Amish Getaway

My wife and I recently enjoyed a wonderful Amish getaway!

I can't offer you a whole week on an Amish farm like the Heller family experiences in my novella Amish Park, but I have a great suggestion.

We spent a weekend in Shipshewana, Indiana. Let me tell you what to look for and offer ideas about where to stay, shop, and eat.

We stayed just a mile or two north a Shipshewana in one of these little log cabins.

Shipshewana North Park Campground

They were about the same price as an average hotel room and so cute!

The sound of horses pulling buggies can be heard as you sit on the front porch.

I have no connection with this campground and I'm not getting anything for suggesting it... I just want to help you enjoy a fun Amish getaway.

After waking up and savoring a cup of coffee on the porch swing, head on into Shipshewana for a family style meal.


We love the Blue Gate Restaurant located at the only stoplight in downtown Shipshewana.





Be sure to try the Amish peanut butter on homemade rolls. I promise you it is authentic and exactly what you would have if you visited an Amish (on the farm) church service. Some of the cooks and servers are actually Amish.

For entertainment: There are usually plays depicting Amish life on stage at the Blue Gate Theater

Downtown Shipshewana has several shopping malls and a plethora of gift shops to stroll through.

You will see Amish buggies clip-clopping past as you walk. Not to mention Amish families shopping alongside you.

This display (these are dolls about two-foot tall) of Amish girls playing volleyball is in a front yard between the campground and the restaurant. Amish young people LOVE volleyball and they are good at it! (Notice the girl rising above the net to spike the ball.) Almost every one of my books mentions Amish teens playing volleyball because it is a huge part of Amish teenage life. Check out my books. They are authentic, based on my nearly forty years of experience in an Amish community.  Author Thomas Nye

My favorite thing to do while visiting Shipshewana is driving around the countryside.

You will find scores of Amish owned stores that welcome the public. These businesses are scattered around the area on Amish farms.






Take time to drink in the beauty of Amish farms in the area. (And they are BEAUTIFUL.) Listen to the wonderful melody of horse hooves and the rumbling of buggy wheels. It has to be about my favorite sound in the world. If you are interested in Amish life, I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Amish (Horses) Paradise

 If you love horses... you need to visit Shipshewana and the surrounding area.

My wife and I visited Middlebury and Shipshewana last weekend and for me, it's an Amish Paradise!

Draft horses are everywhere! I saw a few Percherons but for the most part, the Amish here use Belgians.

 My wife is not horse crazy like me. However, she enjoyed our drive that lasted for hours... I mean hours! There are miles and miles of Amish farms. Gardens with vegetables and flowers. Hundreds of shops to visit in town and on Amish farms. Buggies coming and going to and fro. Amish people on bikes. Little children driving ponies. Yes, I kid you not, it IS an Amish Paradise!

 Pastures were lush and green.

 White houses and barns set off the green fields.

 Fences and horses are close to the road in areas.

Streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes make everything even more heavenly. This is the area that inspired my novella, Amish Park. A story about one modern family's experiences as they vacation on an Amish farm. This part of Indiana is an Amish (Horses) Paradise!