7 Reasons I LOVE to Visit Shipshewana
2nd in a series of Travel Memories by Shipshewana Visitors - Shipshewana has something to do all year and our visitors love making it a tradition with friends and family. We are excited to share some of these amazing times with you straight through their own words.
Cathy loves coming to Shipshewana so much that she sees herself more as a neighbor than a visitor. Check out these 7 reasons why she says Shipshewana is a fun, special place for her to visit with friends and family year-round. (She’s also a retired photographer, so she has captured some pretty great pictures too!)
#1 Grandkids’ Favorite Trip
Photo on an Amish Buggy Ride courtesy of Cathy (Kendallville, IN)
My grandkids get a special day each year and I take them on a trip or outing. They ALWAYS choose Shipshewana!
#2 Shipshewana Auction
Photo Courtesy of Cathy (Kendallville, IN)
One of my 9-year old grandsons loves to bid at the auction with me. His minimalist-minded mother sometimes cringes at our auction shopping experiences!
Having my grandkids bid at auction is a learning opportunity. If they get $10, they have to think about what they want, what they are willing to bid on, and really makes them think about spending.
#3 Always find One-of-a-Kind Items
Photo Courtesy of Cathy (Kendellville, IN)
Some of the Most Unique Treasures We Have Bid On
Gigantic Painted Canvas (approx. 10’ X 8’) which I have used over and over. – What a great upcycling and re-purposing project buy! – We hauled this on a very windy day and agreed if it blew out, we were going to just keep going.
- Life-Sized Mermaid
- Early Typewriter – I didn’t get the bid on and some of these things we just mourn over.
- Fortune teller booth with a mannequin fortune teller!
- A Stuffed Fish
- A Stuffed Turkey – My grandson’s mother was really glad he didn’t get that one!
- Tilt-a-Whirl Amusement Ride Car
- Las Vegas at Night on velvet – a prized possession of my grandson’s.
While at the auctions in the summer, I usually go to the flea market to visit my favorite booths, but particularly the fruits & vegetables or plants.
#4 There is So Much to Do That Each Trip is Different
Photo of Shipshewana Auction courtesy of Cathy (Kendallville, IN)
I do spend a lot of time at the Shipshewana Auction. If you just stand back and look at the crowd, you see tourists, farmers, Amish, folks from Chicago and other cities, it is mind boggling! You name it, they are there.
The auctioneers, clerks and staff are really supportive in helping you become comfortable buying at an auction if that is something you have never done. If my young grandkids can master it, anyone even a little apprehensive can buy at an auction too.
When I am not at the auction, I am discovering all the other great places in Shipshewana! I have a barn quilt painting on my barn and my next visit is going to be a trip to Eash Sales to purchase a really nice barn quilt. They are so nice and very reasonable, so I plan to just tack the new square over the peeling ones I had painted at home. They have some of the neatest things, not to mention my grandkids love to look inside the numerous cabins they also sell.
#5 Quality Meats, Cheeses & Specialty Items
We love going to Yoder’s Meat & Cheese to pick up a processed ¼ or ½ beef. And, we can’t pass up buying cheese, sausage and other quality finds while there.
#6 Unique Shops…Too many to count!
Photo Courtesy of Cathy (Kendallville, IN)
The Mercantile building is fantastic. The kids love going there. I cannot veer from our schedule, it is always the music store, lunch at Millie’s Market Cafe (the mac and cheese is smiley face shaped which they love), the toy store, the candy store, the carousel… The 3rd floor is “kids heaven”. They don’t want to do anything else they love to do what they did the time before – it never gets old!
There is every candy known to man in the candy store! I have to give them a time limit so they don’t stay in there forever!
Photo Courtesy of Cathy (Kendallville, IN)
The toy store has the nicest selection and the grandkids get to pick a reasonably priced toy a book and their selection of items and the products themselves are really nice and educational!
The man who operates the carousel is so nice and he let’s the kids have a really enjoyable ride… even my teenage granddaughter enjoys it.
The people in the music store (Simple Sounds) are fantastic, my grandkids love to test out the instruments, try out the wind chimes and they are so welcoming for them to do that.
#7 Something to Do Year-Round
Photo inside Sarah Davis in the Davis Mercantile Courtesy of Cathy (Kendallville, IN)
Shipshewana takes on a different atmosphere in the fall and winter and is really nice that time of year as well.
I haven’t been to Shipshewana during the evening very often, but this past season, we had dinner and went through the drive thru Christmas lights and was really impressed with that! Seeing Shipshewana in the evening was a real treat.
Photo courtesy of Cathy (Kendallville, IN)
Shipshewana is a great place to make memories with friends and family. I go to the auction at least once a month, usually with a friend. We end up with crazy things and just aren’t quite sure how we’re going to load them in our car. We always take up the truck now since we never know what we might bid on.
Cathy said it best and if you are looking for ideas on planning a visit to Shipshewana, check out all the events, festivals and places to see while you are here.
For more trip planning ideas, download our FREE Shipshewana Trip Planner.
