Living Our Dream

A Visit From Family Part II: Akron Children's Museum

Berlin, OH - Events of Thursday, August 31 to Monday, September 4, 2017

With Lora, J. Michael, and Lydia here at Scenic Hills with us for the week all the way through Labor Day, we were looking for things that would keep Lydia occupied. Therefore, we all piled into Lora and J. Michael's car last Thursday and took Lydia to the Akron Children's Museum. The museum, while not nearly as big as the one in Pittsburgh, still has plenty of activities for kids that inspire creativity, exploration, and learning. Admission is $5 for kids and adults. Children 12 months and younger are free.

One of Lydia's favorite areas at the museum was Farm to Table. Kids can pick apples from a tree (plastic apples held to the tree by Velcro) and deliver them to the produce store. At the produce store, they can shop for all kinds of produce.

Lydia shopping for produce

While Lydia had fun pushing the shopping cart and loading it with produce, she really liked operating the cash register at the checkout.

Lydia working the checkout at produce store

Adjacent to the produce store is Grammie's Kitchen. It is set up as a diner complete with a cooking area with all sorts of pots, pans, toy appliances, plates, and utensils. There is also a lunch counter with several stools. Margery volunteered to be the waitress.

Our waitress

Lydia and J. Michael at the lunch counter

The museum wasn't very crowded the day we were there. That was nice not only because it made it easier for Lydia to play, but also because the adults could join in. The next area was the Curtain Call Theater where there was an assortment of costumes for kids to use to act out plays. A couple of the adults tried on costumes in order to encourage Lydia to participate.

Paul in his safety gear

Aaaaarrrg

Soon Lydia joined in.

Lydia checking out costumes

With her costume selected, Lydia took her place on the stage. The curtains opened...

Lydia opening the curtains

...and Lydia performed a lively dance number.

Lydia dancing

Not to be outdone, Margery and J. Michael donned costumes of a construction worker and a police officer to become two of the Village People. They gave us a performance of "YMCA."

Two of the Village People performing "YMCA"

From the stage, we moved on to the wind tunnel area where fans blow pieces of lightweight fabric through plastic tubes.

Several kids watching in amazement as a fan blows pieces of fabric up a plastic tube

Paul was a little disappointed he couldn't get Lydia interested in the giant Legos, so he set out to build a fort on his own. Like we said, it wasn't very crowded so the adults got to play, too.

Paul building a fort from giant Legos

We spent a couple of hours at the Akron Children's Museum, but Lydia still wasn't ready to leave. However, the rest of us were pretty hungry so we headed to our next stop - Papa Gyros Greek restaurant. One of Papa Gyros' four locations is just off I-77 in the Belden Village area of Canton, Ohio, which was not very far from the museum.

We started off our meal with two orders of saganaki as appetizers. Saganaki is fried cheese served flaming at your table to shouts of "Opa." We all had "authentic" gyros with traditional lamb/beef gyro meat ($6.89 without feta cheese, $6.99 with feta). Other types of gyros are available including Cajun, barbecue, and Philly cheese steak. The gyros are piled so high they can't even wrap them up. They are served open-faced, and if you want to eat it as a wrap, you have to eat half the filling with a fork first. We all agreed the gyros were just about the best any of us can ever remember having.

Lora, Lydia, J. Michael, and Margery at Papa Gyros

Back at Scenic Hills, we relaxed with a campfire in the evening.

On Friday, Lora and J. Michael took Lydia to the Farm at Walnut Creek. The farm features animals from all over the world. There is also a non-electric, Amish farm house and numerous domestic animals. Since we went to the farm with Lydia last year, we decided to skip it this year and make a trip to Walnut Creek Cheese to pick up some groceries instead. Click here if you want to read about our visit to the Farm at Walnut Creek last year. We relaxed around the rig in the afternoon, and Margery whipped up some chicken breasts smothered in Swiss cheese sauce for dinner. Yum!

On Saturday, we went out to the Holmes County Flea Market located just down the road from the campground. Afterwards, we made a few other stops before heading back to Scenic Hills for Lydia's afternoon quiet time. We went to La Palma Mexican Restaurant in Millersburg for dinner where we had a variety of dishes like fajitas, a chili relleno, chimichangas, and burritos. Everything was delish!

