Berlin, Ohio - Amish Country

Amish buggies and Wal-Mart parking lot in Millersburg, OH

Farmhouses, Windmills, clotheslines, beautifully kept gardens

Amish Country Buggies . . .

We spent last night at Wal-Mart in Millersburg, OH watching the Amish families ride up in their buggies. There was a special shed made just for the horse and buggies. While the men watched their horses the women and children shopped. Some of them didn't even leave till 10:00pm (in the dark). They had batteries hooked up to the lights on their wagons, even at that I'm sure it was a rather dark ride home. I also wondered about the children hovered down in the baseboards at the adults feet. As far as I could see there was no way of strapping them in. But of course in the old days I don't suppose you would want to be strapped in behind a horse.

I tried to be respectful and not photograph faces. Some photos I wanted to take but couldn't out of respect for the Amish - Women mowing grass in their long dresses, children riding beneath the feet of their parents on the buckboard floor, the beautiful healthy faces of the women and children. And if they weren't riding the buggies, they were on bicycles with their long dresses. A different world than what I am used to.

Walnut Creek Farmstead

Picturesque Barn at Walnut Creek

Canned goods, humongous kitchen and living room with bare furnishings

The Farm at Walnut Creek . . .

We did visit a working farm at Walnut Creek which was educational. In the photos above you can see a huge wall of canned goods, gigantic kitchen in the basement. They would have a basement kitchen for use in the summertime and then an upstairs kitchen for winter use. The basement kitchen would be very large to do canning and probably large family get-to-gathers in. The homes are sparsely furnished with no closets. The clothes and shoes would be on racks against a wall in the bedrooms.

Devil swan - he actually left his mark on a little girl who tried to befriend him before he chased me up the bank

And of course no visit to the farm is worthwhile if you don't get chased by a swan. My disheveled look was caused by a swan chasing me up the band beneath a covered bridge. And of course Guy enjoyed feeding the livestock.

This is such a beautiful area but it is very touristy. A lot of crafts to draw the people into the town. The flea markets are all comprised of commercial wares, not junk, so there are not any really good buys here. We did eat dinner in an Amish restaurant. The food was bland - not much flavor, as I am accustomed to a lot of flavoring in my food - being from the South. We are spending tonight at Scenic Hills RV Park outside of Berlin in the heart of Amish Country. It is a Good Sam's park, so we only get a 10% discount. It is a nice campground, cleanly kept. The Amish take pride in keeping everything very clean and neat.

Everything is closed down tomorrow being Sunday, the day of rest, so we are probably heading. I believe we have hit most of the high spots on this trip that we had intended to and I'm kind of anxious to get back home for awhile. I has been a good trip and one that we will remember. But I think our craving for the Northeast has been fed and we will be on to a different area on our next trip. Maybe out West. We will see!!!