Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tours of the pretty campus, with its two lakes, Gothic-style architecture and iconic
Eck Center)
. Less visited but worth a stop is the
Studebaker National Museum
(
574-235-9714;
www.studebakermuseum.org
;
201 S Chapin St; adult/child $8/5; 10am-5pm Mon-
Sat, from noon Sun)
near downtown, where you can gaze at a gorgeous 1956 Packard and
other classic beauties that used to be built in South Bend.
Amish Country
East of South Bend, around
Shipshewana
and
Middlebury
, is the USA's third-largest
Amish community. Horses and buggies clip-clop by, and long-bearded men hand-plow
the tidy fields. Get situated with maps from the
Elkhart County CVB
( 800-517-9739;
www.amishcountry.org
)
. Better yet, pick a backroad between the two towns and head down
it. Often you'll see families selling beeswax candles, quilts and fresh produce on their
porch, which beats the often-touristy shops and restaurants on the main roads. Note that
most places close on Sunday.
Village Inn
( 574-825-2043; 105 S Main St; mains $3-7; 5am-8pm Mon-Fri, 6am-2pm Sat;
)
, in Middlebury, sells real-deal pies; bonneted women in pastel dresses come in at
4:30am to bake the flaky wares. Arrive before noon, or you'll be looking at crumbs.
Auburn
Just before reaching the Ohio border, classic car connoisseurs should dip south on I-69 to
the town of Auburn, where the Cord Company produced the USA's favorite cars in the
1920s and '30s. The
Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum
( 260-925-1444;
www.automobilemuseum.org
; 1600 S Wayne St; adult/child $12.50/7.50; 10am-7pm Mon-Fri, to
5pm Sat & Sun)
has a wonderful display of early roadsters in a beautiful art-deco setting.
Next door are the vintage rigs of the
National Automotive and Truck Museum
(
260-925-9100;
www.natmus.org
;
1000 Gordon Buehrig Pl; adult/child $7/4;
9am-5pm)
.
OHIO
All right, time for your Ohio quiz. In the Buckeye State you can 1) watch butter churn on
an Amish farm; 2) lose your stomach on one of the world's fastest roller coasters; 3) suck
down a dreamy creamy milkshake fresh from a working dairy; or 4) examine a massive,
mysterious snake sculpture built into the earth. And the answer is…all of these. It hurts
locals' feelings when visitors think the only thing to do here is tip over cows, so c'mon,
