopping of the horses as they pull the buggies around.

We had fun shopping and found some cute things.  I even bought a few Christmas gifts.
Later in the afternoon, we had an early supper at The Essenhaus, which is a huge restaurant that is well known for it Amish meals.
After that we went back to an Amish store, which is so fun to walk through.

They sell the cutest wagons and carts.

They also sell equipment the Amish people continue to use, that most people quit using with the use of electricty.

I had taken a cooler and bought some meat here to stock the freezer with.  The meat is much more reasonably priced and it's healthy, since the Amish feed their livestock natural foods.

This photo shows what life is like in Shipshewana.  Horses and buggies, parked next to cars!  
Time to go home - we got back shortly before 7.

It was such a fun time.  Plus - my freezer has meat in it and I got a few gifts purchased!