Amish Country Near Fort Wayne, Indiana

In late October, my better half and I were in Fort Wayne for a Conference. We had some time on that Friday afternoon to do some exploring in the area. Our group piled in three cars to do some quick and eventful hunting for adventure! Our mission was to have fun! This trek took us about forty-five minutes into the rolling country-side surrounding the peaceful terrain of Fort Wayne.The drive was restful and our eyes soaked up the sprawling pastoral scenes as we ambled our way into unknown territory. We disembarked from our vehicles on a small town street with leaves piled in every direction. The curbs in front of the houses on the street were piled high with leaves ready to be scooped up by a city truck. The leaves were so deep, we were almost afraid to park on them. The trees were colorful and bright against a gray sky that day!

Walking into a local Cafe in the surrounding Fort Wayne area, we immediately encountered the dessert display with lots of homemade pies and cakes! Yum! As we ordered from the large menu, we took note of the very reasonable prices. I decided to try some homemade seafood chowder and sweet potato fries. No disappoinment here as they were steamy and tasty! Watch out for those hot dishes. I blistered the roof of my mouth, as I could not remove the fry quickly enough. I finished my meal with a pumpkin cake that was unique and light and full of pumpkin flavor! Wonderful!

As we continued on our journey, we saw Amish farms sprinkled over the area! Occasionally we passed Amish buggies making their way slowly down the road. The weather was chilly that day and most of the buggies were closed to keep the cold out therefore we were not able to see many faces as we passed by.

We eventually stopped at an Amish shop called Our Front Porch. It was very touristy in appearance, but clean, bright and appealing. Their merchandise ranged from clothing to knick knacks to toys. We found lots of fun items and several of us made early Christmas purchases!

While searching the shelves for gifts, I found a salt and pepper shaker set on a plate, designed as Christmas packages! They were inexpensive, brightly colored and a great Christmas purchase for some of the ladies in my family! I took my purchases to the counter to check out and placed them carefully on the counter, as they were breakable. The sales clerk went to the stockroom to find some of the sets boxed for travel. As my selection sat on the counter, the ladies checking out at the counter began to express their desire for a set. One of my friends found the cream and sugar set and brought it to the counter for me to see. Let's just say that there was a buying frenzy for several minutes! Where is my commission? Oh, did I mention where these were made? China, of course. But, I like my purchases!

As we were leaving the gift shop, the traffic was piling up on the only road leading out of town! Just past the store, a car was in the ditch! The memory we took away with us was the sight of many Amish buggies and cars stopped on the road, like a small traffic jam in the city. Instead of the big city, we were in this little Amish country town in the middle of nowhere!

All in all, we had a relaxing and memorable day with images from the Amish culture embedded in our thoughts for a long time! I still smile today as I remember our excursion that Friday afternoon as we toured the outskirts of Fort Wayne! The question is Do they remember us?