When you think “road trip”, what comes to mind? The World’s Biggest Ball of Yarn? Buccees pit stops, Route 66, gas station pizza and curated playlists? Mountains and rivers and bison? I bet you haven’t been considering Northern Indiana Amish Country. I visited the area for a quick road trip adventure and had a blast, so here’s a few reasons why you should too:
- Incredible Makers with amazing female business owners to artisanal pottery and retro bikes
- Incredible Bakers with infinite pies, pretzels & noodles
- Amish Americana barns, buggies and other cultural icons
Elkhart, Indiana
I arrived in Elkhart, Indiana, a mid-sized city along two rivers, with very few expectations. We checked into the Hotel Eckhart, a fully restored historic hotel downtown.
Elkhart, Indiana, is best known as the RV capital of the world as it produces over 80% of all RVs in the United States, but it also has history of being the heart of the musical manufacturing industry for most of the 20th century. Situated along two rivers, Elkhart boasts a beautiful RiverWalk, a 1.7 mile loop trail in downtown that features gardens, sculptures, bridges, and easy access to restaurants and bars.
In the morning, we headed away from the modern city of Elkhart to the massive breakfast buffet at Das Dutchman Essenhaus, an 1,100 seat family-owned Amish style restaurant in Middlebury, Indiana. Joel Miller, the manager, is a son of the founders, Bob and Sue Miller, who moved from Ohio in 1971 to found the business.
The restaurant staff is primarily Amish and Mennonite, and the booths are made of traditional buggies. Relying on home traditional recipes, they first had to buy noodles from a distributor to sell at scale for their famous Amish noodle dishes. The home recipe calls for hand rolling and then thinning out in layers, no extrusion, which seemed impossible for them to make enough. One day, a Kroger rep stopped in and told them how to scale up their homemade noodles, and from that day on they’ve been making their own noodles in house. Every baked good is made from scratch on site, and they have more than 30 types of pies.
There are five buildings that make up the complex that includes the restaurant – with stores that sell Amish goods, a famous-to-the-quilting-community Quilt Shop, a theater, an inn conference center and even pickleball courts. You can get a horse-drawn carriage ride from here around the area if you want to class up your shopping.
After Essenhaus, we hit the road towards Middlebury and Goshen, stopping at Dutch Country Market, a family-owned Amish grocery store featuring noodle making demonstrations and local honey from the bees that the store’s owner, Norman Lehman cultivates on his property. The noodles are made by the owner’s wife and daughters, and they’re made with durum wheat flour, egg yolk, and water as the only ingredients. With no preservatives and a huge cult following, Kate’s Homemade Noodles are available at some Whole Foods Markets.
The next stop was Heritage Ridge Creamery, founded in 1979 by a local Middlebury Amish Man but now owned by a Michigan Cheese Coop since 2017, focuses on making Amish style longhorn cheese with local ingredients. If you have a hankering for any type of Jack, cheddar or farmer’s cheese, you can watch them make it before you eat it at Heritage Ridge. Our new favorite is Thunder Jack!
After some cheese, we stopped in Goshen to see Goertzen Pottery and Janus Retro Motorcycles and meet the incredible artists and manufacturers.
Mark Goertzen is a master of his craft at Goertzen Pottery, deeply in touch with his artist’s soul, and an absolute joy to learn from. His pieces are elegant and lovely to look at but he maintains a focus on making functional pieces for everyday living.
Goertzen spoke to us about why handmade functional art is important are incredibly powerful: “Because handmade objects carry the spirit of the artist, pottery connects us to one another in ways that mass-produced objects can’t. My pieces are meant to bring beauty to everyday life, and perhaps the greatest reward is building relationships with the people who take my pots into their lives and homes.”
The shop opened in 1984, and goes through six tons of clay a year, making custom work, his own standard pieces for his shop, and sharing community with other potters. The shop is fully stocked with gorgeous handcrafted items: everything from a beautiful 3-quart Soda-Fired Casserole Dish to textured and elegant lotion dispensers. Just viewing the handmade pottery and speaking with Mark makes you appreciate the artistry and soulfulness of the work.
