Some of these scrolls dated back to the early 1900's.....waaaay cool!
Moon River was our favorite.....it was beautiful....
Thanks guys for the hospitality....you're the best....
Kathy took me to the hotel where Denny was meeting me....we were spending one nite in Columbus before driving to Bucyrus the next day....
Columbus celebrates July 4th on July 3rd, so the smaller towns can do their celebrations on the 4th...different but seems to work. There was a HUGE deal down by the river but we elected to watch the fireworks, Red, White and Boom as they called it, on TV from our comfy bed. We had to admit...even on TV it was one of the best shows we'd ever seen....maybe we should have gone downtown...maybe next year....we slept well and headed out the next morning after getting our rental car.
It's about an hour drive, maybe a little more but it was July 4th and there was no traffic.
When we got into town we stopped for me to see the really cool wall murals in downtown...just love these...
This Mural is just amazing...the artist incorporated many "hidden meanings" and explains them below....very clever....
This is the far left side and the woman in the window is significant....see #1 in the legend below
We've certainly been back to Denny's home town, but never really taken pictures and saved them....so he took me on the "here's Denny Knell's childhood" tour....it was a blast.
We were ready for lunch so we went to a place where he could get his favorite chicken sandwich. As a kid he went to a different place, Mac's, that was down the street but it's not there anymore and Miller's is a good substitute. Though Miller's was here when he was a kid, he said he never came he always went to Mac's....now, it's the only place he can go so he's ok with it.
Finally....he's got his piece of heaven but I stopped him for yet another picture....and that's homemade root beer...wow, who does that anymore beside small town USA!!
As we were leaving I saw this picture of the original Miller's on the wall...I stopped to ask the waitress a few questions and just so happened that a wonderful woman sitting at the bar started talking to me. She and her husband had bought the restaurant from the original owners and had run it over 30yrs....then their son ran it...and now her grandson owns and runs it....very cool. You don't see that a lot anymore. I bet her coffee is free!!!
Next...we needed to make quick Wal-Mart stop....this Wal-Mart moved in a few years back and thank goodness...about the only other place to buy groceries is Kroger, which I love....but we all know Wal-Mart is the one-stop shop!!
We were shocked at some of the prices....you have to know your demographics to price things so they sell...and these prices were waaaaay better than what we see at our Wal-Mart
I think Denny could hear the angels in heaven when we got to this aisle...these are his all time favorits chips, Ballreich's, and you can't buy them in FL...or much of anywhere outside Ohio. I have ordered him a case before, was the only way I could get them!!
Now it was time for some touring.....Little tiny Bucyrus is proud of their people and city and here's the signs to prove it....Harry L. Martin that was born here received The Medal of Honor for his actions on Iwo Jima, March 26, 1945....the town is proud. He's also buried here.
Next up we passed this super cool place...loved all the nostalgic things....
This must have been Barney Fife's police car.....
Speaking of Officer Fife..........
These signs cracked me up........
Denny's Dad worked at this place years ago........
Next up was a drive by tour of his childhood homes...as you can see someone was outside working, I wanted to ask if we could go in....but I was over-ruled...behind the house was an alley, alleys are popular here, so I could get a back shot. Denny said the 2nd story deck was not there when he lived here. Denny was born in Bucyrus but soon after they moved to Kansas for a short time because of his Dad's Military Service and was stationed there for a while. When they moved back from Kansas he lived here on S. Poplar Street until he was in 13.
Pal Scotty Kibler was 4 houses down the street...
And friend Robby Mills lived 5 house down the street...
Next childhood home was on Marion Rd. just a few miles away....it's hard to see with all the trees
And ..............Robby Mills moved next door ....
Next on my tour were his schools. His Elementary school, Norton, is gone...but he showed me where it had been. The concrete walk way that appears to go to nowhere actually went up to the school at one time..
This space is now just empty and next to the church that is still there....
The church was much smaller "back then"...originally it did not have the long addition to the left. It was a small church. Denny's great-grandmother lived next to the church and he'd go there some day for lunch....that was a shorter walk than most kids have to the lunchroom "in" school these days. But how cool to be able to do that everyday.
Next up....Bucyrus High School...the front of the school is the same, except the fence was not there...but there have been additions to the side and back..