Lora and J. Michael took Lydia miniature golfing early on Sunday afternoon while we stayed back at the RV park. We were going to grill burgers for dinner, but somebody mentioned the delicious chicken strips and French fries at Park Street Pizza, so we changed our plans and headed there instead. We ended up getting a number of items to share including a small order of Buffalo wings; a medium order of boneless chicken wings (essentially chicken nuggets) with three different dipping sauces; an order of loaded fries that were covered with cheddar cheese, jalapenos, and bacon; and an order of bread sticks topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses with marinara sauce for dipping. It was so good, we followed it up with another order of bread sticks. We capped off our evening with a short campfire before Lydia headed off to bed and we headed back to our rig.

On Monday morning, Lora and J. Michael started the task of packing up. When they were just about ready to go except for the final hooking up of the trailer, they took a break so we could all enjoy the delicious chorizo sausage casserole and low-carb snickerdoodle cake Margery made for breakfast.

After breakfast and after they hitched up, it was time to say "good-by." We had a great time spending the week with family.

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July 4th Weekend Part I: Canton Classic Car Museum

Berlin, OH - Events of Thursday, July 2, 2015 to Friday, July 3, 2015

Lora, J. Michael and Lydia pulled into the site behind us at Scenic Hills for the July 4th weekend around 7:00 p.m. on Thursday evening. After they got backed in, we stopped over for hugs, then we took Lydia back to our rig to watch her while Lora and J. Michael got set up. Afterward, we chatted for a while, then it was off to bed for Lydia. It wasn't that long until the rest of us followed suit.

On Friday morning, we were all up fairly early to have breakfast at our rig and then to head off to Canton to visit the Canton Classic Car Museum. The museum was opened in 1978 by Marshall Belden, Sr., who ran an oil and gas business in Canton, OH, and who was an auto enthusiast and history buff.

The museum is located in a building that is almost a block long that was once the home of the Monnet & Sacher Ford dealership. Monnet & Sacher operated from 1914 to 1931 and was the largest Ford dealership in the country due in part to the fact they were located only a few blocks from the Lincoln Highway.

Canton Classic Car Museum

Admission to the museum is a bargain at $7.50 for adults and $6.00 for seniors. On top of that, Margery found an online coupon for 15% off good for our entire group.

As we entered the Canton Classic Car Museum, we could see it is much more than cars. There are transportation related items and other non-automotive memorabilia everywhere.

The first room had a 1901 curved dash Olsdmobile Runabout (foreground) and a replica of a 1903 Bliss Surrey.

1901 curved dash Olds Runabout and a replica of a 1903 Bliss Surrey

Among the many items in the display cases along the walls in the first room was a nice collection of old hood ornaments.

Collection of old hood ornaments

One of the more impressive cars at the museum is a 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Ascot Tourer. It is a BIG car with a 143.5-inch wheelbase, which is only a little shorter than our long-bed, crew-cab pickup.

1928 Rolls-Royce

As we said, there are more than cars in the museum. Many of the items are transportation related like gas and oil signs, toy cars and trucks, pedal cars, bicycles and tricycles. There are even baby carriages and rocking horses.

Pedal car, a bicycle and rocking horses

More pedal cars, a tricycle and baby carriages

An interesting car is the 1962 Amphicar. Built in Germany from 1961 to 1965, this car was capable of traveling up to 75 mph on land and 12 mph in the water.

1962 Amphicar

On our way through the museum, Lora and J. Michael took time out for a tourist photo while Lydia looked on.

Lora and J. Michael posing for a tourist photo while Lydia looks on

The museum collection includes a 1922 Holmes with an air-cooled engine. Holmes automobiles were built right there in Canton, Ohio, from 1918 to 1923. The company was started by Arthur Holmes, who was a former executive of the Franklin Automobile Co. (H. H. Franklin Mfg. Co.).

1922 Holmes built in Canton, OH

One of Paul's favorite cars was the 1938 supercharged Cord Model 812 convertible. Only 196 of this model were built. The cord is parked next to a 1915 Chevrolet H-4 Touring Car.

1937 Cord convertible and 1915 Chevrolet touring car

Lydia wasn't that interested in the cars, but she was a good sport. She smiled and mugged for us all the way through the museum.

Lydia at the Classic Car Museum

Near the end of our tour of the museum, we came upon a coin-operated, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer kiddie ride from the 1950s. Lydia gave it a try and liked it.

Lydia on a coin-operated kiddie ride

The Canton Classic Car Museum is another one of those hidden gems that not too many people seem to know about. In addition to their impressive collection of cars, they also have a lot of transportation-related items, old photos and lots of other memorabilia, much of which relates to the history of Canton. It would take many visits to see everything.

