We left Rockford Illinois on Monday without really exploring the area. It had rained,the mosquitoes were terrible & we couldn’t get motivated & we were okay with that.
Our next stop was Middlebury Indiana. As we got closer to it, I started to see Bob Evans billboards & the turnpike signs started showing distances to Toledo, signs of home!! It was hard to not keep going east.
I love Amish country. It’s not everywhere that you see sights like this
This part of the country is home to the second largest Amish population in the country. I wonder if it might be the quilt capital too as there are quilt shops everywhere. I only went into a few but had a little sit and sew at one of them😜
Most of these little towns take a back seat to Shipshewana which is a huge tourist attraction, but they have The Heritage Trail driving tour. You can pick up at CD that narrates the drive & takes you through several towns. We didn’t drive the whole thing but were able to get a few shots of some of the 18 quilt gardens.
For my quilting friends, I think you can google Heritage Trail quilt gardens to see them all & get the patterns.
The towns all had beautiful hanging flowers & quilt murals
The town of Shipshewana hosts a huge flea market & auction building that sits on 100 acres. It is open on Tuesdays &Wednesday & is the midwest’s largest outdoor market. We did the unthinkable. We parked in the back, walked down one row, checked out a few shops downtown & left. All under two hours! We did spend a little time admiring the Amish made furniture
One day we went to a creamery to see cheese being made—the curds & whey being separated.
We stayed at the Middlebury KOA & one night when we came home from dinner, our neighbors had opened the side of their tow trailer & were providing entertainment.
They were from Ontario Canada & were on their way to an organ festival in Dayton Ohio.
We had reservations for a week at a Muskegon campground. When we arrived & went to our spot everything went south. After changing sites twice & sparing the unpleasant details, we got our money back & left. Luckily, the KOA in town had a spot for us for one night. It’s a really nice park on a lake & we wished we could have stayed.
We were again lucky to find a family owned place across the expressway on a lake.
It’s bike weekend in Muskegon & this place is packed!! Of course it has rained the entire weekend ruining the fun of the bikers. It let up for a bit this afternoon so we spent a little beach time at Pere Marquette park.
We found this gem & have eaten here three nights & probably will again. They sure know how to fry their fish. So far we’ve had perch, blue gill & walleye
I have never seen Blue gill on a menu & have been talking about fishing for them this whole trip.
The first night I had bluegill & Jeff had the perch. The next next we both had the walleye dinner. Two drinks each & our dinners & the bill was $26.00. Amazing! Last night I had perch. I am definitely getting my fill of lake fish.
The weather is supposed to clear up later today so there’s more exploring in the future.
Bonnie & Jeff,
The Mail Pouch Saloon in Haskins Ohio has Blue Gill in their menu. My husband had it when we went there with Kellys.
LikeLike
Thanks! We may have to stop in Haskins!!
LikeLike