This is the church where Denny was confirmed as a child.....a lovely Lutheran church
On to the favorite summer hang out...the public pool....but we had to cross what looked like a river to me, but he said they've always crossed it...so....across we went, but felt weird to me...if you look to the right as you are crossing it gets deeper and you see this bridge...it was a different bridge at the time...but he and his buds would throw M-80's and cherry bombs off the bridge.....boys!!!
It was a nice pool, but you had to pay to go in.....he said he spent lots of time on the high dive...and now he won't even climb a ladder....the picnic area was nice too, and was as he remembers...
and here's the baseball field he played on....i bet it's been updated a bit...:)
As a young boy he delivered papers....to some homes but also to ONE side of the main downtown street...he said it was a BIG deal to get to deliver to the downtown area...In the picture the right side of the street was Denny's....I just loved all the hanging baskets on the street lamp posts...
Tonight we had made plans to have dinner with an old high school roommate, and ex-sister-in-law, Diana and her friend, Dan. We enjoyed a nice visit and went to O'Charley's for dinner...
We headed back to the hotel...the next day was the Knell Reunion....which is in another post......
So...now we fast-forward past July 5th(which was the Reunion date) and on to July 6th which is when we started our Amish country vacation. We were staying in Wilmot at The Amish Door hotel and in Charm at the Charm Country View B and B 2 nights....we were ready for some chill time....
The drive was great...good weather and just relaxing. This is CORN country and it's EVERYWHERE!!!!
Not sure what this cool old building was, but it was in the middle of the town....they also had any type of church you could ever want....Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, Christian....you name it.
Our yummy little surprise stop....is nice to travel without having to beat a clock....just enjoy.
On a Sunday in Amish area it's tough to find anything open....but we'd read that Guggisburg Cheese shop would be open ....the home of the original Baby Swiss cheese....so we parked in the restaurant across the street and headed over. After a few samples we bought some cheese and went across the street to the Austrian type restaurant for brunch. They had carved ham but also wurst...it was a nice American/European mix...delish.....
This old car club was here....Denny had to stop and drool.....
My first sighting of an Amish horse and buggy....first of MANY.....very cool.
We found the hotel....The Amish Door very nice.....less than 100 rooms but very nice. I got some laundry done and Denny napped. Then we walked around the grounds. They have a great 2nd level porch with some great porch swings, an indoor pool with hot tub, and outdoor play area for kids...really nice. We were a bit tired so we layed on the bed and watched some of our fav shows on my laptop....technology is great!!!
The next morning they have what they call a continental breakfast...it was a bit more than that to me....they had lots of pastries, but also make it yourself waffles, biscuits and sausage gravy and other goodies....and a coffee/hot cocoa machine...yum. I brought some things back to our room and we had plenty to get us by until dinner. This hotel has a great restaurant on their grounds where we wanted to have dinner...so we packed up and headed out to Lehman's Hardware....this is a hardware store like no other.....it's awesome!!!
Denny said he has no idea there were so many kinds of root beer....we actually bought 2 different orange drinks and enjoyed them as we walked through..
This store also caters to the Amish lifestyle...where they don't believe in having electricity, but some will use gas, kerosene, or batteries (some solar powered)....note all the cool stuff on the top shelves...
One way to have indoor plumbing w/o electricity...
Non- electric things to cook with.....wow....
Some of this is really spendy too....
In the "candy room" they had any and everything you could imagine....and this book was there so if you were looking for a specific candy for an "older" friend you'd know what they liked as a kid....neat.
This artsist 3-dimensional carvings were being displayed in a special room.....they were amazing. He's an Amish man and just loved doing this. He was not selling any of them....wow, what talent.
The lighting was tough for pictures. They were all carved...no piece was glued back on...ALL carved....!!!!
We had a few snacks in the car and headed to an Yoder's Amish Farm for a tour....the weather was iffy but we were in this area today and really wanted to do this. Sooooo glad we did....
You had to go in the store to buy your tour tickets so we looked around a little....
My Daddy made me baby-doll bunckbeds just like these many years ago...brought back fond memories...
This is not a working farm anymore, but it used to be. The couple that now own this farm only use it for tours so we can learn more about the Amish customs. They live on the property but in a house over a hill you can't see.
Our tour started in the barn....wow, lots of animals....
Horses....
A pony....
Donkey's...
Pigs....
Horses...
And I found a rabbit to hold....I used to have one...Bumpy....
Next we toured the grounds a little and then the houses....there are 2 houses...the first was built in 1866....
