Holmes County, Ohio – Amish Country

Leg 8 Continued – Holmes County and Amish Country

10/16/2023 – 10/22/2023

Our drive over to Berlin OH from Springfield was beautiful. Once we got to Columbus, we took the backroads through the gorgeous rolling hills of Ohio. The air was crisp and the leaves were changing colors, a perfect autumn day.

Home this week is the Berlin RV Park, conveniently located between Berlin and Millersburg and in the heart of Amish country. Our cousins, Alan and Tami, joined us for a few days and we had a great time eating, visiting and sightseeing. Lucky for us they have been to the area many times and know all the “must see” spots.

What makes the Amish so fascinating? Is it their simple way of life? That is not to imply their life is simple, they are very hardworking people. By simple, I mean they do not get caught up in all the “technology” of today. They put God and family first. That’s just my observation.

We had a GREAT week here. Monday morning, we were up early and at Boyd and Wurthmann’s Restaurant for breakfast. It was FABULOUS! Get there early or you will be waiting in a long line. The highlight of the meal was this unbelievably good peanut butter spread. Give me a bottle of this stuff with a loaf of fresh baked homemade bread and I’ll be a happy girl! I started googling how to make it and found it is basically peanut butter, marshmallow cream and simple syrup. But how much of each? Tami and I played around with the ingredients and think we came pretty close to Boyd’s.

Kidron OH

Later in the day we took a drive over to Lehman’s in the little town of Kidron. Lehman’s is a family owned mercantile that has been in business since 1955. Shelves are stocked with goods, primarily for Ohio’s Amish community but also for the English. The store is enormous and we spent a couple of hours roaming around looking at the appliances, lights, clothing, kitchenware and food. I even found a Maytag washer that was powered by a gasoline motor and had an attached meat grinder and a churn power attachment. It was also here that we realized why JC Refrigeration (the outfit in Shipshewana that rebuilt our fridge) was so reputable in the RV world…. Because their refrigerators are powered by propane too! Duh!

Across the street from Lehman’s is the Kidron auction. On Thursday’s, farmers will bring their livestock in to auction off. Sounds interesting. We will be returning for that.

Explorations

The next couple of days while Bill was working; Tami, Alan and I spent our time driving around the countryside. Alan encouraged me to find a road that looked interesting and follow it. We spent the better part of the afternoon doing just this and found some beautiful farms and gorgeous views of the countryside. The foliage was at its peak! By the end of the week, I knew my way around a lot of the backroads of Holmes County LOL.

On our excursions we stopped at an apple barn, an Amish grocery store and a farm.

Hillcrest Orchard at Walnut Creek

Hillcrest Orchard is a family owned and operated farm. The smell of apples permeated the air as we wandered around the store. We just missed seeing the apples being pressed into cider but did get to sample some of that fresh juice. It was very good and we ended up getting a couple of gallons as well as some of their fresh apple butter.

The farm also has a great selection of fresh produce. Tami and I picked up some nice veggies to serve with dinner. From the back deck is a gorgeous view of Mud Valley.

Walnut Creek Cheese (and Amish butter)

Off to Walnut Creek Cheese, which sells way more than cheese. I have to say, this quickly became my favorite place to shop. I’d come back to Holmes County just to shop here 😉 They have a section with kitchenware and gadgets, a small section of home décor and gifts and then… the grocery store. There is an entire room filled with jams, jellies, fruit butters, salsas and sauces. All locally made. The grocery store has a bakery, deli, fresh meat and tons of bulk food items! Bonus, the prices are better than a big chain grocery store. I picked up some fresh ground beef and chicken, some steel cut oats, more popcorn, dried soup mixes, cheese and Amish butter.…

Tami and I were going back and forth, should we get some? Nah, yeah, nah… how much different can it be? Okay, I’ll get some. OMG! It does not even compare with normal butter. Amish butter is slowly churned in small batches which creates this creamy goodness. I’ll need another loaf of fresh baked homemade bread to enjoy with this butter. If you have the opportunity to get real Amish butter, do it! You will not be disappointed. Don’t be fooled, though. If you are not near WI, PA, UT or OH, it probably will not be authentic.

The Farm at Walnut Creek

So far, we have been to the Hillcrest Orchard at Walnut Creek and Walnut Creek Cheese, may as well finish our day with a trip out to the Farm at Walnut Creek. Earlier in the day, Alan struck up a conversation with an Amish gentleman while Tami and I were shopping. He plugged the farm and told us we should visit. At first, I was a little apprehensive, but we went.

The Farm at Walnut Creek is a working farm and includes a tour of a non-electric farmhouse as well as a horse-drawn wagon ride through the animal preserve. Depending on the season you could see plowing, canning, quilting and/or thrashing demonstrations. Unfortunately, we did not get to witness any of these activities.

The Farmhouse

Walking through the farmhouse was very interesting. I always wondered what the inside of one of the houses looked like. This one had a very large kitchen, with two gas stoves, sinks and lots of counterspace. It was basically two kitchens in one large space. The furniture was simple but comfortable. All the beds wore beautiful quilts. Before we walked down to the basement, we were offered a fresh baked cookie. Mmm Mmm…

The basement greeted us with a wall of shelves filled with canned veggies, pickles, fruits and sauces. It looked too good to eat but I’m sure someone is going to be eating good this winter.

