Shipshewana
I had the pleasure of visiting Shipshewana, Indiana this past week. Shipshewana is the setting for my 3 book Amish cozy mystery series, and although the stories themselves will be fictional I thought it was important to walk the streets, meet the people, sit in the coffee shop – get a feel for the town.
I was right! Shipshe was nothing like I imagined, and it was exactly as I imagined. Crazy, right? Some things were as I expected – the smallness of the town (only 600 residents), the size of the outdoor market (it’s huge), and the friendliness of the people.
But I wasn’t prepared for the sound of the clippety-clop of horse hooves in the darkness of the night, or the image of young children guiding buggies down the road. I didn’t expect the Amish woman, Miriam, who worked at our B&B to be so outgoing. After all the reading I’d done, I was still stunned when we walked around their farms, saw the amount of work entailed in their lifestyle, and being invited to sit and share a meal in their home was an evening I won’t forget.
I’ll share many of those experiences and pictures over the next few Saturdays. I hope you’ll click back and join me. Rest assured, much of it will find its way into my stories.
For today, I’d like to send a big shout-out to all my new friends in Shipshewana. You certainly made one Texas gal and her husband feel right at home.
~V