GATEWAY TO AMISH COUNTRY…NAPPANEE

Saturday, September 17 – We went over to Nappanee today for the Apple Festival.

Our first hint that we were going to have an enjoyable day was the four WWII fighter planes buzzing over head in formation. We first saw them when we were about half way to town and enjoyed their antics for the remainder of our drive.

We arrived in town to take in much of the parade. An official “Small Town USA” parade. There were fire trucks, tractors, bands, politicians, queens, and tons of candy being thrown to the kids. We even enjoyed a few Tootsie Rolls tossed our way.

They even had a float honoring the Elk.

We couldn't attend an Apple Festival without sampling some Apple Fritters, Apple Turnovers, and of course an Apple Pie to take home.

There were numerous food venders selling everything from fries, hotdogs, sausage sandwiches, elephant ears, and just about any festival/carnival food you could imagine.

This place was PACKED!

This was a very interesting sign…Music and Fencing?

Of course there were tents full of crafters selling adorable things for the ladies to purchase. Marsha loves strolling through these areas searching for unique gifts. Dare I say she found a few things for the upcoming holidays.

She wanted to share how cute these candle tops are. This gal had 100s of them.

How's this for small town honesty? The “self-serve” apple vender. Take your pick and leave a quarter!

It was fun to see the Amish/Mennonite families enjoying the parade, candy, junk food, and the rides. A pretty festive occasion for these conservative families.

This is one ride Paul said he would NEVER go on!

We had a wonderful time. If your in the area around this time next year, don't miss this festival. You'll have a great time!

Driving home we saw this sign…

We looked at each other and had to turn around and go back for a picture. We had no idea what this meant so we consulted our trusty friend Google. Here is what we found…The Eastern Continental Divide runs along the high ridges and peaks of the Appalachian Mountains, and it separates land draining east to the Atlantic Ocean from that draining west and southwest to the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico.

It begins in Key West FL, goes up through the center of FL into GA through Atlanta, on up into NC and into VA creating much of the border of VA and WV, through western MD, into western PA, into western NY, then looping west close to Lake Erie, through Portage County OH and Akron OH in "Summit" county, into Indiana and on into Chicago [less than a mile form Lake Michigan], on up into Wisconsin, and into Minnesota where it eventually becomes the Northern Continental Divide.

Now you know the rest of the story!

With sadden hearts we must change our plans again. We are leaving on Sunday and heading back to Canton. On Thursday, a cousin and aunt of Marsha's passed away. Jim, 74, had a stoke and her Aunt Johanne, 72, passed from kidney failure. We will arrive in Canton early to attend calling hours on Sunday, a funeral on Monday and calling hours and a funeral on Tuesday. We are so happy that we are only five hours down the road. We hope to fit a quick visit in with our daughter, Kelly. Please keep our families in your prayers.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

HOME OF THE IRISH

Thursday, September 15 – We added another university to our National University Tour....Notre Dame. It is located 30 minutes up the road in South Bend. What a beautiful campus.

We like to see universities that are consistent with their architecture. Notre Dame does that with the sand color brick and slate roof buildings. Acres of green space, an abundance of shade trees, and beautiful landscaping has us adding Notre Dame to our “beautiful campus” list.

We picked up a map at the visitors center and asked the young men working the desk for recommended “must sees” on campus. He recommended a visitors parking lot that was centrally located and permitted an easy walking tour of the campus.

First stop was the football stadium. This “house that Rockne built” is the legendary home of the Fighting Irish football team.

Let us not forgot Lou Holtz.

Unfortunately, it was all locked up and we couldn't get in to see the field. The crews were busy preparing the facility for this weeks game. Can you believe that publish a booklet of activities for each home game. What an exciting weekend for young fans!

One of the “must sees” on Paul's list was Touch down Jesus.

Built in 1888, Sorin Hall was the first residence hall with private rooms, and its residents were originally selected by academic rank.

