June 30: Amish Country!

Sleepy boys!

We slept in a little, ate some breakfast at the hotel, and then headed out for our day of adventure.  Benjamin was definitely still not feeling well and didn't eat much.  He also fell asleep again as soon as we were in the car, so we knew something wasn't quite right.

We had stayed the night in Millersburg.  We enjoyed driving through the quaint little town on our way to Berlin, our main destination.

The Millersburg court house.
Gorgeous architecture!

The first stop in Berlin was Heine's Cheese Chalet.  This was one of our favorite stops when we lived in Ohio, and it hadn't changed much.  We started by watching through the back of the store as they made cheese.

That's a lot of curds and whey!

Then we got to walk around and sample all the different types of cheese, including flavored cream cheese and cream cheese fudge.  Delicious and amazing!  We picked up several blocks and wheels of cheese to take home with us.

Meanwhile, Benjamin was still exhausted, so he and I ended up sitting on a bench while the others walked around to look at the rest of the shop, including more fudge and lots of souvenirs.

Next, we walked across the street to the Amish Bakery, which smells amazing even from the outside.  Ben had really had enough at this point, so he and I sat down outside while Jay took the kids in.  Then we traded places.  Every time we sat down, Ben tried to go to sleep again, without much luck.

Full of bread and cheese, we headed back up the road to the Bulk Food store, so I could stock up on pectin for future jam making.

Emily wanted to look for some souvenirs and we knew there was a little store across from where we were going to lunch, so that was our next destination.  The parking lot at the restaurant had a lovely overlook into the valley.

Beautiful North Ohio.  We miss the green hills!

Emily, of course, spotted some horses, and had to go say hello.

Jay took the girls to look for souvenirs while Ben and I found a rocking chair in front of the restaurant.  Jonathan said he was starting to feel "funny" and snuggled up next to me.  After their shopping expedition, we headed in to Der Dutchman for an amazing lunch of chicken, stuffing, salad, and mashed potatoes.  Jonathan was definitely coming down with the bug and barely ate anything.

It was starting to rain by the time we finished lunch and we decided that we had seen everything we wanted to, so we headed back toward Lancaster.  The rain picked up as we traveled, and we were sure that the people in the buggies we met along the road were probably less happy with the rain than we were!

That has to be one wet ride!

We were still enjoying all the uniquely Ohio sites on the way home, and especially all the green, green trees and hills.  One of the things we always loved on this drive is the Longaberger basket building.  Only in Ohio!

Yes, that is an office building.  Shaped like a giant basket.

We made it back in the evening, unpacked, and put two boys straight to bed.  It was a great trip full of great food!