Amish Country During The Pandemic

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My husband and I took a much needed drive to Amish Country. We weren’t sure if any of our usual stops would be open and we didn’t care. It was so nice getting out of the house and we knew it would be a beautiful drive as it always is. It turned out the only place that wasn’t open was Smucker’s! Never would have guessed that since all they sell is food, like a grocery store. We were surprised that none of the Amish wore masks. I don’t know if it was against their religious beliefs or what but that made us a little uncomfortable.

 

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Our first stop is always the Amish bulk food store where I buy my spices and seasonings. SCORE they even had yeast! There was a limit of one per person but that’s OK because you can’t find it anywhere in my area and it was a 1# bag.

 

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Next we stopped at a roadside farm stand where we bought tomatoes to make BLT’s for supper the next day and zucchini for a few recipes.

 

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They were selling beautiful flowers too.

 

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Out in the pasture were horses grazing.

 

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We drove up on this not knowing what the horses were pulling and why the horses were so far apart.

 

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When we got closer it appeared to be some sort of equipment for the fields with four work horses pulling it.

 

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It was such a gorgeous day and the horse and buggies were everywhere.

 

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This is a typical Amish farm. Usually you see multiple family homes all on one property.

 

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There are numerous schoolhouses in the back roads.

 

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The fields had the straw drying that was stacked by hand.

We stopped at the Amish Door Restaurant. We were a little nervous with the virus but took our chances because it was 12:30 pm and we were getting hungry. They have a buffet and the way you got your food worked out well. They gave you a paper menu that you marked the food you wanted from the buffet. You gave the list to the waitress and the staff filled your plate then brought it to us, very well run!

Of course I had to stop at Kaufman’s bakery. I buy 4 Whoopie Pies (cookies) every time we go to Amish Country. Now of course I make my own, but this is my tradition to buy theirs.

Our last stop is Heini’s Cheese. Here we buy a lot of cheese, cheese curds and various sausage sticks.

Hopefully we will be able to come back in the fall when I swap out all of my spices and seasonings for new. Normally we visit Amish Country in the spring and fall but with the pandemic we had to skip spring this year.

If you have never been to Amish Country, you are missing out! The food is amazing as are their prices on their products. We don’t go in town to the shops as it is too touristy and we know the back roads from going so much. We love seeing the children walking home from school, the men working in the fields and the children and woman tending the gardens.

It was a fabulous day full of sunshine and a much needed trip out of town! I hope you enjoyed our adventure as much as we did.

http://www.InDianesKitchen.com

Categories: Amish/Mennonite

109 Comments »

  3. what an amazing day, so glad you could get out and what a wonderful place to do so. the amish live such a peaceful and giving life. I especially loved the pick your own flowers –

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  8. We have traveled the Amish lands in Pennsylvanian. Your pictures don’t look like PA. Is it Indiana? The Amish are in many places these days they have spread out to new areas. We even have them in Michigan.

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  17. What a fun outing. I really enjoy visiting the Amish community. Yearly my husband and I would visit Amish Country in Lancaster, Pa. Due to COVID-19 we didn’t make the trip this year. Thanks for posting the beautiful pictures and for sharing your eventful day.😊👣

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    • You’re welcome Georgetta. We usually go in the spring and also postponed our trip because of COVID-19. We were a little concerned to go but figured the countryside alone was worth the visit, just to get away. We wore our masks everywhere but was so surprised the Amish didn’t. There weren’t very many tourists there but we went on a Wednesday. They did practice social distancing though.

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  18. Maybe the Amish people should be applauded for their healthy lifestyle? I don’t know any of them personally, so I can’t judge anyone, but in times of pandemic it is worth using proven solutions.
    best regards

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    • We have the best time there. We go two times a year. Driving the back roads you never know what you will see like the farmers and their work horses in the fields, shops right out of their homes, horse and buggy on corners with Amish selling their baked goods etc. If you ever get a chance to go grab the opportunity, you won’t regret it.

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  20. That sounds like a wonderful day! Glad you got to go out and enjoy a sunny day. Amish communities fascinate me. I love how self sufficient they are. Glad you got to eat in a restaurant too and enjoy a nice meal! And for a second, I thought those horses were physical distancing. 😂

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  21. It sounds like you had a lovely time and what a beautiful place. Years ago, me and my parents drove to Pennsylvania and visited the Amish counrty there. It was so peaceful and everyone was so friendly. The food was so good that I can still remember it. I would love to go back some day.

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  23. I liked your last Amish post and this one too. Hopefully your hubby did not take a tumble this time – I think he fell on his knee last time. I’m amazed also that Smucker’s was closed. It was very scenic there and you picked a perfect weather day. I’ve never been to an Amish town in Ohio, but was in Shipshewana, Indiana which is an Amish town and St. Jacob’s in Ontario which is a community of Mennonites.

