A Leisurely Ride

Last Saturday morning Ted and I went for a ride through Amish country. It only takes us about 15 minutes to get to the "Gateway to Amish Country" from here, but it's not something we do very often. The area has a large Amish population, but there are also quite a few "English" that live out that way. The further you go into Amish country, the more Amish you see, naturally.

Unfortunately there are those that take advantage of that and try to sell all kinds of Amish things from dolls to furniture and everything in between. Ted has worked around a few Amish carpenters and they really get upset when merchants take advantage of the unknowing public by claiming that they are selling Amish goods. With most (but not all) items, the only thing Amish about those things is that they are being SOLD in Amish country.

Anyway, we knew that it would be fairly busy out that way because it was a nice autumn day, but still decided to go.

Our first stop was a grocery store that specializes in cheese, baked goods and bulk products. Their bakery is excellent and, luckily for them, we were hungry. We got way too many things from the bakery (cinnamon rolls, sour dough bread, cookies, fry pies, etc.) and then got some bulk things too, in addition to some pumpkins.

We continued on into a small community and stopped at an apple orchard. The term "apple orchard" is misleading in this case, as the apples and other products are all in a warehouse type facility, having already been picked. We didn't get any apples, but did pick up a few more pumpkins and a couple potted mums. They had something interesting and I'm still not sure if I like it or not. I didn't purchase any of these particular items, but I did take a picture of them. They had some pumpkins that had the top cut almost all the way off with a mum inside. My initial thought was that I liked them, then I wasn't so sure. Now I'm on the fence.

The parking lot at the orchard was filled to capacity and two chartered busses pulled up and began unloading. That's when I said that we needed to leave. I got the distinct impression that the busses came from inner city Akron or Cleveland. I overheard a few of them talking and they had the northern Ohio accent. Although it's a slight accent, I can still detect it. It seems as though people from "the big city" just go crazy over Amish country, so I was going to let them enjoy it without hearing me mumble under my breath.

The day was gorgeous, and the clouds were really moving fast. I got a little carried away taking pictures of the sky, and you're the lucky people who get to see them!

One of the roads took us right by a cemetery and I saw a small area that had an angel in it. For some reason it struck me as very touching. I took quite a few pictures of it.

We were only gone for a few hours, but we had a nice time.

I like the contrast of the buggies and the cars in this shot. I was careful to not get the man's face in this picture, as the Amish do NOT want their photos taken.

Yes, the Amish and English share the road. The Amish community also pay taxes toward the upkeep of the state and county roads.

We also came across a stone fence that really intrigued me. I wonder how old it is and what the upkeep is like for it.

Another Amish buggy, waiting for its owners to finish up their errands.

It was a beautiful autumn day!