Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

On Monday we drove to downtown Middlebury for the day. First stop was our favorite spot, the hardware store. It's filled with nuts, bolts, screws, tools and a million other items. We could spend hours in there, but after picking up a few items we headed out on the town. Maggie found a quilt shop and lightened up our wallets considerably.

A rose with Dad's initials?

The Quilt Shop.

For lunch we stopped at a diner on Main Street called The Village Inn. Some of the waitresses and cooks are Amish, and the food was delicious. We ate there a number of times during our stay, but it seemed like we never had any room to try their pies for dessert.

We saw many buckboards and carriages.

We boarded the van and drove over to the local grocery store, Forks, and picked up some food supplies. Then it was back to the trailers where a short time later our Uncle Sam (it’s really his name!) drove up. He had said on our last visit to Kentucky that he was planning on driving up for an overnight with us. While he was talking with Mom and Dad the Pool Flounders convened another meeting. We returned to the Village Inn for supper that night. The rest of the evening was spent talking with Uncle Sam.

Tuesday morning Sam headed back home, and we set out for Shipshewana. It was only a half hour drive to the flea market. After Dad parked the van near the horse and carriage area we walked into the market.

We spent a few hours looking and buying, but didn’t reach the end, so we planned on returning the next day. On the way back to camp we stopped at the Cheese Factory, where the Amish made and sold cheeses, which I guess is self-evident.

Mass quantities of cheese, souvenirs, etc. were purchased, after which we went back to the trailers to partake of the Pool Flounders ritual. Then we started getting ready for the evening meal.

The restaurant that night was the Dutchman Essenhause, where Mom, Dad and I had eaten last trip. It’s a large establishment with a village on the property that had numerous shops with crafts and souvenirs. Once again we packed in the food (as always this was not a weight-watchers vacation!), then strolled around the village for our “constitutional”. Mom bought a blueberry pie from the bakery to take back to the campsite for dessert. We were just wasting away from starvation. Right!

The Essenhause shops.

Wednesday morning found us back at the flea market, and this time we finished nearly all the rows. Across the street from the market was a store named Yoder’s that we stopped in. There was a fabric section (for the women folk), and a hardware section that appealed to Dad and me. I found a tool I’d been looking for there, a pin vise. Of course Maggie had more bags to stuff into the trailer. We had lunch at the trailers, did a little pool floundering, and I believe we returned to the Village Inn for supper. We were beginning to feel like regulars. After the meal we walked around the downtown area, where we saw some people marking off vendor spaces for the summer festival that was due to start on Friday, the day we were leaving. There was going to be a parade, games and street vendors through the weekend, but our plans couldn’t be changed. Something about having to make a living.