It ranks right up there with “Don’t take candy from strangers.” It’s one of those mandates your parents gave you when you were a kid; the one that comes along with the story about Suzie who got in a stranger’s car and was never ever never heard from nor seen again.
Well, I broke that rule.
I just wrapped up a week of taking pictures in Indiana for the new Indiana Farm Bureau magazine called “My Indiana.” The magazine launches at the end of September and the website will be live in November.
One of the stories in the upcoming issues is on the small town of Shipshewana. A town of about 550 residents located near Goshen, IN, and home to collection of Amish and Mennonites. There’s even a center that teaches visitors about the faith and life of Amish and Mennonites.
As I was walking around town, a voice called from behind. “Would you like a ride?” I turned and saw a man sitting atop one of the many buggies cruising around town. It was a guy with one of buggy ride companies that takes tourists on a short ride around Shipshewana. It’s a very small town, so the rides couldn’t be that long. I graciously declined. And besides, I had a shotlist to work on and I was wasting precious daylight.
“Come on,” he said and applied the pressure. “I’ll take you to an Amish Dairy Farm” At this point how could I refuse.
I joined my new friend Kenny and his trusty steed Bob. And off we went.
Kenny is a very enterprising individual, as are most of the residents of Shipshewana. He has a popcorn stand and runs his buggy tours, www.buggylanetours.com. There are three tours for visitors to take: One is a short trip around town, the second takes visitors to the dairy farm and the third takes visitors to the dairy farm and then off to an Amish dinner.
The dairy farm we visited is run by Kenny’s son and gives visitors the opportunity to observe life on a traditional Amish Farm, milk a cow, sample some fresh-from-the-cow milk and top it all off with a little ice cream.
Kenny was there to pick up a nice couple from Illinois that had just taken the two hour tour of the farm. We all piled into the buggy and headed back to town.
As we made our way back to Shipshewana, I discovered that cars weren’t the only vehicles to pass a buggy. If you’re not going fast enough, the other buggies won’t hesitate to pass your slow one. Maybe they’ve got a newer model buggy or a little bit more horsepower under the hood. But, they will blow your doors off. That’s if your buggy has doors.
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