Living Our Dream

Pittsburgh to Berlin, OH

Events of Saturday, September 15 to Sunday, September 23, 2012

As you can see from the title of the post, we went back to Amish country in Berlin, OH after leaving Pittsburgh. We love the Holmes County area and decided to return for a week or so before heading south even though the weather had turned markedly cooler. We had several days while we were in Pittsburgh with highs that barely made it into the 60s, and there were a couple of nights with lows in the 30s; but we still decided to take our time heading south so we could relax for a week in Amish country.

Our 9 days in Pittsburgh were hectic with all our appointments, but we had time for a little fun. During our visit, we shared dinner most evenings with Lora and J. Michael. The ladies went shopping on Saturday because Kohl's was having a big sale. Margery got some new threads and a new watch. Paul went to Lowe's and Home Depot to look around to gather information for some possible future projects.

On Sunday, we went to church with Lora and J. Michael and watched part of the Steeler game and the NASCAR race in the afternoon. We had dinner with Lora and J. Michael Sunday evening, and J. Michael's mom joined us. We always enjoy spending time with Mary Ann when we're in town.

Last year, we took Paul's step mom to a Chinese restaurant called Empire Palace for her birthday. We really liked Empire Palace, so we decided to go there for lunch after our morning dentist appointments on Tuesday since the dentist office was very close to the restaurant.

Empire Palace Chinese restaurant

Empire Palace is a little different from most Chinese restaurants. The decor doesn't have the stereotypical red paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a mural of dragons on the wall. The decor is a bit more sophisticated, but the menu has all the familiar items including our favorite - General Tso's chicken. Lunch specials run $7.50 to $9.00 and include your choice of soup (egg drop, hot and sour or wonton) or an egg roll plus your choice of steamed or fried rice. We both had shrimp egg rolls and fried rice with our General Tso's chicken. We were looking forward to our meal because it was so delicious when we were there last spring. Empire Palace didn't disappoint. It was as good as we remembered. 

Paul about to enjoy his egg roll

On Wednesday, we took Paul's step mom to lunch for her birthday. This year, she chose Atria's Restaurant and Tavern. Atria's lunch menu includes pasta and seafood dishes as well as sandwiches and burgers. Entreés range in price from $10 to $15 and include a side dish such as pasta, rice or a vegetable. Sandwiches and burgers are about the same price as the lunch entreés and include fries, slaw or home made potato chips.

Atria's Restaurant and Tavern

Atria's is currently having their Oktoberfest celebration that included several German specialties. Paul's step mom had sauerbraten with red cabbage and spätzle. Margery, Lora and Paul all had half a rotisserie chicken wrap with a cup of sherry crab soup. We thought the serving sizes were a little small for the price, but everything was delicious.

Margery, Paul's step mom and Lora

On Thursday, Margery met one of her former co-workers at TGI Friday's for lunch. They had a great time catching up.

Paul had lunch with some of his co-worker buds on Friday. They also had a lot of fun, and Paul learned about all the changes that are going on where he used to work. He was very glad he is retired.

Saturday was the day we did our weekly cleaning of the motor home and did some of our pre-departure chores such as dumping, checking tire pressures and checking oil. Lora and J. Michael went about some of their usual weekend activities earlier in the day. Margery and Lora got in another afternoon of shopping which resulted in finding a few more bargains including a dress we were happy to get as an early gift for Lora's late-October birthday. 

On Saturday evening, Lora and J. Michael treated us to dinner at the nearby Bahama Breeze to celebrate Paul's birthday.

Bahama Breeze

Bahama Breeze gets pretty crowded after about 5:30 or 6:00 PM on a Saturday evening, but we got there early enough to beat the crowds. We shared an appetizer of firecracker shrimp. For dinner, the ladies had almond-crusted talapia, J. Michael had curried shrimp and rice and Paul had Jamaican jerk chicken.