After the museum we stopped for lunch in Canton. Look for our next post, and we'll tell you about where we ate and what else we did while Lora, J. Michael and Lydia were with us for the holiday weekend.

German Culture Museum

Berlin, OH - Events of Wednesday, June 17 to Friday, June 19, 2015

Last week was a relatively quiet week for us. We didn't do much because it rained every day. We did need to stop at the post office Wednesday morning, so we also stopped at Der Dutchman Bakery while we were out.

More often than not, we get cream sticks at the bakery, but this time we decided to split an apple fritter. Their apple fritters are so big and so dense, neither of us can eat a whole one.

Margery with our apple fritter

We got almost 5 inches of rain for the week, but eating out is something we can do rain or shine. When we eat out here in Amish Country, we almost always eat at Der Dutchman. Since we're going to be here all summer this year, we decided we would try at least a couple of the many other restaurants in the area.

We frequently drive through a little town nearby called Mount Hope, and we pass a restaurant located there called Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen. We were always curious about the place, so we decided it was time to give them a try on Friday.

Since we were restless from not getting out much all week because of all the rain, we decided to leave a little early and stop at the German Culture Museum in Walnut Creek on the way to Mrs. Yoder's. The German Culture Museum is located in the lower level of the Walnut Creek Municipal Building/Library right across the street from the Walnut Creek Post Office.

German Culture Museum

The German Culture Museum is another one of those places we pass all the time, but have never visited. The reason for that is mostly because the museum has limited hours. It is only open from noon to 4:00 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from May through October. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

The museum is relatively small, but it is very well done. It has artifacts and photos that detail the history of the community of Walnut Creek, which was originally called New Carlisle.

In addition to the history of Walnut Creek, the museum has a section on the history of the Amish Church. The Amish and Mennonites are offshoots of the Anabaptist movement, which began in Europe in the 1500s. The Anabaptists were persecuted in Europe by both the Catholic and Protestant churches, and it is that persecution that led to the migration of many Amish and Mennonites to America. Large numbers of them originally settled in Pennsylvania in the late 1700s. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, who was a Quaker and who was an early advocate of religious freedom.

In 1803, an Amish exploration party from Somerset, Pennsylvania, surveyed the region around present day Walnut Creek to search for a new place to settle. In 1809, Jonas Stutzman arrived from Beaver, PA, and he settled on land at the base of the hill just to the southeast of where the museum is located.

One of the prized possessions of the museum is a surrey from the 1860s that originally belonged to John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller moved to the Cleveland area as a boy with his family in 1853. Rockefeller, who went on to found Standard Oil in 1870, built his first oil refinery in Cleveland around 1863 at age 24. He bought the luxurious surrey for his family later in the 1860s. The surrey was purchased at auction in the 1930s by two Walnut Creek history buffs and stored in a barn until it was beautifully restored in 2005.

1860s surrey that once belonged to John D. Rockefeller

The major portion of the museum is laid out with room-like vignettes to display various artifacts.

Farm implements

Household items

Kitchen

Bedroom

The German Culture Museum is a gem that doesn't seem to be very well known. It is very well done and is an obvious labor of love. We enjoyed it a lot.

We spent more time at the museum than we had planned, so we didn't get to Mrs. Yoder's until almost 5:00. It was starting to get crowded, but we didn't have to wait for a table.

Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen

Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen has lunch and dinner entrees that include country favorites like fried chicken, ham steak, pork chops and country fried steak. Prices range from about $8 to $13. They also have burgers and several kinds of sandwiches for $4 to around $6.50.

There is a breakfast buffet on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and there is a hot buffet every day for $11.99 that also includes a salad bar. The hot buffet includes fish, shrimp and baby back ribs after 4:00 on Fridays. We usually can't eat enough to justify a dinner buffet, but cost of the buffet at Mrs. Yoder's was fairly reasonable so that's what we both decided to have.

The salad bar at Mrs. Yoder's isn't quite as extensive as the one at Der Dutchman, but that was okay because we were also having the dinner buffet. The only thing we really missed on the salad bar at Mrs. Yoder's was blue cheese dressing.

