Our last stop of the day was to Meadow Brooks Farm. The farm is an historic farm dating back to the Civil War. It was also the site of governors and congressman giving speeches about farm betterment.
The area was surrounded by corn and blue skies. The barn was red, the farm house looked like something from Lassie and I loved it.
Meadow Brook Farm Quilt Garden
The Quilt Garden was title “Your Grandmother’s Fan”. It was made up of alfalfa, buckwheat, corn, sunflowers and soybeans. It did not have its original beauty but the setting was great. On the barn was a mural and behind the barn a few livestock.
Meadow Brook Farm and a Few Friends
There were so many towns we did not go to, so many gardens we did not see. Still, I cannot wait till next year. This was a great day.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Goshen and the Quilt Farden Tour
Goshen is one of our all time favorite towns to visit. We go there even more than Elkhart. We enjoy going to the "Old Bag Factory.” It is a renovated factory that houses shops, restaurants and is just a wonderful setting. Across the trolley trail is the Mennonite Service Committee. They have a resale shop there and all the money goes to good works. I usually stoop by the Service Committee and we talk about world issues. I just love being around folks dedicated to peace-making.
Goshen: The Old Bag Factory and Quilt Garden
Across the road is an old converted shop that is the studio for a sculpture. Then there is the old shop and log cabin that also houses antiques. It is next to this the the Quilt Garden was located. The garden had a scope for looking at it from above. It was supposed to be a “Bird’s Eye View” garden. The colors were great but the garden was also showing some weathering. .
Goshen: The Depot
Finally we went to the downtown area to look at a few murals. The downtown is home to restaurants, more antiques shops, the American Red Cross and the courthouse. Beyond the immediate area are churches, lots and lots of churches. Yep, Norman Rockwell would have loved Goshen.
Goshen Wall Quilt
Goshen: The Old Bag Factory and Quilt Garden
Across the road is an old converted shop that is the studio for a sculpture. Then there is the old shop and log cabin that also houses antiques. It is next to this the the Quilt Garden was located. The garden had a scope for looking at it from above. It was supposed to be a “Bird’s Eye View” garden. The colors were great but the garden was also showing some weathering. .
Goshen: The Depot
Finally we went to the downtown area to look at a few murals. The downtown is home to restaurants, more antiques shops, the American Red Cross and the courthouse. Beyond the immediate area are churches, lots and lots of churches. Yep, Norman Rockwell would have loved Goshen.
Goshen Wall Quilt
The Quilt Garden Tour and a Stop in Elkhart
Our next stop was at Elkhart. I love this city. It has so many museums, an elegant downtown and rivers, boy does it have rivers. The Elkhart, Mishawaka and St. Joseph rivers meet here. There is a Railroad Museum, art museums, historical museums and there are historic homes. There are also parks and river walks that take your breath away. So it should come as no surprise that in a city of multiple Quilt Gardens we only saw one!
We only saw one garden because he took a tour of the Ruthmere Mansion. This took about two hours but it was oh so grand. The mansion was built in 1908 by the Beardsley family. It became part of a row of mansion for millionaires. The mansion looks out at the river.
This particular mansion is not enormous and in fact was made simply to entertain visiting guests and business associates. The building is beautiful. The Billiard Room has faux elephant skin wall paper, actually looks much nicer than it sounds. It has an early air conditioning system. There is original art all over the place. That includes Rodans, Tiffany class, porcelains and paintings. The wall papers are of silk and satins. The furniture is opulent and the dining room is just waiting to serve me.
There is a green house for one; it connects to the mansion via an underground passage. It is watered by a system that collected and used rain water. The building was green before we ever knew what that meant.
The garage was even interesting. The cars drove in head first. They parked on a round abut on the ground the round-about turned so the car was then facing out. That is because early cars did not have a reverse. There was even an electric car that had service in the Secret Service.
Nest to the mansion was the Quilt Garden. This one was titled “Flower Basket”. It was big, thirty feet by thirty feet. By the time we made the tour the weather had taken a toll on the garden. We didn’t car. I finally toured the mansion and behind us was the river greenway.