Dinner at Bahama Breeze

We shared a chocolate island for dessert. Yum!

Chocolate island for dessert

On Sunday, we said our good-byes and headed back to Scenic Hills RV Park in Berlin, OH. We got the same site we had when we were at Scenic Hills before we went to Pittsburgh.

While in Berlin, we planned on having a few more meals at Der Dutchman and meeting up with a college friend of Margery. Beyond that, we weren't sure what we would find to do. Stay tuned.

Berlin, OH to Pittsburgh

Events of Monday, September 10 to Friday, September 14, 2012

As RVers who travel all over the country, we meet lots of nice people along the way. Sometimes we meet them in the campground, sometimes we meet them at a rally and sometimes we meet them through our blog. We met Marsha and Paul through our blog, and we have been following each other's blogs and corresponding by email for a couple of years.

Marsha and Paul are fellow Tiffin owners (they own a Phaeton) and fellow full-timers. At least they were fellow full-timers. They were originally from the Canton, OH area before they went full-time, and they just bought a house in the Canton area again. They plan to continue traveling, but only part time.

As it turned out, they were staying at a campground near Canton about 40 minutes from Berlin awaiting the closing on their new house, so we made arrangements to meet them at Der Dutchman for lunch last Monday. During lunch, we had lots of time to chat. It was great getting to know them better.

The two of us with Marsha and Paul on the porch of Der Dutchman

On Tuesday, we hung around the campground. Margery caught up on laundry, Paul puttered around the motor home with a couple of small projects, and we spent time relaxing. On Wednesday, we ran out to Walmart to stock up on groceries.

On Thursday morning, which was our last day in Berlin, we went to Der Dutchman one last time for their breakfast buffet. Everything was yummy.

After breakfast, we took the long way back to the motor home to enjoy some of the back-road scenery. The farm in the photo below is on the site of the homestead of Jonas Stutzman, who came from Somerset County in Pennsylvania to build a log home for his family in 1809. The Stutzman family was Amish and was the first family of settlers in the eastern part of what would later become Holmes County, Ohio.

Amish farm

Since we're nearing the middle of September, harvest is in full swing in Holmes County. We saw several farmers out in their fields harvesting corn and hay. The farmer in the next photo was raking hay into windrows.

Raking hay into windrows

A little farther along, the man in the photo below was walking his team of horses right up the road.

Farmer walking his team of horses up the road

The Hiland Bicycle Shop located on the back road down over the hill from the campground. We stopped in to see if they had tires to fit our bicycles. Our old tires were gum-walls, and the unpigmented rubber on the sidewalls had become severely cracked so Paul was afraid the tires were no longer safe.

The bicycle shop had a very nice selection of tires in different styles and sizes, and their prices were even lower than similar bike tires at Walmart. When we got back to the campground, Paul got to work on installing the tires. It only took about an hour to get all 4 tires mounted.

Paul mounting new bike tires

After a short test ride, Paul stowed the bikes in the back of the car. Then, since he already had the compressor out to air up the bike tires, he topped off the air in the motor home tires.

On Friday morning, we headed out to Pittsburgh for 9 days of family visits and our annual doctor appointments. We got backed into the RV pad beside Lora and J. Michael's garage before 1:00 PM and proceeded to get set up.

All settled in

We'll have an update on our stop in Pittsburgh in our next post.

Wooster, OH - Everything Rubbermaid and Quailcrest Farm

Berlin, OH - Events of Friday, September 7, 2012

After Lora and J. Michael left following their long Labor Day Weekend at Scenic Hills with us, we spent the next couple of days hanging around the campground. One of the things we did was a little cleaning up and rearranging things in the rig. As a result of our efforts, we discovered we needed a couple of plastic containers to help keep things organized. We also needed a few groceries, so we made a Walmart run. Walmart has a fairly good selection of plastic storage containers; but, unfortunately, they didn't have the size we needed. Therefore, we decided to go to Everything Rubbermaid on Friday.