The dinner buffet at Mrs. Yoder's isn't as extensive as the one at Der Dutchman either, but it is a couple of dollars cheaper. Unfortunately, we thought the ribs were too fatty and they also weren't very tender. We knew the ribs at Mrs. Yoder's would be baked instead of smoked and we knew they wouldn't be as good as the ones at OakWood Grill in The Villages in Florida or as good as the ones at Central Barbecue in Memphis, but they weren't even as good as the ones Margery makes at home in the crock pot. In addition, some pieces of the fried chicken weren't very crispy and were a little greasy. On a more positive note, the popcorn shrimp was good as was the clam chowder, the potato salad, and the sweet potato casserole.

Paul at Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen

Overall, we thought the food at Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen was okay; but in our opinion, it is not as good as Der Dutchman. We're glad we took the opportunity to try Mrs. Yoder's to satisfy our curiosity even though we were a bit disappointed.

You've probably heard of buyer's remorse where the buyer regrets a purchase later. Well, by Saturday evening, Margery had diner's remorse. The disappointment of eating at Mrs. Yoder's made her wish she had those calories back so she could spend them on a fry pie from Der Dutchman Bakery instead.

By the end of last week, the weather forecast for the following week showed we might get a few nice days. In our next post, we'll tell you if we were able to take advantage of any of that nicer weather.

David Warther Carvings

Berlin, OH - Events of Monday, August 11, 2014

When we decided to spend most of the summer in Berlin, OH, we wanted mostly to relax, enjoy the rural atmosphere and occasionally indulge in the good food that's available in the area. We didn't plan on doing much sightseeing, but we did want to do some. Since last Monday was a rainy day, it was a good time to do something indoors so we headed to David Warther Carvings located a few miles to the east of Berlin between Walnut Creek and Sugarcreek.

David Warther is the grandson of Ernest "Mooney" Warther, who was a self-taught carver of locomotives and trains. We visited the Warther Museum in nearby Dover, OH back in 2012. Click here to read about that visit.

While his grandfather carved trains, David carves ships. The exhibit of David's carvings just opened a little over a year ago in a brand new building with 10,000 square feet of exhibit space.

David Warther Carvings

Admission to David Warther Carvings is $10 for adults. There are guided tours that tell about David's work and point out important features of selected ship models. After the tour, visitors are free to roam around on their own.

David Warther was only 14 when his grandfather died, but his interest in carving and in ships had already taken root. The exhibit has several of David's early ship models, including the first one he did at age 6. It is a Viking ship, and it's in center of the photo below.

David Warther's childhood ship models

Like his grandfather, David uses ivory as a major material for his carvings. When we think of ivory, we generally think of elephant tusks. However, ivory can be obtained from the teeth and tusks of many animals including walrus, whales and even wild boars. There was a display of ivory from various sources. The long one at the top of the next photo is the tusk from a narwhal, which is a medium-sized whale. The dark one in the center is a tusk from the extinct woolly mammoth. Even though the mammoth tusk is partially fossilized (some of the original tusk has been replaced by minerals), ivory can still be found toward the center. There were also several examples of ivory on the table that visitors could touch and lift. We were surprised at how heavy ivory is.

Examples of legal antique ivory

The importation of ivory has been banned in the United States and many foreign countries due to the dramatic decline of elephant populations in Africa and India. Therefore, all ivory used for the carvings is antique ivory, which is legal to sell and own. It is bought or is donated from museums and private collections.

Warther's carvings depict the history of the ship from about 3000 BC to the present. There are 4 or 5 exhibit rooms, each containing 15 to 20 models. The first room has mostly ancient Egyptian, Phoenician and Greek vessels.

Some of the models have magnifying lenses next to them to make it easier to see the intricate details. Warther uses scrimshaw to add additional features like windows, planking and decorative elements. Below is the model of King Tutankhamen's royal ship looking through the magnifying lens. Click on the photo if you want an even closer view. King Tut reigned from 1339 to 1327 BC. The scale of the model is 1/8 inch = 1 foot. The original ship was 88 feet long.

Detail of the model of King Tut's royal ship

Incidentally, the rigging on all the ships is ivory, not thread or wire. When David was only 13, he developed a method to make ivory strands for the rigging. Over the years, he has perfected the method so he is now able to make strands that are only seven thousandths of an inch (.007") in diameter. It takes him about 90 minutes to make one strand about 9 inches long.

The next room features Viking ships. The Vikings raided and explored from their Scandinavian homelands from about the 800s to the 1100s.

Margery listening to the tour guide tell us about Viking ships

From the Viking ships, we moved to the sailing ships of the 1400s to 1600s. Models included Columbus' ships - the Santa Clara (better known by its nickname the Niña), the Pinta and the Santa Maria. There is also a model of the Susan Constant, which brought settlers to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1606-1607 and the Mayflower, which brought settlers to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.

