Amish Countryside

This is an area of the country where EVERYTHING is still closed on Sunday, so after going to mass in nearby Navarre and a quick trip to Walmart in Massilon, we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the RV Park.  We caught up on all of the Halloween/Michael Myers movies during the “Fear Fest” on AMC, and then went over to the pool for a swim, before spending the evening around a toasty campfire.

Monday was our last full day, so after a breakfast of pancakes and sausage, the kids got their schoolwork done and we headed out for a drive around noon.  As we drove from small town to small town, we saw lots of beautiful Amish countryside,

and quite a few gorgeous horses.

These guys look like they are waiting in line for dinner to be served!

We did some shopping, picking up some Christmas presents, but it seems like most of what we came home with was food!!

In Sugarcreek, we saw the world’s largest cuckoo clock (in the process of being restored) – officially; it’s in the Guinness Book!

This is what it’s supposed to look like when it’s done.

From Sugarcreek, we drove across a little country road, through Amish farms, to Charm.  Along the way, we saw Amish farms up close, and passed may buggies on the winding, twisting road.  At one point, there was a beautiful team of Belgians, still hitched up to a piece of farm equipment outside a barn, but Tom couldn’t slow down for me to get a picture because somebody was right on our back bumper.

Our (my) destination in Charm was this quilt shop,

Miller’s Dry Goods, that my sisters had told me about.  It was really nice, but we arrived about 45 minutes before closing, so I didn’t have a lot of time for shopping – I picked up a few things, though! 

The previous owner of the shop, Mrs. Miller, had passed away a few years ago, so her former home has been converted to a rental cottage. 

It’s a really cute place, and if we didn’t have our own home with us, we might like staying there.

By the time we reached Berlin, the largest and most touristy of all the little towns around here, it was 5pm, and all the shops were closed.  We didn’t mind, though, we had seen enough and were ready for dinner.  We had eaten the customary “Amish meal” on Friday, so tonight we opted for something different, and tried the Berlin Hickory Smokehouse.  It was REALLY good – the boys had pulled pork, Tom had brisket, and I had a ribeye . . . all delicious, and we were stuffed!

Back at the camper by 7pm, Tom and I sat out by the fire for a bit – until it got too cold – and then retreated into the RV to watch TV with the boys.  Tomorrow morning we pack it up and head home, and then we’ll put the RV away for the winter before Tom leaves for Denver on Wednesday. 

We got in 7 camping trips this year – and four of those were for a full week; the rest long weekends – not too bad – we enjoyed all of them, and are looking forward to getting out even more very soon!  Just have to sell the house!  In the meantime, we’ll hunker down and enjoy one more Michigan winter . . . the weatherman is calling for a chance of snow on Friday – I hope he’s wrong!!