We had nice weather througout our visit. Day Three was sunny and warm - Duba had planned a visit to the Ohioan Amish and Mennonite communities about 40 miles west of her home near the towns of Sugar Creek and Berlin. We stopped at a quilt shop where the quirky, but interesting, manager advised us to get off the main road and get to see the less touristy sites on the back roads. She was quite right. Beautiful rolling hills and bucolic Amish farms dotted the countryside. Here a buggy passed us; there an Amish woman on a bicycle pedaled into town.
Still, tacky tourism raised its head -- we stopped for lunch at Der Dutchman, one of dozens of so-call Amish homestyle restaurants sprinkled throughout the area. The food was awful; the place was mostly filled with other tourists (like us). But next to us was a table of eight Mennonite women. I knew they were Mennonite and not Amish because, despite their similar dress, they finished lunch and piled into a van and drove off. Even though both sects are part of the wider Anabaptist (meaning "baptized again") the Amish do not use motorized vehicles. What other differences exist, I don't know.
The restaurant touted its "Amish Kitchen Cooking." But it was as bland and as bad as you can imagine. The turkey in my turkey sandwich was unidentifiable. The Mennonite women eating here were either decoys seated to attract us tourists or they, sadly, had forgotten what Amish home cooking used to be.
Lex, Lee, Duba and Mirjam at Der Dutchman.
The menu - the turkey sandwich was from hunger.
A table of Mennonite women were seated next to us. Did they also come here for the "home cooking"??
We finished our drive and headed home but not before we inspected another antique mall. Prices were better here. Stacey came away with a beautiful Hall pitcher a la The 50's. We're gonna start our own resort because we now have enough water pitchers to place two on every table!
*****
Tonight we would have a barbecue at home. But before eating we took a beautiful sunset cruise on Duba's boat. Even though it was summer, it was a weekday and the lake was quiet and calm. Atwood Lake is man made, the result of a dam at it's western end. There are many dams in the area, man's attempt to control nature's periodic floods. The lake and the land around it are under the control of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy, which strictly limits building and development. Thus, the natural beauty has been preserved. One more benefit of Conservancy control: motors are limited to 25hp - no supersized tobacco racers on this water.
Taking off for a sunset cruise on Atwood Lake.
Duba, at the controls of her pontoon boat.
Lex and Lee, in the fading sunlight.
Stacey and me (self-snapped).
Mirjam and Kris.
Stacey navigates, Duba steers.
Just hanging out as the sun sets.
Duba loves her new boat.
A lovely and gentle boat ride.
Goodnight, Atwood Lake.
====End Of Part III====
1 comment:
Lovely!!!!
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