Let’s face it–Elkhart is not the sort of place people generally go for vacation. This is a hard-working and prosperous city that residents go from for vacation–and many of them go in recreational vehicles, the county’s main product. Elkhart County has been a national center for the construction of travel trailers, motor homes, and mobile homes (called “manufactured housing” around here) since area factories started turning out prefab houses during World War II. You can’t visit the area without passing factories where RVs or their components are built, or completed models on the road to dealerships.
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A stone’s throw from the RV museum is the National New York Central Railroad Museum (721 S. Main St., 219-294-3001), only a year old, which consists of exhibits set up in two old railroad cars. I recommend it only to rail fans, who might want to see the ongoing restoration of the rail cars and locomotives; lay visitors like me are more likely to sprint through, stopping only for a rather endearing display detailing the story of “Curly Top,” a young Elkhart girl who achieved a certain fame in the 1930s by waving to the passing Twentieth Century Limited every day, and whom celebrities threw autographed menus to as the train rumbled by. I take it those train passengers ate fare more elegant than the sandwiches served in the attached diner nowadays. (Museum hours are 10 to 3 Thursday through Sunday, and donations are encouraged.)
The gem of Elkhart’s museums is the Midwest Museum of American Art (429 S. Main St., 219-293-6660), located downtown in a renovated bank building. Ignore the large Norman Rockwell gallery upstairs unless you’re really into Americana; the real treasures are on the main floor, where the painting gallery offers a swift but rewarding run-through of American art styles, including a rather surreal midwestern landscape by Grant Wood. Some of the works are displayed in the old vault, the door of which is worth a look itself. (The museum is open 11 to 5 Tuesday to Friday, 1 to 4 on weekends, closed Monday. Admission is $1.50 for adults, 75 cents for students and seniors.)
The more touristy Amish and Mennonite country east of Elkhart has seen the establishment of many bed-and-breakfasts lately, an innovation that has not reached Elkhart proper. To avoid the motels up by the toll road you may want to drive to one of the closer local inns. Abraham and Edith Martin, a Mennonite couple, will put you up at their 100-acre working dairy farm south of Elkhart (26620 County Road 40, Goshen; 219-862-4600). They’ll tour you around the barns (you can see the morning milking if you get up early enough) and feed you a gut buster farm breakfast (which is also early–checkout time is 9 AM most days, 8 AM Sunday).
Elkhart locals who don’t work on the farm and do watch their waistline try to stay away from those places. The encroute-and-salad set go to the Exchange Restaurant & Bakery (109 W. Lexington Ave., 219-293- 5175), which is a good place for a light lunch; specials change daily. One block over is the Old Style Deli (110 W. High St., 219-295-2133), which tries to pretend it’s in New York. The writer and cynic Ambrose Bierce, who waited tables at a local restaurant as a young man, would have had a good time ridiculing the silly names they’ve given the sandwiches, but even he would probably have admitted that they taste good.