Everything Rubbermaid is a Rubbermaid outlet store in downtown Wooster, OH, which is about 30 minutes northwest of Berlin. We have visited and written about the store on several previous occasions. They have just about every consumer product Rubbermaid makes displayed on four floors.

Everything Rubbermaid

They also have a few of the heavy-duty commercial items like the shop carts shown in the photo below.

Rubbermaid commercial equipment

Consumer products include resin outdoor storage sheds, kitchen gadgets, cleaning products (brushes, mops and brooms), coolers and all kinds of containers.

A portion of the large selection of storage containers

We had a good time exploring all four floors, and we found two containers that were just about the size we had in mind. We also found a couple of other items we didn't even know we needed. By the way, Everything Rubbermaid offers a discount to seniors over 60 that amounts to about 11%.

Since we were in Wooster, we also decided to visit Quailcrest Farm, which is a garden center located a few miles north of Wooster. We used like to go there when we went to Berlin from our stick house in Pittsburgh because Quailcrest not only has a very good selection trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and herbs; but they also have a nice variety of unique, artistic, decorative items for both indoors and out. The property is also beautifully landscaped with many of the plants available in their nursery featured in numerous garden areas. It's almost like a small botanical garden. We haven't been to Quailcrest since we went full-time, and we were happy to see it is still as nice as we remembered it.

Quailcrest Farm

Plants for sale in the greenhouse

Decorative items for inside the home

Decorative items for outside

Paul particularly liked the Japanese-style lanterns, owls and hedgehogs made from stone and large river rocks.

Owls and hedgehogs made from river rocks

After looking around inside, we headed out to see the landscaped garden areas.

Zinnias blooming at Quailcrest Farm

Pond with water lilies

Trees and shrubs add structure to the landscape while flowers add color.

One of many landscape beds

Decorative features like the stone mushrooms and wrought iron armillary in the next photo add interest to the garden after the flowers are done blooming.

Decorative items add interest to the garden.

Paul liked the artistic effect achieved by placing a few larger pavers among the bricks at the herb garden in the next photo.

Herb garden

There was a large garden spider in the shrubs near the center of the above photo that caught Paul's eye. It was a big one. The legs were about two inches in diameter.

Large garden spider

Margery stopped to try out the swing that was in the backyard of the house that is on the property that apparently belongs to the owners of Quailcrest.

Margery trying out a swing

We enjoyed our stroll around Quailcrest Farm. Afterward, we headed back to Scenic Hills. We hung out around the motor home over the weekend and left the sightseeing to the weekend warriors. Our time is Ohio's Amish country is winding down. In our next post, we'll have info on the last few days of our stay in Berlin and about next stop.

Coshocton, OH - Roscoe Village

Berlin, OH - Events of Monday, September 3, 2012

Since Lora and J. Michael were staying over an extra day on the Labor Day holiday weekend, we decided to do more sightseeing and go to Roscoe Village. Roscoe Village is a restored 1830s canal town in Conshocton, OH about 40 minutes south of Berlin. We stopped for the breakfast buffet at Der Dutchman restaurant on the way. Everything was delicious as usual.

Roscoe Village was along the route of the Ohio-Erie Canal that ran from Cleveland to Portsmouth, OH and connected Lake Erie with the Ohio River. Work on the canal was started in the late 1820s and was completed in the early 1830s. The Ohio-Erie Canal was built in Ohio as a result of the success of the Erie Canal in New York State.

The visitor center had a good video on the history of the Ohio-Erie Canal. The building of the canal resulted in prosperity along its route because of all the trade it encouraged and because of the tolls that were collected. Although use of the canals began to drop during the Civil War with the rapid growth of railroads, parts of the Ohio-Erie Canal were used as late as 1913. Rising maintenance costs finally forced abandonment of the last section of the canal in 1913 following a record snowfall and severe spring flooding.

