KOA Elkhart / Middlebury (16-21 Jun)
Our trip to Indiana was designed around the Grand Design factory tour – which we did make. It was quite educational and worth the visit! More on that later . . .
The travel day to Elkhart was short, thankfully, so we were able to get set up and start exploring the area for other things than RV factories. We were in Amish country, which provided several interesting venues in addition to some of the local craft breweries!
Our first stop was the “Wedgewood Brewing Company” located in Middlebury, IN. A top-rated brewery for a reason, their beer and food are top notch! The Roadhouse was my favorite, while Tina opted for the Blackberry Lemonade Moonshine. Hers was more of a cocktail, but it was so good we had to buy ingredients to re-create it later! The biggest and a pleasant surprise was the food menu. Top of the list – the ‘smash burgers!’ (As a side note, we also like to sample burgers where we can.) We sought out recommendations in other cities, but to date the Wedgewood smash burgers top the list! (Author’s Note: this article is time late, and we have already had Burger and Bun Co. They ARE high on the list, but smash burgers still hold a narrow lead!)
An unknown stop of interest until we arrived was the RV / Motorhome Hall of Fame and Museum. Established in 1991, it is a creation of forward-looking RV industry leaders and enthusiasts, and later adopted by RV Life for growth and marketing. The museum is a history of motorized camping from the 1920s/1930s to present! The link will provide much more information, but it was an educational and worthwhile stop.
Another predominant presence in the area is the Amish community to include the Mennonites and Hutterites. A great place to visit to learn about the history of the Anabaptist movement in the U.S., I recommend checking out the “Menna-Hof.” It is a great education on how the different religious communities came to and spread to the areas they now occupy in America.
At least one highlight of the Amish community is their markets. We stocked up on a variety of cheeses, spices and fresh vegetables. We may have also sampled some of the locally raised protein choices in the area. All of it was great and the spice mixes will surely be put to good use in future meal preps!
Our second stop on the craft brewery tour was to “Westwind Brewing Company.” Another great beer stop, but the menu does not live up to the ‘smash burgers!” Another great sample of Pilsners and Ales and another worthy stop!
Toward the end of our stay we managed to find a great bike trail that took us all over the local area to include Krider Park. An oasis in the middle of near nowhere, the landscaping and natural vegetation was remarkable! Our afternoon was a leisurely ride was on the bike trail that oddly enough, crossed the path of the Wedgewood Brewing Co! We felt compelled to stop in for a thirst quencher. As good as the first time, we also decided to doublecheck our first assessment of the smash burgers. Happily, we both agreed that our opinion of the burgers remained top notch!
As mentioned at the intro to this article, the driving reason for our stop in Elkhart was to do a factory tour where our trailer was built. Grand Design does factory tours by appointment four days a week. We took advantage of the tour and was impressed with not only our tour guide, but the build process utilized by Grand Design. The information shared and the tour of the facility made us feel better about our choice for our home on wheels!
We stayed at the KOA Elkhart / Middlebury and were very happy with our choice. For the uninformed, this area is quite rural, but our campsite was about as centrally located to everything as you can get. We thoroughly enjoyed not only the camp, factory tour, Amish country education and the micro-breweries, but the genuine hospitality of everyone we met. Great stop and can’t wait until our next visit later in the Fall!
Camping up with the Joneses 