Elkhart: The Ruthmere Mansion: Quilt Garden
After looking at the garden we went over to the river. I walked over the bridge that leads to Island Park. The island is Elkhart Island, named because to the original Native Americans it looked like an Elk’s Heart. This is the land of the Pottawatomie and the Chippewa. The Beardsley’s were the premier settlers and the town could have been named after them. Instead they honored the original inhabitants and kept the name.
Elkhart River and Ruthmere Mansion
I love river cities. They are the site of mills, dams and growing culture (and of course pollution). I keep coming back to Elkhart and I don’t see that stopping in the near future!
Walking to Island Park: Elkhart Indiana
We only saw one garden because he took a tour of the Ruthmere Mansion. This took about two hours but it was oh so grand. The mansion was built in 1908 by the Beardsley family. It became part of a row of mansion for millionaires. The mansion looks out at the river.
This particular mansion is not enormous and in fact was made simply to entertain visiting guests and business associates. The building is beautiful. The Billiard Room has faux elephant skin wall paper, actually looks much nicer than it sounds. It has an early air conditioning system. There is original art all over the place. That includes Rodans, Tiffany class, porcelains and paintings. The wall papers are of silk and satins. The furniture is opulent and the dining room is just waiting to serve me.
There is a green house for one; it connects to the mansion via an underground passage. It is watered by a system that collected and used rain water. The building was green before we ever knew what that meant.
The garage was even interesting. The cars drove in head first. They parked on a round abut on the ground the round-about turned so the car was then facing out. That is because early cars did not have a reverse. There was even an electric car that had service in the Secret Service.
Nest to the mansion was the Quilt Garden. This one was titled “Flower Basket”. It was big, thirty feet by thirty feet. By the time we made the tour the weather had taken a toll on the garden. We didn’t car. I finally toured the mansion and behind us was the river greenway.
Elkhart: The Ruthmere Mansion: Quilt Garden
After looking at the garden we went over to the river. I walked over the bridge that leads to Island Park. The island is Elkhart Island, named because to the original Native Americans it looked like an Elk’s Heart. This is the land of the Pottawatomie and the Chippewa. The Beardsley’s were the premier settlers and the town could have been named after them. Instead they honored the original inhabitants and kept the name.
Elkhart River and Ruthmere Mansion
I love river cities. They are the site of mills, dams and growing culture (and of course pollution). I keep coming back to Elkhart and I don’t see that stopping in the near future!
Walking to Island Park: Elkhart Indiana
Saturday, October 3, 2009
The Dutchman of Essenhaus
Our next stop was in a tiny town of Essenhaus. The garden was weathered. The area was a small convention center. It was special to us for a personal reason. We knew the restaurants might be closed and we brought a picnic. We sat in over-sized hand-made rocking chairs and had a fine meal between the log cabins and Amish-like structures. The company and the conversation matched the food. Now that was a nice respite.
We had to make some decisions; there were far too many gardens and towns to see. So, we did not go to Middlebury which is a favorite stop for us. Ignore the tape, you are looking at Essenhaus. Well, it is time to move onto to Elkhart Indiana.
The Dutchman: Essenhaus: Quilt Garden
We had to make some decisions; there were far too many gardens and towns to see. So, we did not go to Middlebury which is a favorite stop for us. Ignore the tape, you are looking at Essenhaus. Well, it is time to move onto to Elkhart Indiana.
The Dutchman: Essenhaus: Quilt Garden
Shipshewana and the Quilt Garden Tour
Our first stop was to Shipshewana. This is a small town, a village actually only miles from the Michigan border. A little over 500 people live here. However, it is the center of Amish community. It has one of the largest flea markets in the world. It is the home of simple foods, tools, arts and crafts. It is the home of the Menno-Hof Amish/Mennonite Museum. It was a good place to begin a tour.