Roscoe Village Visitor Center

Roscoe Village fell into disrepair in the early 1900s. Edward and Frances Montgomery had established a successful business making work gloves in Coshocton in the 1930s. In the 1960s as the Montgomerys planned to retire and sell their business, they realized what a historic treasure Roscoe Village was and decided begin the process of restoration as a way to give back to the community they called home.

Today, much of Roscoe Village is owned and operated by a non-profit foundation. Historic buildings are open for display, and there are costumed interpreters throughout to demonstrate old time crafts and to tell the history of Roscoe Village. There are also numerous special events during the year such as an apple butter festival and Christmas candle lighting.

There are individual stores and restaurants in the village that are privately owned. Since some of the buildings are commercial enterprises, the main street through town is open to vehicular traffic, which detracts a little from the ambiance.

After watching the video in the visitor center, we started off our tour of the village with the blacksmith shop shown to the left in the photo below.

Blacksmith shop (left) and the Hay Craft and Learning Center

The blacksmith was demonstrating making what were probably going to be decorative hooks with a leaf at the end.

Blacksmith making decorative hooks

Next to the blacksmith shop is the Hay Craft and Learning Center, which is the light-colored building beyond the blacksmith shop. Inside the Hay Craft and Learning Center was the broom squire demonstrating broom making. She had an interesting presentation on the history of brooms. The earliest brooms were nothing more than a hand full of twigs. Bundling the twigs together made them easier to handle, and fastening the twigs to a long stick kept the user from having to stoop over. As time progressed, someone discovered the branched seed heads of sorghum was an excellent material for brooms because it didn't become brittle as it aged the way twigs sometimes do. The fibrous seed heads were dubbed "broom corn." Broom corn has been bred over the years to produce long seed branches.

Using the machine in the photo below, the docent fed hands full of broom corn under a wire. Then she stepped on the treadle to rotate the broom one notch to wind the wire tightly around the handle holding the broom corn in place. The process is repeated until the broom has the desired fullness.

Display of brooms and a broom winding machine at the Hay Craft and Learning Center

After watching the broom-making demonstration, we went over to the other side of the Hay Craft and Learning Center where there are several old printing presses.

Old printing presses at the Hay Craft and Learning Center

Here, the docent demonstrated type setting and printing using a couple of the old presses.

Demonstration of setting type by hand

They even had a smaller press that visitors can try. You can print your own souvenir bookmark.

Margery printing a souvenir bookmark

As we continued walking up the street, we came to the house that belonged to Jacob Welsh, who was the first recorded toll collector in Roscoe. Inside, there are interesting displays and videos on the restoration of Roscoe Village.

Jacob Welsh toll house

Next to the toll house is an old warehouse that is now a restaurant.

There is now a restaurant in the old warehouse next to the toll house.

The restored general store now sells novelties and souvenirs.

General store

The brick building in the next photo was the home of Dr. Maro Johnson, who was the town doctor.

Home of Dr. Maro Johnson

Dr. Johnson apparently had a successful practice because his home was comfortably furnished. He originally practiced medicine in the back room of his home, but he was able to buy land next door where he built a separate office (white building to the left in the photo above). He also owned the building to the left of his office where the general store was located.

Parlor of Dr. Johnson's home

The kitchen of the Johnson home was in the basement. Outside the kitchen was Mrs. Johnson's garden. The depression between the garden and the road in the next photo is the where the canal was located. The road is built on what used to be the tow path.

The depression that was once the canal lies between Mrs. Johnson's garden and the road

Butterfly sipping nectar from a butterfly bush

We got to the end of the area where the old buildings were located and headed back down the other side of the street. Along the way, there was a display of an old canal boat that we stopped to check out.

Paul, Lora and J. Michael clowning around on an old canal boat

More serious pose on the canal boat

Next to where the old canal boat is displayed, a one-room school has been set up in the building that used to be the visitor center.