 

Model of the Susan Constant

Model of the Mayflower

The last room contains models from the 1800s and early 1900s. The entrance to the room is flanked by massive tusks from a 12-foot elephant.

Entrance to the last room flanked by two elephant tusks

Last summer, we saw a half-scale replica of the whaling ship Lagoda at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. David Warther's model of the Lagoda is built to a scale of 1/16 inch = 1 foot (1/192nd actual size).

Whaling ship Lagoda

We also learned about clipper ships at the Maine Maritime Museum last year. Clipper ships were built with a narrower hull and with a large sail area. They had a smaller cargo capacity, but were much faster than standard ships. They were built primarily for the China tea trade.

Warther has a carving of the British clipper ship Cutty Sark. The Cutty Sark was built in 1869. The restored ship is on display in London. You can see how much more slender the hull is than that of the Lagoda pictured above.

British clipper ship Cutty Sark

Also on display is David Warther's first major ship model, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. By the way, David is now working on his 81st major ship model. Warther built the model of the Eagle from walnut and ivory when he was only 17 years old. The real ship was built in 1936 and is still in use today as a Coast Guard training ship.

David Warther's first major ship model, the Eagle

The last room of the exhibit building also contains a model of an F4U Corsair from WWII and early in the Korean War. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will see it is covered by tiny white dots. Those white dots are ivory pins that are inserted into the surface individually to simulate rivets.

F4U Corsair with hundreds of ivory rivets

David's workshop is also off the last exhibit room. During the week, visitors can usually watch him work through a big picture window. Unfortunately, he took the day off when we were there. The shop is filled with hundreds of small tools, many of which David had to make himself because there was no existing tool small enough to do the job.

David Warther's workshop

With our tour of the carvings complete, we exited through the gift shop. There were items with a nautical theme and items with a country theme. There were also a few items of women's apparel and accessories like jewelry, scarves and purses. Margery was impressed with the variety and quality of all the items.

Margery in the gift shop

We (especially Paul) really liked David Warther Carvings. Paul used to build model kits when he was a kid, and he used to play around with model railroading. He also had a summer job when he was in college building custom models from scratch for plant layouts and for industrial exhibits, so he really appreciates what goes into building models like these.

The rain was predicted to continue for the next couple of days, so we headed back to the motor home to take it easy and wait it out. Look for our next post to see what else we find to do.

July 4th Weekend Part I: Flea Market, Alpine Hills Museum and More

Berlin, OH - Events of Thursday, July 4 to Friday, July 5, 2013

Berlin is only about two hours from where Lora and J. Michael live. They like to camp at Scenic Hills several times a year, and they planned to spend the long 4th of July weekend with us. They arrived shortly after noon on the 4th. We went over to their site for some quick hugs, then gave them space to finish setting up. When they were done, they came over to the motor home for lunch.

Lora follows Der Dutchman on Facebook, so she knew the bakery was featuring fresh peach pies all month. After lunch, we zipped to Der Dutchman in Walnut Creek to pick up a small peach pie for dessert that evening.

We all relaxed later in the afternoon, then we got together for dinner. We had grilled smoked sausage we picked up at Winesburg Meats when we were out a few days prior.

J. Michael's birthday is coming up, so after dinner we wanted have a little celebration since we won't be together on his actual birthday. One of the things we gave him was several bags of Herr's Jalapeno Poppers Cheese Curls. We discovered them at Sam's Club when we were in Florida. We love them, and we thought J. Michael might enjoy them, too. Unfortunately, we can't find them at Sam's anymore, or anyplace else for that matter, so we ordered some for J. Michael and for ourselves directly from Herr's.

J. Michael with his Jalapeno Popper Cheese Curls

We gave J. Michael and Lora samples of the cheese curls from our already-opened bag, and they both loved them, too. In the next photo, Lora is pretending to try to steal the cheese curls while J. Michael puts on a scowl and protects his stash.

You can't have my cheese curls!

After dinner, we played a game of Rummikub (a game with plastic tiles where you try to make matches by numbers or color); and later, we enjoyed our pie. It was one of the best peach pies we had ever had.

It was drizzling rain on Friday morning as we all headed to Der Dutchman for the breakfast buffet.

