Amish Country Trip

Jon and I took a quick overnight trip to Amish Country, in Berlin, Ohio.  We had a great time!  My parents came up to watch the girls and we ended up at a really nice bed & breakfast -- the place had no TV's and my cell phone didn't work there, so it was delightful to truly get away from it all. 

We drove up Friday afternoon, had a prime rib dinner at an old fashioned diner (for $12 each!), went back to the B&B for some "porch sitting" (and napping, in my case) and then had homemade dessert and tea provided by the innkeepers.  We had a nice time talking with some of the other guests before bed.  One of the more interesting people we met was the youngest of 28 children.  Her dad was married to his first wife, who died in childbirth on #14.  The lady's mom had one child and her 1st husband died in an accident and she came to nanny the 14 kids.....a year later they were married and had 13 more kids (so this lady was #14 birthed by her mom).  The lady told me her dad was 70 when she was born and there weren't many multiple births. Unreal.

Here are a few of the pictures we took.

The view from the porch

Our room -- Jon selected this B&B primarily because it had a king sized bed!

Julie Woolley, nature photographer

There were a lot of hummingbirds flying around the porch

If you're looking for a place to stay, we HIGHLY recommend the Miller Haus Bed & Breakfast near Millersburg, Ohio!

 View from the front door of the B&B -- it's high up on top of a hill

On Saturday morning we wandered around town a little bit and then after lunch went to an Amish Farm for a tour.  There were two houses (one really old and one more modern) to tour, a barn (with livestock), and an Amish school.  After our tours, we got in a van for a "backroads" tour.  A small group of us drove for 2+ hours all around the backroads to see how the Amish currently live and to learn more about their culture.  We were supposed to have dinner at an Amish home that night, but there wasn't a large enough of a group, so that was cancelled and instead we just headed home after a local dinner.  Jon and I really enjoyed the tours and learning about the traditions, culture and history of the Amish. 

Buggies on the road everywhere

Amish laundry center. 

Let me just say that the amount of laundry I do for multiple children is astonishing. I cannot imagine doing it the old fashioned way, although I know my Grandma Folger did laundry like this for years.

Old Amish stove.

Old strips of cloth - to be turned into braided rugs or used some other way.

They don't waste much!

Clothing

I had no idea that Amish women use straight pins to attach their aprons to their dresses.  Yikes.  I would have pin-pricks all over me if I tried that.  I also didn't know there is a difference between Amish and Mennonite bonnets that the women wear.

Interesting tidbit from our farm tour -- they bring the animals in during the day so cool off from the sun. The sheep lean against the wall because it is built into the hillside and cool.  We also learned that most Amish kids don't wear shoes in the summer -- at all, and local shopkeepers don't enforce the "no shoes, no service" rules with the Amish because they know it is cultural.

Although you can't quite see it in the picture, there was a 2500 pound COW in this picture.  It was literally the biggest cow we'd ever seen in our lives.  While we were touring the farm, we kept saying how much Hannah would love all of the animals -- there were ducks, goats, horses, cows, cats and dogs.  There was even a baby horse only 1 day old.

We got to take a buggy ride.  We learned most horses are former racehorses that the Amish buy once their racing careers are over, so the horses are already well-trained.

I cannot imagine putting in hay with horses instead of tractors.  I'm quite the stacker when it comes to baling hay with my family, but I am riding in the back of a pickup truck when I do it....and my dad is not behind a team of horses!  However, the equipment my dad uses does look a lot like the rake in the picture below....

(For the sake of accuracy, it's been about a decade since I've actually helped put in hay!)

 

I'm so glad Jon planned this trip -- it was actually my Mother's Day present.  The only downside to a trip like this while you're still nursing is planning when to pump and how to store your milk.  There were at least two instances of me pumping in the back seat en route to something! Oh well. it added to the adventure!