The first garden was on the museum grounds. It was titled “Dove at the Window.” “Peace” was a reoccurring theme for many of the gardens. The garden consisted of over 3,500 Begonias, that’s a lot of flowers! The setting was great. In front of the museum was a clothes line with Amish and Mennonite clothes hanging on the line. Behind the garden was a pond. It was all simple, consistent with Amish living.
The Menno-Hof Museum is a wonderful place to learn about all the different types of Anabaptists. There is a replica of the 16th century ship. There are displays that describe the persecution the Amish experienced in Europe. There is plenty of information about the world of the Amish today. It is definitely worth a visit, just not on a Sunday!
Quilt Garden Show: Shipshewana Indiana
There was a small reflecting pond between the museum and the road. It simply highlighted an already beautiful garden.
Menno-Hof-Amish/Mennonite Museum: Quilts Continued
Across the road was the Farmstead Inn. This was not an Amish structure. It is a massive hotel (massive for a town of 500) that serves the many visitors to this part of Indiana. The garden was titled “Shoofly Garden”. It was big, It replicates a quilt found in the town hall. The Shoofly represent a conductor on the underground railroad, again, social justice is an important value in this part of the state. The garden is made up of Periwinkles. There are 2010 white Periwinkles and 2810 rose colored Periwinkles, yep, that’s a lot of Periwinkles. If we were here any day but a Sunday we could cross the road and have a nice piece of Shoofly Pie.
There were more murals in town but it was time for us to move on.
Farmstead Inn: Quilt Garden
The first garden was on the museum grounds. It was titled “Dove at the Window.” “Peace” was a reoccurring theme for many of the gardens. The garden consisted of over 3,500 Begonias, that’s a lot of flowers! The setting was great. In front of the museum was a clothes line with Amish and Mennonite clothes hanging on the line. Behind the garden was a pond. It was all simple, consistent with Amish living.
The Menno-Hof Museum is a wonderful place to learn about all the different types of Anabaptists. There is a replica of the 16th century ship. There are displays that describe the persecution the Amish experienced in Europe. There is plenty of information about the world of the Amish today. It is definitely worth a visit, just not on a Sunday!
Quilt Garden Show: Shipshewana Indiana
There was a small reflecting pond between the museum and the road. It simply highlighted an already beautiful garden.
Menno-Hof-Amish/Mennonite Museum: Quilts Continued
Across the road was the Farmstead Inn. This was not an Amish structure. It is a massive hotel (massive for a town of 500) that serves the many visitors to this part of Indiana. The garden was titled “Shoofly Garden”. It was big, It replicates a quilt found in the town hall. The Shoofly represent a conductor on the underground railroad, again, social justice is an important value in this part of the state. The garden is made up of Periwinkles. There are 2010 white Periwinkles and 2810 rose colored Periwinkles, yep, that’s a lot of Periwinkles. If we were here any day but a Sunday we could cross the road and have a nice piece of Shoofly Pie.
There were more murals in town but it was time for us to move on.
Farmstead Inn: Quilt Garden
Our Quilt Gardens Tour of Northeast Indiana: 2009
On September 13th Cathi and I, along with our adult niece went on a little road trip. We spent the day in Northeast Indiana. We went from town to town looking at some special gardens. This was the Quilt Garden Tour. There were 16 gardens along with Quilt Murals.Now it wasn’t the best time to go. We missed the best time by about two weeks. Also we went on a Sunday. That meant some of the gardens had lost their brilliance, some were damaged a little by wind. It also meant that we were traveling on a Sunday in Amish/Mennonite country. That meant the stores, restaurants and museums were closed. We did not mind. We knew this area very well.
We drove to Shipshewana, the center of Amish country in this area. We went to Elkhart and Goshen, two of our favorite digs. We also visited Essenhaus and some country gardens.
We say plenty of Amish. They were attending their house churches. That meant that early on we saw all kinds of buggies on the road. However, soon we only saw homes with buggies parked in the yard. But there were so many buggies parked in those yards.
It was a great day. The weather was sunny, the skies blue and the fields were showing that autumn was on its way. Most of all we had good company. The following will be a brief review of a wonderful day.
Amish Horses and Buggies in Wakarusa, Indiana
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