Margery, Lora and J. Michael at the Der Dutchman breakfast buffet

After breakfast, we stopped at the Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market a few miles down the road from Der Dutchman. Since the market is indoors, the rain didn't seem to deter the crowds much.

Main entrance to the Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market

After we did the flea market, it was still drizzling off and on, so we made our way a few miles east to Sugarcreek, OH to the Alpine Hills Museum. Lora learned about the free museum from the family of one of her students, and we thought it would make an excellent activity for a rainy day. The museum traces the history of the village of Sugarcreek and celebrates the town's Swiss roots. Margery's mom was Swiss, so Margery and Lora were very much interested in the museum because of their Swiss heritage.

Alpine Hills Museum

In the 1800s, Swiss immigrants settled in this area of Ohio. Amish and Mennonites were among those settlers.

In 1882, the railroad came to the valley and built a depot just to the east of the then-thriving town of Shanesville. The village of East Shanesville sprang up around the depot. In 1888, a post office was opened, and the name of East Shanesville was officially changed to Sugarcreek after the name of a local stream. Shanesville eventually became part of Sugarcreek.

Sugarcreek is known as the Little Switzerland of Ohio. They have an annual Swiss Festival that attracts large crowds from all over. As you can see in the photo above, the museum and many of the other buildings in town are decorated to look like Swiss chalets.

The museum display starts out with an 1890s kitchen. Although the museum calls this an Amish kitchen because of the wood stove and ice box, it is probably not very much different from most rural kitchens of the 1890s.

1890s kitchen

Many of the Swiss immigrants were dairy farmers. Cheese making, for which the Swiss are so well known, also came to America with the early settlers. The museum has a display of cheese making the way it was done back in the 1890s when the village of Sugarcreek was newly founded. Milk was heated over a wood fire in large, copper kettles.

1890s cheese making exhibit

Lora, J. Michael and Margery with a large, copper cheese-making kettle

The method of making cheese in the 1890s was a lot different from what we saw at Heini's Cheese a few days prior. Back in the day, the wood fire had to be carefully tended to maintain the proper temperature for many hours during which time the milk mixture would have to be constantly stirred by hand. At Heini's, we saw large, steam-heated vats with automatic stirrers.

Woodworking was, and still is, an important industry in the area. The museum had a nice display of woodworking tools from the 1800s.

Woodworking tools from the 1800s

On the second floor of the museum, there were exhibits of some of the furniture, musical instruments and clothing that once belonged to the early settlers of Sugarcreek.

Display of furniture and clothing from the late 1800s

Traditional Swiss costumes

In the music room, there were several Alp horns. Alp horns were used for signaling in mountain villages since medieval times. Alp horns are typically up to 8' long and are constructed from a solid piece of wood. After the outside is shaped, the horn is split down the middle so the inside can be hollowed out, after which the two halves are re-assembled.

Alp horns in the instrument room

There were also displays of more recent items from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s including several old Edison record players, Victrolas and radios. As we looked at the display of radios, Lora asked, "What are those glass bulbs? I know they have something to do with radios, but what are they?" We had to explain they were what was used prior to transistors to convert radio waves to sound and to amplify the sound. It makes one feel old to realize that your child has never seen a vacuum tube. Paul remembers many a trip to the store with his dad when he was little to check the tubes when their old TV went on the fritz.

Lora had never seen a vacuum tube

In the basement were numerous old wagons, buggies and firefighting equipment from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The fire fighting equipment was restored for the museum by the local volunteer fire company.

Early fire fighting equipment

We thought the museum was very well done. We enjoyed our visit a lot.

Diagonally across the intersection from the museum is a large Swiss-style clock. On the hour and half hour, recorded music plays and a miniature, mechanical oompa band comes out the door to play their instruments while Swiss dancers (to the left in the photo below) whirl and twirl to the music.

Mechanical oompa band plays music on the hour and the half hour

It was spitting rain as we watched the oompa band play, so Lora donned a "do rag" made from a plastic bag she happened to have to protect her hair. What women don't do in the name of style.

Lora used a plastic bag to protect her hair from rain

 

After we left the museum we took back roads to to Charm so J. Michael could stop at Keim lumber to pick up a couple of plumbing items for their trailer. We also stopped at Hershberger's Farm Market so Lora could get some zucchini for dinner.

We then headed back to the motor home for relaxation (naps) and reading for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening, we got together again for dinner. Lora made delicious marinated, grilled chicken and zucchini pancakes.

There are more weekend activities to report, so stay tuned.