The best part of RV travel is not always the scenic stuff.  Scenic is good.  It can be really good.  But, the scenic stuff can be like a chocolate or a piece of delicious pie.  Great for a few moments of pleasure, but it’s quickly forgotten.

For me, the best part of RV travel is when I learn something from a visiting a new place.  Such was the case when I visited the small Amish community of Shipshewana, IN.

I’ll give a little spoiler alert about this post.  There’s some religious stuff in the post.  It’s not me preaching.  But being a religious guy, I ran across some religious history on this journey that helped explain some things about the Amish people.

A Road Trip Stop

I read about Shipshewana from fellow blogger Nick Russell of the Gypsy Journal.  I can’t remember when he wrote about it, but I recall that Nick said that this little village was a favorite stop whenever he was traveling across northern Indiana.  I seem to recall that Nick’s fondness for this place was the food.  But, it’s also an Amish community which drew my attention.

On my recent road trip out to Iowa, I decide to include Shipshewana as stop on my trip.  I enjoy good food, but my primary interest was to see and experience an Amish community.

Shipshewana is in northern Indiana near Elkhart.  It’s about 15 miles south of I-80 so it’s not too far off the beaten path.  Shipshewana is a small place with about 600 full-time residents.  It is one of four nearby small Amish communities.  In northern Indiana, LaGrange county is home to about 20,000 Amish.

When the Amish and Mennonites first immigrated from Germany and Switzerland, they settled in the Lancaster county area of Pennsylvania.  As more of the people came to the US, they pushed west and settled in Ohio and northern Indiana.  Today, these three states (IN, OH, PA) are home to the largest Amish populations in the US.

Before I visited Shipshewana, here’s what I knew about the Amish.

• They were of German descent and some spoke German or something called Pennsylvania Dutch.
• They rode in horse draw buggies and did not use cars.
• They were primarily farmers.
• They did not utilize electricity in their homes.
• They sort of all looked alike dressing in plain clothes.  Women worn bonnets and wore long dresses.  Men all had beards and wore straw hats.
• Mennonites and Amish were alike, they just had different names

That was it.  I thought the Amish were more about preserving their heritage and a choice to live a simple lifestyle.  What I knew was based on visual images and perceptions.  At Shipshewana, I learned much more.  The Amish people are not just about a simple lifestyle.  Being Amish is all  about religious beliefs.

Some Brief Amish History

The Amish history began in the 1600’s in Switzerland (not Germany).  It was an off shoot of the Protestant reformation movement started by Martin Luther in the 1500’s.

The Amish (and Mennonites and Hutterities) all began as Anabaptist.  These groups were all Christian but they broke from the main line Protestant church based on three main beliefs;

• They believed that following Jesus Christ was a choice that only adults could make and as such did not believe in infant baptism. They believed in adult baptism once a person made a choice to follow Christ.
• They believed that church and state were separate and the primary authority for rules and  judgements was the church.
• The were against using any violence to settle disputes.

The groups were persecuted for their beliefs and in the 1700s fled Europe like many to find religious freedom.

The Anabaptist split into three groups based on further refining their beliefs.  One group headed by Jakob Ammann (that’s where the Amish name came from) believed in living simply and following the morals as stated the New Testament – specifically the morals and behaviors taught in the Gospel of Mathew in the Sermon on the Mount.

The characteristics of this living include;

• Being humble and showing humility at all times.  Pride is not a virtue of the Amish.
• Dressing plain and simple to avoid any display of pride or individualism.  The more plain the better.
• Focusing on community instead of individual.
• Men not shaving their beards because Jesus and the men in the Bible grew their beards.
• Not using modern conveniences like electricity in their homes because it would lead to pride and individualism.  The same is true with automobiles.
• Practicing in non-resistance and not participating in military service.

All of the rules for Amish living are set by the local church Bishop.  The rules are enforced and those who violate the rules and do not repent are either excommunicated or shunned.

The Amish in Northern Indiana

The rules that are mentioned above can be tweaked by the local Bishop.  Here’s some interesting things I learned about Amish while I visited Shipshewana;

• In addition to using horse-drawn buggy, they can ride bicycles.
• Most Amish children are home schooled or go to Amish schools.  The are educated up to the eight grade.  Beyond that, many are a taught a trade skill by family members or elders.  A Supreme Court ruling in 1972 allowed the Amish to forego mandatory schooling of children past the 8th grade.
• The Amish do not practice birth control and tend to have large families (6-7 children on average).  There are about 200,000 Amish in the US and their population is growing by about 10%.  When children reach the age of 19-20 years old, 90% decide to be baptized and stay in the faith.
• Amish do not like their picture taken considering it a display of pride or lack of humility.
• In the 1970’s, the Amish felt that relying totally on farming was not sustainable for their population.  Many are now allowed to work off the farm in trades (carpentry, furniture making, crafts).
• About 53% of Amish men in northern Indiana work in the local RV manufacturing industry.  They may use technology and modern tools at their work but not at home.

Shipshewana

At Shipshewana I saw a several Amish people and hundreds of non-Amish tourists.  For a typical day visitor, Shipshewana is a place to shop-till-you-drop and sample some Amish style home cooking.  The twice weekly Shipshewana Flea Market is a big draw for tourists on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  I was there on a Thursday and didn’t get a chance to see the Flea Market.  In the small town center, there are numerous craft and furniture stores.

Here’s a short video I made of driving into and strolling around Shipshewana.

Not being a shopper, I didn’t visit the stores and have no idea if the goods are Amish or foreign-made.  But among the all the tourists, tour buses, and all the cars, I saw several horse-drawn buggies on the streets and numerous Amish folks doing errands.  There are special places for the buggies to tied up and horse droppings on the roads and streets are common.

The local farms mostly grow corn or soybeans.  The farms all seem to have a wind mill to pump water.  Most houses have clothes air drying on lines.  I saw plenty of horses in pastures but didn’t see any big tractors or farm machines.

The best stop I made was at the Menno-Hof Center just off the town center.  This is a non-profit educational center which helps to explain and promote the Anabaptist beliefs and culture.

There are several videos and displays that depict the Anabaptist history and beliefs.  I spent an hour at the Menno-Hof center.  Sitting through the videos and walking through the displays gave me a much better understanding of the Amish and Mennonite people.  The Menno-Hof center was the source for much of the info I’m sharing in this post.

So I learned a lot about the Amish during my stop at Shishewana.  Not forgetting what Nick Russell wrote about, I did sample some of the food.  I had a great lunch at the Blue Gate restaurant.  The lunch buffet let me sample many food items.  It all was delicious and tasted home-made.  The pies reminded me of the pies my Mother used to make.

I’m glad I made the stop at Shipshewana.  It’s worth the stop if you’re going across Indiana on I-80.