For those unfamiliar with Notre Dame football, this is a huge tiled mural of Jesus located high on the wall of the library. In the mural, Jesus has his arms raised high (much like a referee signally a touchdown). It's the location of the library that is important. It is located just north of the stadium directly in line with the end zone. When the team scores a touchdown, kicks a field goal, or kicks an extra point, Jesus is there to signal the team's good fortune.....”TOUCHDOWN!”

The Main Building is better known as “The Golden Dome.”

This is the center of administration, teaching, and important exhibits of art and Notre Dame history. The building is beautiful inside.

It is topped by a gilded dome and a 19-foot-tall, 4,000-pound statue of Mary, the Mother of God, “Notre Dame” (“Our Lady”). The Golden Dome was added to this building in 1882 and was most recently regilded in 2005.

The Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore serves as the headquarters for students' textbooks. This two-story building also houses a HUGE selection of hats, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and other memorabilia for the Notre Dame fan. It is one of the largest bookstores we've seen on our campus tours.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart was consecrated in 1888 and is the center of Catholic liturgy and worship on campus. What a gorgeous cathedral!

Priceless stained glass windows, fresco paintings, gold gilded statues, and an amazing alter makes this a wonderful house of worship.

Ceiling

We spent four hours strolling the campus and enjoyed every minute. With 11,000 students the campus did not feel over-crowed. There was an atmosphere of hospitality and community spirit. A fun morning on a beautiful fall day. We felt like a college student again!

Fall has arrived on campus!

We also continued our search for a new recliner by stopping at the Lazy Boy Recliner Store. Unfortunately, we found out that Lazy Boy does not make a “wall hugger” recliner that swivels. You have to get a “rocker-recliner” if you want it to swivel, and that eliminates the “wall hugger” feature. That's too much space required for placement in a motor home.

We decided to return to Lambright's Comfort Chairs to re-examine the Amish custom built chairs. This satisfied all our requirements.....swivel, wall-hugger, recliner, and only twenty-six inches wide. We originally felt they were a little expensive, but after comparative shopping they were less expensive than other new chairs. We now own a new recliner! The back comes off easily making it fit comfortably in our hatchback Honda CRV and easily fit through the door of the motor home.

It especially made it nice for Marsha to help Paul carry it in the doorway. Looks great by our computer desk.

Paul relaxing.

Paul REALLY relaxing. This is a real picture…not a simulation!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

NO PLACE TO SIT BUT A GREAT SCOOP OF CHILI

Wednesday, September 14 – We were off to visit Elkhart today. We had one goal…find Paul a chair!!! We had a list of several places to visit courtesy of the campground and our friends, Connie and Kenny.

OH NO…Marsha spotted another one of those Elks.

Rooted From The Heart

After spending most of the day looking for chairs, we decided to just do a bit of sightseeing. We stopped at the Old Bag Factory.

Goshen's historic Old Bag Factory, built in 1896, is now home to producing artists, antiques, specialty shops and cafés.

Since 1984, this century-old setting has provided a strong foundation for today's artists and shopkeepers. Here the old and the new blend together to preserve the best of the past and all the best of the present.

We enjoyed walking around the old building. There are many business that are just now moving in.

After all this work, we were starved. We follow Paul and Margery of Living Our Dream, who recommended eating at South Side Soda Shop in Goshen. It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. 

Built in the early 1900s the building was originally opened as a grocery store in 1910. In the 1940s the original Bastian Blessings soda fountain was installed where it still remains, serving sodas, shakes, malts, and floats.

The South Side Soda Shop continues the tradition of a fifties diner, offering home cooked recipes with a friendly face.

They are known for the Chili and Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, so we had an order of each. YUMMMMMY!

There Chili comes in a soda glass…homemade noodles on the bottom, chili, toped with onions, cheese and sour cream.

The staff was so friendly. When you are in the area, stop by and have a delicious meal.

After a very cool day, we were treated to a dynamite evening sky.

Oh by the way….ZERO on finding Paul a chair. As they say, "There is always tomorrow."

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!