As mentioned in our previous post, we had learned about the audio driving tour of the Heritage Trail while we were at Entegra, and after doing some research, we were eager to take the tour. It turned out to be quite informative with lots of interesting historical facts about each attraction.

On Tuesday, the 11th, we started our day off with breakfast at the Dutchman Eatery in Bremen, about 15 minutes away from Wakarusa. We both had the same breakfast we did last time – Amish Scrambler for me, the Breakfast Haystack for Rob.

After that, we picked up the Heritage Trail just south of Goshen. One of the first stops for us was at Coppes Commons in Nappanee which once was a furniture factory, but now has numerous small shops.

On the second floor they had a cabinet museum showing kitchen cabinet models known as “Hoosiers” from the early 1900’s. Wow! Coppes has a fascinating history! Having been in operation for over 150 years, Coppes is the oldest woodworking company in the United States.

Another stop on the trail was at the Wakarusa Dime Store where they sell all sorts of candy plus giant jelly beans.

At the entrance, they had samples of many of the flavors of the beans that they were selling, typically in 1 lb. packages ($5.99). Yummy! Although we are not avid fans of jelly beans, we couldn’t resist buying three bags ($16.99) – Spicy Fruit, Tangy Watermelon and Assorted Fruit. Delish! Besides the jelly beans, they had a lot of other different candy specialties, such as a gummy pizza with yummy gummy pepperoni,

original bags of pooh (not sure what that is made out of), a huge selection of salt water taffy, and pickle cotton candy. Really?

Guess this place made us fans of jelly beans – before we left the area, we returned and purchased three more bags!

Returning to Elkhart, we walked along a different section of the Riverwalk. After our walk, and thinking about what to have for dinner, I called in an order to Andy’s Place (got very good reviews, located right next to Kroger’s) for a 12 piece bucket of broasted chicken and 1 order of wedges. Run by an elderly Asian couple, the reviewers were right, it was very good chicken. We would definitely order take out from there again.

Bonneville Mill was one of the stops on the Heritage Trail which we visited on October 13th.

Very scenic especially against the backdrop of brightly colored autumnal leaves. Outside was a garden of gorgeous dahlias which were still blooming.

Inside all 3 floors of the equipment were numbered and referenced in a guide so you knew what you were looking at.

We had decided that we wanted to buy a small 1 lb. bag of grits which unfortunately they didn’t have, so we returned on another day to buy some. While there for the second visit, they offered a  demo of the mill in operation. Pretty cool! All the moving parts were either original or recrafted original. We were told the grinding stones last 200 years.

Om another day, after breakfast at Callahans again, we picked up the audio for the trail, this time driving down Route 4 towards Goshen. One of the less interesting stops for us was the Old Bag Factory in Goshen. The building was built in 1896 as home of the Cosmo Buttermilk Soap Co.

It later was used by the Chicago-Detroit Bag Co., which produced items ranging from burlap sacks to candy wrappers. After that factory closed in the early 1980s, it was turned into a shopping, entertainment and eatery complex. I say it was less interesting to us because it was mostly just a shopping mall and we are not shoppers and were not interested in the eating or entertainment aspects of the complex.

When we left that stop, we drove through the town of Goshen, stopping at the Court House. On the corner of Main and Lincoln in courthouse square is an octagonal concrete structure, no bigger than one of those old fashioned photo booths.

In the early 1930s, John Dillinger and his gang had already raided and robbed their way through much of the surrounding area as they travelled along the Transcontinental Lincoln Highway. This tiny booth incorporated bullet-proof glass and ports for guns at the windows, ensuring a round-the-clock police presence in the area. How interesting!

If you are visiting the area, we highly recommend that you take the driving tour of the Heritage Trail.

Finally on October 20th, our repairs were completed and we headed out to our next destination. Excellent job by the staff at S & S Repair!