Amish country

Thursday, Aug 16, 2012

We didn’t actually make plans for when we planned to leave today but we all seemed to work toward 9:30 AM.  We left the campground around 9:50 to head south and into the Ohio Amish area.  We really don’t have any specific plans here except to shop and eat.  We did see there were a couple of cheese factories that are supposed to have tours available. 

We saw a couple of places we plan on stopping at when we return from the cheese factory.  We chose to go there first as it is the furthest away.  So we located the place and it turns out there is no tour.  You can watch them through some windows but that is it.  Bummer!  We did sample some cheese and things they had in the store and we each bought some stuff.  We had planned ahead and brought coolers and ice just in case we did buy something.  I picked up some cheese and some Amish butter.  There is a distinct taste to the butter and it is really, really good.  I will probably have to pick up some more as this will be eaten quickly. 

Back on the road we soon came to a place that had a little petting zoo and where you could take a ride in an Amish wagon or buggy.  They also had puppies for sale.  It was difficult to leave without taking a puppy with us but we resisted.   They had a horse there called Big Ben.  You can see why –

He is a Belgian horse, stands 19 hands 3 inches ( 6 ft 7 inches), and weighs 3,000 pounds!  He is one big horse but is really sweet.  You can pet him as much as you want.   There were also a bunch of baby animals – goats, sheep, pigs, etc.

A little further down the road we came to Berlin, OH.  This is the heart of the Ohio Amish area.  We did a little shopping but not much buying.  We also went to a place called the Berlin Farmstead for linner.  We are finding that we have only been having 2 meals a day and skipping dinner on the days we are out.  The food was really good.  We have decided that we really need to stay away from Amish areas as the food is so good and we eat too much.  At one of the stores Lydia bought some cinnamon rolls that we will have for breakfast tomorrow. 

Out last stop was at another cheese factory.  This one was called Heini’s.  We giggled a bit over the name but they had good cheese.  We sampled more than enough. 

Our last stop was at the Smucker’s barn and café.  This is in Orrville, OH and showcases all their products.  I was surprised by the number of companies that Smuckers owns.  Did you know they owned Foldger’s, Martha White, Pillsbury, Hungry Jack. Crisco, and Jiff peanut butter?  There were a number of other companies but I forgot what they are.  We sampled some things they had there and I learned of some products they have that I never knew about. 

I also took some pictures of our campground.  This is our last day here and it is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow morning so we took care of some of the outside unhook duties just in case.  This is the Pier-Lon Park in Medina, OH. 

Enjoy all the pictures.