In mid-October, we took a lovely early autumn drive to Amish country in Ohio.  Along our drive, we met some of our family members at Pearl Valley Cheese Inc., in Fresno, Ohio.  With beautiful views of trees and hills along with convenient outdoor seating, we selected a variety of hot and spicy cheese cubes and vegetable crackers to snack on outside while we waited for our family to join us for our day trip.  Upon the rest of our party’s arrival, I showed my dad a Pearl Valley Cheese t-shirt, as I wasn’t sure if he would want it or not, he did.  He loves cheese and he enjoys visiting Pearl Valley Cheese every time he visits Amish country, as it’s on the way.  

Now, the stop for cheese has become an enjoyable tradition for all of us.  We plan to order a couple of holiday gift boxes for relatives across country, as the gift boxes are reasonable and we thought it would be a nice treat to share a piece of our home state’s goodies.  We learned about these products from the friendly cashier.  She shared their brochure and we passed on the news to our family after they joined us.

Directly following our cheesy snack time, we traveled on in caravan style to Berlin, Ohio to eat lunch at the Berlin Farmstead Restaurant.  A few of us ordered their turkey and noodles entree over mashed potatoes (the lunch portion) and it was still more than enough; it was extremely filling and some of us were not able to clean our plates.  Another family member chose the chili and yet another chose the salad bar.  Some of us also opted to order dessert and again, we were all satisfied.  Blueberry pie, peach pie, and pumpkin cheesecake were the desserts selected.  Our waitress was also very helpful and pleasant; she had good timing that not all service staff are able to master.  We stopped outside to get some photos with a large rooster statue and had some laughs.

Pleasantly full after our meal, we decided to stop at a couple of antique stores within walking distance of the restaurant while we were in Berlin.   I was especially tickled to find some books in a series that I was missing to add to  my collection!  We all had fun browsing and talking about some of the items we discovered.  Next, we ventured on to The Farm at Walnut Creek.  Tickets are $15.00; we paid at the drive up window and visitors may choose to drive their own vehicles or join others on a wagon to see and feed the animals including exotic animals on this Amish working farm.  Over 500 animals live on this farm such as buffaloes, camels, cattle, deer, elk, goats, giraffes, horses, kangaroos, llamas, lemurs, pigs, sheep, a parrot, and an African Spur Thigh Tortoise.  We had quite an adventure with some moments of high anxiety and lots of laughs due to the bulls with large horns getting so close to our vehicles.

Both of our cars were marked by the cattle with scratches and a cracked side mirror!  We will choose the wagon on our next visit, as we will also be able to feed the giraffes that way.  We were able to see the giraffes in our automobiles, but we were not able to get close enough to feed them.  A bucket of feed for the animals is an extra $3.00 when entering the tour.  Following the animal tour, we visited the Amish farmhouse with beautiful wood floors and wood furniture, which incorporated natural vines along the legs of the chairs and tables.  We took some time  to relax on their front porch and took some pictures of the gorgeous foliage, hills, and Amish farm life. 

We spotted pumpkin slingshots in the distance, where one could buy a bucket full of small pumpkins to place in a large slingshot in an attempt to knock off a large pumpkin sitting on a post sticking above the pond’s water ahead.  We got to meet some horses and a peacock nearby the fall festivities as well, and observe children climbing giant pyramids built out of hay bales.   ‘Twas a fun, exciting, relaxing, memory making, beautiful autumn October day in Amish country!