There are regions in Indiana offering a glimpse into the past, a chance to step back into the rural life of the 19th century. Here, life's lived in the slow lane, with young girls dressed in bonnets and matching homespun cotton dresses coaxing horse-pulled buggies down backroads where Amish women hang laundry and sell baked goods on roadside stalls. Delicacies include pies, breads and the very wicked cinnamon rolls that the Amish know how to make so well.

Amish towns

The epi-centers of Amish life in Northern Indiana are Elkhart County where such small towns as Middlebury, Nappanee, New Paris, Wakarusa, and Bristol with its late 19th century opera house, and LaGrange County further east. Further east is Shipshewana, in LaGrange County which in Amish terms has lots of action, including dinner theaters, horse and buggy rides, a vast flea market, and some 80 stores selling Amish products.