The family lived in this smaller home many years until they outgrew it...as one of the sons grew up he built a larger and more modern home next door and moved his family next door to Mom and Dad. The Amish believe in several generations living together or very close and helping each other. We've learned there are many sects of Amish...from very strict with no electricity and very strict living to everything in between....perhaps the family that lived here originally were very strict, and as time past and things were invented they kept up with the times....
And the tour started here...this is a pew wagon...The Amish don't have churches, they have always and still do meet in peoples homes. Hosting the church service is rotated so the pews have to be mobile...and they are in this wagon. After church there is always a covered dish lunch and fellowship time.
They all have gardens and live off the land as much as possible...this means they don't need to buy many things. And often they can barter for what they do need.
When this bell rings..it means everyone needs to come home...might be meal time, might be a problem...just come home...NOW
Here's all the things hanging on the back porch that were needed to wash clothes....
The indoor kitchen sink....you had to bring in the water, but there was a drain....
The kitchen....can't imagine how hot the house would get when this baby was fired up!!!
Family room area....most women could sew...note the baby doll sitting on the chest ...it has no face. This is so...as the Bibe says....they worshiped no idols....without a face....it wasn't an idol.
The bedroom with a mattress made of straw...amd a small storage piece...
There was a cellar but we didn't get to go on there....
Next door is the newer house.......lamps ran on battery or solar
The Bible...which is taught in High German. Most Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch and that's all until they got to school. In school they are taught English and most of their studies are in English. So by the time they are a few yrs old they speak 3 languages....
A typical song book...without notes...everyone knows the songs so there's no need.
The Master bedroom and bath
A typical young girls room....all the clothes were hanging there to explain them... the colored dresses might be worn everyday, like the white head cover...the white apron was added for Sunday or special occassions. The black head cover (or crash helemt as the young girls call it ) is very hard and also worn for special times. The men always were a black suit for Sunday and their black rimmed hat as well. Otherwise pants, suspenders and a shirt.
Plain or no buttons on the clothes...can't be decorative at all.
A typical teenage girls room. The pretty drapes should not be there, they should be plain white, and would be showing some rebellion. The parents might get in trouble for this, but the children are not as responsible for their actions like this until they are baptised. Then they are held accountable.
All the hats/head coverings and dresses........
This blue with the white apron would be a very typical wedding dress.....
All the kids bedrooms are upstairs.....
Typical young boys room.....
A bow and arrow and a play horse....simple but very nice
This might have been a room younger girls shared....
When we came into the house the kitchen was on the right, there was a young girl working in there making cookies and many other baked goods....we were asked not to make any pictures of the people...so I waited until we came back downstairs and chatted with her a little and asked if I could take a picture of the kitchen without her in it...she was very nice and said yes....nice kitchen...big improvement from the house next door.
Everything she baked, made it to this table where you picked what you wanted and paid on the honor system.....too cool...too bad the rest of the world can't be on the honor system.
Denny found a few he needed...
Here's how close the 2 houses were built.......hard to see the first one behind the tree...
Next on the tour was a buggy ride and the school house...
The buggy barn....it was very overcast and rained a little...and we got in a little mud, but actually we got very lucky on the weather
This was our buggy....
Time to go....our driver would take our pic.....she was very nice and chatted on our ride. We just went around a field...but was fun
The white fence is enclosing the cemetary where the original owners are buried....on the hill
The school house...with his and hers bathrooms out back....
The young woman that explained the school was an Amish teacher that was out of school for the summer and did this for extra money. She explained that they only go through the 8th grade, but the education would be equivalent to 11th grade for us. There is a basement where they play during the winter and have storage and can do other things. A girl can start teaching as soon as she gets out of school. This woman started at 17. She was about 22 now....wow!
The copy machine you see was running with a battery....they have figured a way around using electricity....interesting, but we thought some of these "ways" seemed a bit like "cheating"...but not our custom.
It was a really interesting tour....was now time to look for Heini's Cheese...well we kinda took a wrong turn, so we stopped at this really popular grocery/little bit of everything store ..Walnut Creek Cheese....wow!!
There was a 2nd floor...where there was a restaurant (where the 2nd level didn't have the restaurant, they had decorated to make it look like a store front...was really cool)....or you could sit and eat what you'd bought at the deli downstairs....they had some really amazing looking things. We decided we'd come back here the next day and get dinner....
then we headed back to The Amish Door for dinner and then to The Charm CountryView Inn..our B and B for 2 nites...and on the way there psssed a few more....
