Goshen, IN Historic Downtown, Courthouse

NOTICE--- After two years of thinking about it, we are happy to finally present our brand new blog, "Trippin' along with Lin and Maryke!"  This will allow us to post more of the amazing sights that we see along the road and photograph during our travels. Hope you will enjoy this new format.  Lin and Maryke
(The first two posts are based on two emails we sent at the beginning of our trip)

We left you at the end of the SKP Genies rally in Fort Wayne, IN.  On the morning of May 10th, we were off for Goshen, Indiana and the Escapees RV Club 54th Escapade. Highway 33 drops you right in the heart of downtown Goshen near its classic Elkhart County Courthouse, built in 1870 on Main Street so, of course, we went exploring! 

 


For architecture buffs (and I are one!) this is a fascinating downtown with several dozen business facades restored with much of the architectural details colorfully painted.  Most of the buildings are from the 1880s we noted.  

We noticed several Mexican businesses, including Gutierrez Mexican Bakery, which we had to investigate.  Inside we found a large selection of Mexican pastries, cookies, cakes and bolillos, the Mexican rolls we love.  Also, orejas, the Mexican pastry shaped like an ear that we like for breakfast!  Most Mexican grocery items and spices were also available.  A great find! 

One more Goshen oddity was the police booth right on the corner where Main Street and the Lincoln Highway cross, constructed in 1939 to defend the town's banks from Chicago bank robbers.  It is built of solid thick concrete with gunports at the top so a police officer could fire a machine gun at the bad guys like John Dillinger and be protected from return fire.
    

We parked the Sprinter in the side parking lot by the Courthouse and walked around for an hour admiring this vibrant downtown!  The only downside is that every road in and out of Goshen runs through downtown and the truck and other traffic is very heavy.  And the BNSF Railroad mainline runs at the end of downtown with trains spaced every 5-10 minutes!  We drove on to our destination, the Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds where the Escapade will be held this year.  We were assigned to the "Infield" a grassy area inside the large oval track where the Fair holds harness racing and then drivers practice daily.  We have water and 30 A electric right behind our site.  We relaxed the rest of the day and did a little cleanup inside the rig.  Although the main buildings for meetings are a few minute's walk away, there will be golf cart "limos" that can hold 7 people running during the whole Escapade.  That's good in case of rain!