Old Timey Time

We left our son's place in MI yesterday 's and, after fighting with Michigan traffic and lousy roads, we made our way into East central Ohio. We are camped at the Amish Country Campsites in Winesburg, Ohio in what seems like the center of the Amish settlement area. We hear the horse drawn buggies going by frequently.

After settling in yesterday we took today to roam the area to see favorite spots and find new ones. Probably our favorite spot is Lehman's Store. We started there this morning. In case you've never heard of Lehman's, it's a store which got its start providing hard to find items to the Amish who settled in the area. They sell all those old time products that we used to rely on before there was electricity and indoor plumbing. Pretty soon the survivalist crowd was looking for the same type of products. And since a lot of the stuff was either antique or retro, Hollywood came calling to equip movie sets. The store today is a blending of five barns which have been moved and attached to each other making a maze of rooms inside. They have a lot of everything from kitchen appliances to wood stoves to kitchen ware to books to toys and hardware.

Diane had to check out the cookbooks.

If you've ever been to an old time field days, you may have seen the setups with the hit and miss engine turning an old fashioned ice cream maker. Lehman's has 'em for sale, complete and ready to go.

They have one entire room dedicated to lamps. Kerosene, gas, and electric. Lamps and lamp parts are there to build or repair just about any type of lamp you've ever seen.

They have the most complete stock of kitchen tools, equipment and accessories that I've seen anywhere. My eye was attracted to these turned rolling pins.

It goes on and on. It's really worth a stop when you're in the area.

Leaving Lehman's, we travel Southwest to Millersburg, a town with a designated historical district with a glass museum. Then it was on to Berlin, the closest that his area gets to the commercialism of the Lancaster,Pa. area. But it's still fun and they sure have some terrific items from the local woodworkers. Wood furniture built from solid oak or cherry seems to be the area specialty and there are lots of makers to choose from.

Just North of Berlin on route 62 is Heini's Cheese Store with over 100 kinds of cheese and many other goodies. We bought some Lacy Baby Swiss and some Farmer Cheese. then we went across the street to Kaufman's Bakery. They have the biggest selection of breads and rolls and pies and cookies to be found. I got a blackberry pie and Diane got some peanut butter cookies, among other things. Then we went up the road to Wendell August Forge a rather unique place that has  various plates and bowls made from aluminum or pewter or brass sheet which is pounded into engraved molds.

All that shopping and looking had us tired out by that time so we went on up the road to the Amish Door Restaurant for dinner. Reminiscent of the big restaurants like Good N Plenty in the Lancaster area, this new operation offers family style, buffet and menu ways to order your meal. They have an attached bakery and also a gift shop and an inn. The food was very good and the service was outstanding. The prices were very reasonable. We were too stuffed to be tempted by the bakery but we did find some black raspberry jam in the gift shop.

One last stop one the way back to the campsite lead us to the Gateway Place, a shop which specializes in Ohio wines. We had a delightful time chatting with the hosts while tasting some of the local wines. And of course, a few bottles managed to accompany us out the door. Then it was back to camp. Tomorrow, we'll head out of Ohio and on to West Virginia to our daughter's place. The forecast is for thunderstorms and wind but we're going to head out and  see how it goes.