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    • Thank you Linda it was a perfect day. My husband fell hike at Hocking Hills at Old Man’s Cave. I enjoy Smucker’s they change the entire store decor about every month so there is always something new to buy. Shipshewana is a place I wanted to go to also. My brother lives in Indiana so I have no excuse for not going!

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      • I enjoyed learning about the barns and an extended family living on one large piece of property/farm. The feet on those horses – huge! Funny, the buggy and load being hauled covered up the two middle horses!

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      • The Amish just fascinate me. So many things like the married men wear beards and single do not. Only certain colors of clothes are allowed. When there is a barn raising they all show up to help. Sundays are for religion only….so much more.

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      • I had heard about the beards before, but didn’t know about the certain colors of clothes. I do like the idea that people band together to help one another, like the barn raisings. Years ago when we went to St. Jacobs and the Mennonite Community, it was like that. They had a huge market every Saturday and they took their horse-drawn buggies to market with all their wares. So there was everything imaginable. Too bad we don’t live closer to visit more often. Stay safe tonight with this bad weather Diane.

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      • We were lucky – it fizzled out, but I had heard your state may be in the line if it didn’t switch direction. We had a bad derecho in 1980 – it was very scary.

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      • Thank God indeed Diane. I know they said it would spare us, but turn and head for Ohio instead and say south of us. I immediately thought of you. The weather all across the U.S. has been so dramatic and unusual the last few years.

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      • Yes, I think it has been a volatile Summer for weather, maybe not for us, but the fact that we get predictions for the bad weather, which sends people (especially me) into a tailspin. We had no bad weather slated for today when I got up this morning, returned from walking to hear we may have bad weather, high wind gusts of 60 mph later today. It ended up being in the western lower part of the state. Whew! Even today they said that never have there been 10 named hurricanes this early in the year, just seems weather is out of control everywhere.

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  24. I am so glad you had such a wonderful day! I think getting out like that is as good for your health as anything. Our physical and mental well-being are tied together, and we need a break from the isolation. We need something that comes closer to normalcy. As to masks, there are conflicting views and scientific reports. I think everyone is trying to do what they think is right. Different subject–how often do you change your spices? Do you buy new bottles or buy bulk reusing the old bottles?

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    • I try to change them out once a year but some I do every two years. I spend a lot of money replacing them and they sell them cheap. I like to have everything I might use on hand. The bulk food store I buy them at has wonderful screw top plastic bottles that most of them come in. I write on the top what it is and the year I bought it. Usually I just use the new bottle and save the old bottles for my home grown herbs. I just keep scribbling on the top…lol The bottles wash up great.

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    • It really was gorgeous. When I was in high school I went every year just south of here to camp and go canoeing. Then I discovered the Amish community. First it was the tourist gift shops with lines of cars in the fall. Then I started exploring the back roads, before navigation devices, and discovered the real Amish community. Once you go for the first time it won’t be the last! lol

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  30. I just love this post and all the beautiful images. I also love Amish country and haven’t been around it in a long time. I think the last time was on a visit to my sister in Ohio some years back. I do recall going into Amish country in high school as part of a history class. It was really interesting to meet some of the people and learn about their culture. Your post brought back many nice memories.

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    • I’m so happy to bring back some memories. Every time we go there we make wonderful memories. I still remember taking my daughter on a horse and buggy ride for the first time. We were trotting down the road and the horse decided to pass gas. The smell was trapped inside the buggy with us and as hard as we tried not to laugh we couldn’t hold it in. I’m sure the Amish man wanted to let us out on the road Right there…hahahaha

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  31. Ohhhhh I’d love to visit there and don’t mind living there too! My type of getaway! Astounding and very picturesque images altogether! 🕊✨💛✔The flowers are so pretty, the fields so clean and the houses so clean and neatly apart from each other!😍 Lovely! Glad you guys enjoyed it and thanks much for sharing with us! God bless!💕🙏🏼

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  33. Sounds like the place I need to go…
    You see I don’t where a mask when I go out places (Please accept that this is just me) and you can imagine how many ugly stares I get from people!
    But anyways, it looks like a beautiful place! I hope to take a trip there one day.

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  36. Looks like a perfect day to me! If I were Amish, I would be a little skeptical about outsiders coming in and there is no protection. If covid hit the Amish, they would try to tend to themselves and that could be really bad. I loved going to their diners and stores when we were out west. They are truly kind people! Score on the yeast! 🙂

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  37. Lovely! I did wonder if they even knew about Covid. However, I’m sure some do have Englisher neighbours they are friendly with and talk to often. Amish are rare here in Canada but we do have plenty of Mennonites, one being my best friend. Thank you for including this on your site.

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  42. What a beautiful way to spend a peaceful day Diane. I know that we had a serious outbreak in an Amish area here in Ontario because they weren’t wearing masks. I hope that doesn’t happen elsewhere.

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