Filed under: Ohio | Tags: amish, berlin, chalet in the valley, holmes county, millersburg, Ohio
We’ve always been curious about our Amish neighbors to the west, so Jeff, Bill, Beth, Dan and I trekked two hours out to Holmes County, Ohio to get our fill of horse-drawn buggies, patchwork fields, and a shoefly pie or two.
starting out in the early morning
Most of our road trips are flea market motivated, and Holmes County Flea promised the largest and best in the area. But this one disappointed us. Picture rows of endless dollar store aisles selling tube socks, bamboo gardens and vanity mugs. Jeff and Dan did find some awesome Amish straw hats for only $5 (made in China) and an armful of Devo-looking white coveralls.
enjoying a snack from Berlin Chili Traders
Berlin, the Holmes County seat, is the New York City of midwestern Amish country. It was mind-boggling how busy the streets were, a mix of buggies, mini-vans and motorcycles. We bought lemonade from a group of brightly clad Amish children posted outside of a boot shop and were lucky to find free hot dogs, courtesy of Berlin Chili Traders, which we washed down with tiny cups of locally-made shagbark hickory syrup. I was digging the local foods, but the crowd and the heat made us crabby. I was also curious to check out our haunted hotel.
the only Amish photo I felt comfortable taking
Hotel Millersburg is a beautiful Victorian building right on a main street filled with little antique stores, my favorite — 55 West and Co., filled with drool-worthy, affordable retro furniture and clothing. It’s a sleepy town, and once the shops closed at 5, it was as if everyone disappeared into the walls.
I harbor dreams of small town living in a cottage, or a giant Edwardian home, with an overgrown, shabby English garden. Lots of quiet to get projects done. But then I wonder, where the hell would we go to watch freaky Spanish horror films or eat Indian food? A long way I’m guessing since this part of Ohio feels cut off from the world.
lost on the side of a road and I saw this
While one cannot get a bowl of mattar paneer in this neck of the woods, one can “have dinner in Switzerland today!” at Chalet in the Valley. We wanted Amish kitsch, but Swiss-kitsch did just fine. Our waitress, dolled-up in a red dirndl and Heidi-braids, encouraged my camera-clicking as we dined on bratwurst, fried chicken and sauerkraut balls, which I have to hunt down the recipe for because they are so amazing. We even had an accordion serenade for our table. And while we spent the rest of the evening getting lost on back country roads, thanks to Bill’s GPS navigator, we still had a hilarious time in Holmes County.
No shoefly pie though. That’s a Pennsylvania Dutch thing.
Al Zimmerman, polkas and waltzes from the Olde World
Amish hat
Hotel Millersburg lobby
55 West and Co.
cuckoo gallery
Guggisberg Cheese
Filed under: Ohio | Tags: holmes county, mansfield, millersburg, Ohio, vintage signs
Here’s a glimpse of our Memorial Day weekend trip through signs of central Ohio.
Millersburg
Mansfield
hotel alley
Wooster
Mansfield
Millersburg
Mansfield
Millersburg
Mansfield
Millersburg
Mansfield reformatory
Wooster
Filed under: Ohio, Pennsylvania | Tags: 127 film, abandoned, bell & howell, east liverpool, hot dogs, new brighton, nuclear power, Ohio, Pennsylvania, pottery
Thanksgiving weekend took Jeff, Bill and me to Pottery Valley, the Ohio/West Virginia/ Pennsylvania pocket of towns that once served as the china capital of the world. We traveled Route 65 to 68, passing through Rochester, Beaver and Industry along the Ohio River.
We know this route pretty well since we go trash-hunting along it quite often. Jeff has taken some more ominous shots of the nuclear plant in Shippingport, but it was surreal to see the plant puffing out clouds in the background of this quiet rural town on such a beautiful sunny Saturday. Nobody was around and you couldn’t hear anything except for a low hum coming from the plant and our footsteps echoing in the church parking lot where we took these photos.
Our main reason for going this route was to shop at our favorite antique mall in East Liverpool. I love exploring this city full of ghosts and history and I’m trying to talk Jeff and Bill into going on one of the ghost hunting tours, mainly because we’d gain access to places we normally wouldn’t be allowed to enter, as well as satisfy my curiosity in the supernatural (they’ll give in eventually).
I didn’t buy much on this trip except for a Bell & Howell Electric Eyewww 127 camera for $5.00, still in its original leather case. Now I have to buy 127 film so I can use this little beauty (it’s sitting on the desk here as I type so I can keep looking at it).
But the treasures I found on this trip were more about photo-taking. Bill programmed his trusty GPS navigator to take us the ‘shortest’ route, which took us on Ohio county back roads instead of Route 65. This view from inside the car made me beg Bill to pull over so I could capture it:
I’m disappointed that this turned out so blurry — the sun was going down, I left my tripod at home and the boys were hungry, so I felt rushed to take pictures. The factory is an abandoned chemical plant. Jeff and Bill went exploring the old offices, paint peeling from the floor in hundreds of delicate flakes. It was in disarray as if the men who worked there were called away for only a moment, not years.
While they explored, I set the timer on my camera and placed it in the middle of the road to get this self portrait. I was afraid of a car coming around the bend, which is why it caught me about to stand up. I originally wanted to lie on my stomach and look directly at the lens. The shit I do for photography!
I promised the boys we’d eat at Brighton Hot Dogs for dinner. I ate a hamburger and a dog loaded with chili, cheese and onions. I have a vegetarian friend who breaks anti-meat law once a year just to eat one of those dogs, so yes, they are that good – a perfect way to cap off the Thanksgiving weekend.
