A Quiet Weekend in Kansas Amish Country
When you hear the rhythmic clip-clop of horses’ hooves echoing along the street behind you, you can’t help but feel that you’ve been transported to a distant time. In fact, nearly everything about Yoder, Kansas feels like a portal to a bygone era. Days when things were quieter and slower.
The feeling began the moment I stepped out of my car in front of my charming Airbnb house for the weekend and was greeted by a neighbor inquiring if I’d be staying here. The greeting morphed into a conversation and I was soon giving the relative newcomer to town a tour of the remodeled 1800s home that she hadn’t had the chance to see yet.
I couldn’t have asked for a more charming or better appointed place for this much-anticipated weekend retreat! The combination of a virtual music teachers conference and the desire for a day as a personal prayer retreat spurred me on to search for a cozy spot within a couple hours’ drive of Wichita. WiFi was a must because of the conference, and a semblance of remoteness was a must because of the prayer retreat. The Little House in Yoder was the perfect find!
The first evening of the retreat I walked (because everything in Yoder is within walking distance!) a couple of blocks to Bull’s Eye Grill, where they serve up freshly cooked burgers and fries and an assortment of dessert options. A few tables provide indoor seating, but I (and most of the other customers who came in while I was there) grabbed food to go. The food was tasty and reasonably priced.
Saturday is the best day to hit the local shops because as far as I can tell that’s the only consistent day that they are all open. The Etcetera Shop is a well-organized and tastefully-displayed collection of thrift items whose proceeds support local and global relief efforts. I snagged a few bargains!
The corner Yoder Hardware and Lumber store sports well-worn wood floors and a counter scale where nails are still sold by the pound. A couple of aisles of kitchen gadgets display items made in the USA, and two adjacent aisles house a large collection of oil lamps and supplies.
Yoder Discount Grocery was a great spot to pick up a few food items for dinner. They have a variety of local produce, homemade goods, and regular canned and boxed goods. Nothing seemed particularly discounted to me, but it was a convenient local grocery store.
Yoders Meats and Kansas Station are housed in the same building and are a must-stop for unique Kansas gift items and locally raised meat.
A deli area has prepackaged snack foods, canned goods, mixes, meats and cheeses by the pound, and a few lunch items. I grabbed a traditional bierock for lunch and it was delicious!
Yoder Furniture was the next stop on my Saturday morning walk.
In addition to gorgeous handcrafted solid wood furniture, they sell locally handmade quilts, beautiful floral wreaths, old-fashioned toys, and various home decor items.
Blue Shed Antiques is more like a flea market for those who like rummaging through musty aisles of rusty trinkets to try to find hidden treasure.
And of course, no visit to Yoder is complete without a stop at Carriage Crossing. This famous restaurant and bakery is known as much for their cinnamon rolls as anything else. Where else can you get a frisbee-sized package of melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness for only $3.00?
If you visit Yoder, Kansas, you’re apt to see a bonnet-clad woman navigating a tractor along the main street, you’re apt to enjoy some delicious home-cooked foods, you’re apt to wind up in conversations with friendly residents. Above all, you’re apt to leave refreshed, grateful that such quaint places still exist to give us a taste of yesteryear.
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