This one was different...the buggy was open....
Our B and B on top the hill.....it's wonderful.........
The view from the front porch....you can see and hear the horse and buggy's go by...it's so quiet and peaceful. See the buggy on the street....????
We had Leon's Loft Room....all the rooms have names. It was on the 2nd floor and the only room in the house with a king bed...woohoo!! It was very nice. NO TV or WiFi in the house at all....works for me!! They have a large open room downstairs with games and game tables...fireplace and comfy chairs and couches...
Outside there are several gazebos with tables and chairs and the front porch is just wonderful...you can sit and rock all day. We got settled and went outside for a bit then fell into bed....we only had one more day and a lot to see and do. But first...we'd have an amazing breakfast!!
Breakfast is served at 0830...sharp. Paul will tell a short story that has a lesson, then a blessing then you are served...the tables are set to the max and it's wonderful. We had egg crunch casserole, hashbrowns with a cheese sauce, muffins, sausage and for dessert....yes, this place serves dessert after breakfast...hat cinnamon sticky buns and fruit.
We were good to go and headed to Keim's Lumber...it's kinda like a Home Depot Expo,,,really nice and worth a quick stop.
Denny found a hat made out of wood....really cool...and check the saw blade...gorgeous
Next stop....Miller's Bakery....a MUST......this small place is always packed. We managed to get out with only one doughnut to share....but we could have gotten lots more. Amish country is an "eating fest"...there's so many good things. From the baked goods, to the cheeses, homemade ice creams and then just dinner...their home cooking...no way can one diet in this area!!
A little further down the road was Hershberger's Bakery and Farm....they had so many animals...I loved it...
This bug guy was over 3,000 lbs. There are lots of big plow horses in this area, they do lots of work. They're beautiful
This pig was HUGE....
Baby goats are just too cute........
and baby cows......
and baby pigs....
and ponies....this one's front legs were not right, but we was still part of the family
Then your more normal horse to pull buggy's and such..
In front of the building are crafts and market items..inside are baked goods. Around back you could order and eat lunch and have homemade ice cream...our breakfast was still serving us well, we just looked around and moved on..
This was one big rocking chair.......
They grow m' big up here.....wow!!!!
Next we were headed to the town of Berlin to go to Heini's Cheese Chalet...if you go on the right day you can see them make cheese. We got lucky....and we got to see them finishing up the last batch of the day...they've been in business since 1935 and make 35 different types of cheese, and they carry imports....it is "cheese heaven"
The entire area is stainless and so clean you eat off the floor....
This is a vat of cheese....we watched the makers tossing in seasonings and salt. We missed the very beginning but a few fun facts...it takes 10gallons of milk to make 1lb of cheese and it takes 15lbs of salt to make one of these vats of cheese.
There are big "arms" hanging over the vat they pull down and they push the cheese curds into these round spindales/containers.
When they are all filled up they are pushed over to another machine that compresses the curds. This pushes out, as you can see, any extra liquid and overnite it will compress the curds together to make cheese....then it can be sliced into nice round blocks.
This was the same process...just a different shape.....
A wonderful older gentlemen gave us our tour and it was very interesting...then we walked through the store where you could sample almost all the cheeses they make...what a treat. Then we headed back to Walnut Creek to do some shopping at the P. Graham Dunn store. P. Graham is a wonderful religious artist and his works are amazing. Then as we decided the day before we went to Walnut Creek Cheese store, bought some great hot sandwiches and headed back to the Inn. We had a lovely dinner under one of the gazebos.
After dinner I walked down the drive to feed the ponies an apple....
We did some packing and had another good nights rest....we got to have one more wonderful breakfast and then it was time to head for the Columbus airport.
This morning we had eggs, hashbrowns with cheese baked in them, sausage, biscuits and sausage gravy....so yummy and this lovely fruit pizza for dessert.....thank Paul and Naomi...we'll be back..
It took us about an hour to finally get to a highway...but the drive on the small roads was wonderful. We passed Longaberger Basket Company....their corp headquarters building is made to look like a huge basket....too cute....
It had been a wonderful trip....from starting with my visit with Kathy and Kevin, then dinner with Diana....the Knell Reunion and Amish country....a nice change from our palm trees but it was time to head back....we're doing a few house renovations, time to finish them up.
Not sure where our next adventure will be....but until then...Happy Trails...
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