Janus is a small-scale manufacturer of hand-made retro bikes in Northern Indiana. Grant Longenbaugh, the President and CMO of the company, is very proud of the bike’s Indiana heritage and culture, saying that “half the bike is touched by Amish people”. The bikes are assembled here in Goshen, and more than half the bike’s parts are manufactured in house, and only 7 components are imported Internationally. If you’re passionate about motorcycles, American manufacturing, and a fun and welcoming experience to try out some cool looking bikes, this is a wonderful place to tour and visit.
The next day, we departed from Elkhart early in the morning for a full day in Shipshewana, named after a Potawatomi chief, known as the “heart of Amish country”. Bicycles and buggies dominate the roads, and everything closes by 6pm.
First up for the day was The Shipshewana Trading Place, an auction house, restaurant and famous flea market founded in 1922. We started with cinnamon rolls and coffee, then learned how to be auction experts for the 10-ring Antique Auction. Because it was a Wednesday, they were hosting their weekly year-round livestock auctions throughout the day, which I found udderly fascinating.
After the auction, I learned how to roll Ben’s Soft Pretzels with the owner and co-founder, Ben Miller. Ben and his wife grew up Amish, but left 15 years ago. They moved to Shipshewana in 2003 with their small home bakery, then bought a farmer’s market pretzel stand on a whim. From there, the business boomed, and they now have 200 franchises across 24 states, including 5 NFL stadiums. Pretzels are not my favorite snack but these were truly the best I have ever tasted and I am now hooked.
The Miller family may have left the Amish community, but they maintain a strong connection to their Christianity in their work. Legend has it that pretzels were invented in the 600s by a monk, who made the shape with the arms twisted as though in prayer, with the three holes representing the Holy Trinity. They do a lot of charity work each year, and all seven of their children are involved in the family business.
After the delicious pretzels and learning the secret to twisting the arms perfectly, we headed to Kid’s Kreations for the immersive and unusual “Make and Take” doll class. Kid’s Kreations is owned and operated by the fascinating Clara Wagler, an Amish entrepreneur with a passion for creating personalized experiences for doll lovers. She and her sister started playing with their own hand-made cereal box dolls when they were little girls, and they always dreamed of creating the perfect toy store experience for kids.
You can make an Amish doll for $40 and customize pretty much everything about it from head to toe, everything to make it your own. You can also build a non-Amish doll with different features and more customization for more.
After a great day of crafting and baking, we checked into the Blue Gate Garden Inn, a modern inn with rural style. Staying at Blue Gate, you can’t miss the pies and hearty meals at Blue Gate Restaurant. With a shop full of Amish crafts and a theater, there’s always something to check out.
The next day, we continued meeting and learning from some fascinating & unique to Indiana Amish country makers about their crafts and industry. At Hoosier Buggie Shop, we met with Amish owner Maynard Hostetler, and he walked us through the buggy making process. A family business started by his father in 1960, he bought the business in 2000 and has continued the craft. Each one is handcrafted and custom for the owner, and can take up to 6 months to build.
Maynard also supplies the local community with handmade coffins and caskets. I learned from him that a proper coffin contains no 90-degree angles, in order to make it easier for viewing. However, a casket will have 90 degree angles, but the lid is higher to compensate.
My final stop in Indiana Amish Maker country was a basket making class at Teaberry Wood Products, where you learn to assemble their sturdy and beautiful wooden baskets.
Indiana Amish country is home to so many amazing American craftspeople. Getting away from the city to meet people whose work and family is completely dedicated to creating art, food and experiences is a truly special experience. You can walk away with heirlooms that you had a hand in creating, learn a new skill, or just enjoy that humanity has such diverse talent. And there are just so many pies to eat! It would be impossible to try them all, but I will happily try my best.