A Busy Day in Amish Country

It was such a nice temperature today - 64 degrees, bright and sunny.  My mom and I seemed to have a the same idea as many people, and we wanted to spend the day in Amish Country.  Every store was packed with people and I think I counted ten tour buses.  It is prime leaf peeping season after all. 

This was not our first visit, as we usually go several times a year.  But if it is your first visit, here are some facts.  Amish Country is mainly located in Holmes County, on the eastern side of the state.  There are many farms, crafts, wineries (which is funny to me since the Amish are very religious), restaurants, and tourists galore.  The towns to look for are Sugarcreek (the Swiss Village), Walnut Creek, Wilmot (in Stark County), Millersburg, and Berlin (the busiest).  The Amish people themselves tend to stay away from the tourist areas, so you may not see very many. If you are making the trip, I would recommend going on a week day or at the very least going early in the morning when it is not as busy.  Have lunch before noon if possible and don't go a Sunday - everything is closed.  Also, not all cell phones will work in the area.  My Verizon phone works fine, AT&T has some luck, but I don't think Sprint or prepaid phones will work.  Just a warning.

So, our day started at 10 am and our first stop was Breitenbach Winery.  We aren't big wine drinkers, but we haven't been in there in a long time.  We didn't find anything of interest there, but by the time we left, the place was packed.  I even heard a band playing behind the building.  But, it was time for us to move on to another place.  Normally, our next stop would be Berlin, which is the furthest away, and then work our way back toward Dover.  This time, with everything being so busy, we skipped it.  Berlin is the busiest town and the most touristy.

We stopped in Walnut creek and went to Coblentz Chocolate.  Oh my gosh, their chocolate is the absolute best!  I bought some chocolate caramels and chocolate cashew clusters.  Across the street and is Carlisle Gifts.  Didn't buy anything here, but I always love to visit.  They have very cute decorations for the home, and I found a really cute snowman family for my house.  The bottom floor was filled with Christmas trees!  Love it!  I know it's only October, but I am so excited!!!  Anyway, by now it was 11:30 and we were really hungry.  Just across the street was der Dutchman.  This restaurant fills up fast and it was almost full by the time we got there.  There were probably 100 people waiting to get in when we left, plus a lot of tour buses just pulled up.  Good luck folks!  The food was good and I got a much-needed Mountain Dew (Happy Juice). 

Next was a stop at Tis The Season, a year-round Christmas store.  Much busier than normal!   I was on the lookout for some new Christmas ornaments, but everything was so expensive.  Oh well, I guess I will have to get some at Target or something.  I have to say, this store is magical!  If you are on the top level looking down, it just looks like Christmas.  I am really curious how many trees are in that store. 

One of the cool things about Amish Country, is that the tourists mainly stay on the main roads.  But, stores are tucked in everywhere, and if you look around, you might find your new favorite store!  Just off the road, near the Christmas store is a cool place call the Berlin Craft Mall.  It is full of unmanned booths, selling wreaths, handmade furniture, candles, bulk food, paintings, and decorations.  It's really neat and the prices are a lot better than you would find at some of the fancier stores.  I bought a cute snowman there last year for like $12.  Just up the hill from the Craft Mall is a cool little kitchen store called Ms. Gadgets.  They have the best fudge, but I made the mistake of buying too much last year and letting it go to waste.  This year, I bought 12 cookie cutters, bringing my collection to 12.  :)  They had the most shapes I have ever seen

Even though we skipped some of our favorite stores this trip - The Gift Barn in Berlin, the Dutch Valley Gift Shop near Sugarcreek, and my favorite little secret bulk food store, it was a pretty successful trip.  On the way home, we passed Walnut Creek Cheese, a place we have long since given up on because it is always so busy. We had to laugh as we passed because it was twice as busy as normal.  Maybe next time, we will be able to explore more find a cool place we have never been before.