Schoolhouse

The docents at Roscoe Village are excellent. They really know their history and they care about Roscoe Village. When the docent at the school found out Lora was a teacher, she not only let Lora try out the teacher's desk, but she provided Lora with sample materials for her students like a copy of the school rules from the 1800s and samples of handwriting exercises.

Lora plays teacher at the one-room school

As we continued walking down the street, Paul noticed some political correctness that had gone astray. The fluorescent light bulb really looked out of place in the antique light fixture outside one of the buildings.

Political correctness gone astray

Rides on a replica of an 1830s canal boat are also available at 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00, but it was threatening rain all day so we decided to pass. However, we did drive down to where the canal boat was docked on our way back to the campground. As we made our way to the canal boat, we also passed a series of three old locks. Locks were used to move the canal boats over the undulating terrain between Lake Erie and the Ohio River.

Series of three locks at Roscoe Village

Rides on a reconstructed canal boat are also available.

We headed back to Scenic Hills and shared dinner at our rig that evening. The next morning, we said our good-byes, and Lora and J. Michael were on their way back to Pittsburgh by 11:00 AM. We definitely have plans to relax, but we expect we'll have some activities to report, too. Stay tuned.

Holmes County Part IV: Flea Market Hopping

Berlin, OH - Events of Saturday September 1 to Sunday, September 2, 2012

On Saturday, we headed out with Lora and J. Michael to visit both local flea markets. As we mentioned in a recent post, there are two similar flea markets in the area - the Holmes County Flea Market that can be seen from the far end of the campground and the Walnut Creek Flea Amish Market that is located about 20 minutes to the east of Berlin. When we go to both flea markets, we usually go to the Holmes County Flea Market last; but this time we decided to go there first.

Holmes County Flea Market

Both flea markets specialize in new, country-style merchandise.

Lora checking out decorative items at one of the booths

After walking around the first flea market and making a few purchases, we hopped into the car and drove to the second one in Walnut Creek.

Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market

The Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market had a number of things going on outside like the two girls in red dresses in the photo above with a kettle of hot oil over an open fire making potato chips and the fellow in the photo below doing chain saw sculpture.

Making chain saw sculpture

Since we waited for a lull in the foot traffic to take the photo below, it doesn't look like the market was very busy; but both markets had a nice sized crowd because it was a holiday weekend.

Inside the Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market

On the way back to Scenic Hills from Walnut Creek, we stopped at Walnut Creek Cheese because the girls wanted to pick up some bulk spices and a couple of other items. Since it was a busy holiday weekend, they had delicious samples to try like several types of cheese, mint chocolate cake, spaghetti with meat sauce and fruit punch.

We headed back to the campground to relax a while in the afternoon, then headed out to Der Dutchman for lupper. We planned to stop in the bakery after we ate to pick up some baked goods for breakfast; but we decided to stop in before we ate because the bakery looked very busy when we walked by, and they sometimes run out of things later on Saturday. It's a good thing we stopped early because they only had a few of our favorite donuts left. We also bought the last no-sugar-added blueberry pie they had to enjoy later for dessert.

Lora, Margery and Paul had half a hot roast beef sandwich for lupper. Paul had mashed potatoes and the ladies had French fries with gravy. J. Michael had half a hot turkey sandwich with French fries and gravy. We all had the salad bar. Everything was yummy as usual. Later back at the campground, we all enjoyed a piece of blueberry pie.

Sunday was a little gloomy with rain showers in the morning. We relaxed around the rig. Lora and J. Michael were intrigued by our description of the Warther Museum, so they headed to Dover to check it out. Later, we went over to their trailer for a delicious dinner of burgers.

Lora and J. Michael usually stay over an extra day on holiday weekends to avoid holiday traffic. Staying an extra day also avoids long lines at the dump station when they are at a state park without full hookups. We took advantage of the fact they stayed an extra day at Scenic Hills and did more sightseeing. We'll tell you about it in our next post.