The Animal Preserve

The highlight of the farm, for me, was the wagon ride through the animal preserve. The preserve is comprised of over 500 animals from 6 of the 7 continents. Everyone in the wagon is provided with a bucket of feed and instructions on how to feed the different animals we would encounter.

As soon as we entered the gate, we were greeted by an ostrich! He walked right up to us and ate some food from the container! Like right by my head! I was tickled silly, this was awesome! As we continued down the road, I noticed this HUGE bison coming over to us. Crikey! Alan shoveled some food in his mouth while I sat there with my mouth hanging open. How cool is that? I gave it a go and holy cow; I WAS FEEDING A BISON!

Over the 2.3-mile ride we encountered alpacas, llamas, zebras, long horn steers, antelope, elk, deer, water buffalo and so many more animals. It was so much fun! I did not care for the water buffalo though. They had very stinky breath.

This ended up being a great find and I really enjoyed it. Beware if you go, they only accept cash.

The Kidron Auction

Tami, Alan and I returned to Kidron on Thursday morning to see the livestock auction. We got there before anyone else and was able to take some pictures. Then the Amish men started filling the gallery and we watched with great fascination.

The cows were first and I couldn’t figure out why some sold for hundred of dollars and some for maybe $20. Next it was the calves. Cute little calves and they were only going for like $10! If I had a farm, I would have bought one. After the cows, it was pigs and sheep.

When the auction was over, we watched the horse-drawn and tractor drawn carts leave with their wagons of livestock.

Cochocton

It is finally Saturday and Bill gets to join in on the sightseeing. I learned of an Apple Butter Festival in nearby Coshocton. It is a perfect fall day as we drive over to Historic Roscoe Village.

Historic Roscoe Village

Roscoe Village was once a stop on the Ohio and Erie Canal during the 1800’s. It is a living history museum and provides a glimpse of what life was like in a canal town all those years ago. There are shops, restaurants, taverns and live blacksmith demonstrations. Today Roscoe Village was host to the Apple Butter Festival.

The smell of apples filled the air as they were being cooked down into butter at both ends of the town. Apple butter is simply a lot of apples, a little water, a little sugar and a smidge of cinnamon cooked for a long period time until it is thick, brown and yummy.

I was hoping we would get to sample some apple treats. Every food festival we have attended had several vendors selling the celebrated food item in different forms. Not the case here. Not one vendor was selling anything made from apples. No caramel apples, no apple pie, no apple turnovers, no apple fritters, no apple donuts, not even any apple cider. Fail (in my opinion)

We explored a few of the shops in the village and watched a blacksmith demonstration before heading over to the visitor center to learn more about the Ohio and Erie Canal.

The canal was constructed during the 1820’s and early 1830’s. They were made to carry freight and passengers from the Great Lakes into America’s heartland. The canal boats ran from 1827 to 1861 when railroads became the favored mode of transportation.

Canal Boat Landing-Monticello III

On our way to the festival we noticed one of the canal boats docked in a park and decided to stop on the way home. When we pulled in, the boat was gone? Well… that’s because you can take a ride on the boat. We bought our tickets for the next ride, sat on one of the benches and waited.

The Monticello III is a replica of the canal boats used in the 1800’s. The boat is pulled by a team of draft horses along 1 mile of a restored section of the original Ohio-Erie Canal. The horses are led by a young man. He leads the horses up and down the canal five times a day. This young man walks over 10 miles every day. He has no problems getting his 10,000 steps a day.

During the 45-minute ride the captain told stories about life in the early to mid-1800’s and what travel on a canal boat was like. It was dirty, hard and tough. Food could be scarce, there were thieves and travel was slow. No thank you. However, our boat ride was lovely.

Sugarcreek and a Giant Cuckoo Clock

Heading back to camp, we stopped in Sugarcreek to visit the Giant Cuckoo Clock. Sugarcreek is known as “The Little Switzerland” of Ohio. Swiss immigrants arrived in the early 1830’s and used milk from the Amish daries to produce their cheeses. And what delicious cheese they make.

We arrived just in time to hear the cuckoo clock at 4PM. The clock was commissioned in 1963. It took 12 years and $50,000 to build it. In 1978 it graced the cover of the Guiness Book of World Records. Another World’s Largest _________ for the books. I think that makes three since we’ve been travelling and all on this trek east; The World’s Largest Ball of Twine, Spool of Thead and Cuckoo Clock. 😊

The day is coming to an end and so is our time in the Amish Country. We had a very enjoyable week here in Holmes County. The people are very friendly and helpful and I cannot wait to come back for another visit.

Now it is on to the New River Gorge in WV.

Oh! and before I close out this entry, I want to share with you my recipe for Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oats. The leaves are changing colors, the air is crisp and pumpkins are being harvested. I love pumpkin pie and I love oatmeal on a cold fall day. Here is my recipe combining the two.