Clean, Sober - And Slightly Bored - In Amish Country

...Continued From Yesterday:    
My first night at the Berlin Resort it was after 3 am before I finally manged toss and turn myself to sleep.  Still, I managed to haul out of bed in time for Tom ( who chivalrously waited for me) and I to catch the tail end of the hotel breakfast,

...which featured a sideboard well-stocked  with the standard hotel breakfast fare,

...though for me the show was stolen by the iced cinnamon rolls,

...and the friendly, grandmotherly-looking Amish lady who stopped to wish us a good morning as we entered the room  then continued her patrol of the area, replenishing the food bins as needed, clearing away the tables and pouncing on spills and messy spots on the food counter almost before they happened.  I say this because as I lifted the glass dome covering the cinnamon rolls I swiped the bottom of the dome against one of the rolls so that the icing stuck to the bottom of the dome .  I swear that the lady caught me and knew that I was going to then place the sticky-bottomed lid on the counter and leave a spot of icing there, which I in fact proceeded to do.  As I replaced the dome the lady was right behind me with a wet cloth, cleaning up my sticky spot. 
    In my three-fifth's of a century roaming this planet I've stayed in many's the public lodging of all stripe, but I'm prepared to declare the Berlin Resort the cleanest place I've ever stayed.  The housekeeping staff - most of whom appeared from their dress to be Amish or Mennonite women - were knocking at my room door before 9:30, at which time I was still hustling to get my tired act together to make it down to breakfast.  
    After breakfast we set out on our day in Amish Country. 
    To be perfectly honest, unless you're interested in shopping for Amish furniture, crafts, baked goods or cheeses there isn't a whole lot to do there.   And yet it's kind of interesting just being  there.
    Ohio Amish Country is one of those places that's boring and interesting at the same time.

     We started with a once-around the two big shopping centers in Berlin,

 ...The German Village Center,

...and Sol's.

    Next we visited the Amish Mennonite Heritage Center outside Berlin,

...which presents its mission as:

• To accurately inform visitors about the faith, culture and lifestyle of the Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite peoples.
• To extend a warm welcome and hospitality to guests among us.
• To interpret the heritage of our people to both tourists and our own faith community.
• To invite visitors to meet the Christ of our culture, His uniqueness and claim upon our lives and customs.
  

   The highlight of the Center is Behalt, the 10-foot tall, 265-foot round cyclorama telling the story of the Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite people which one sees accompanied by an oral presentation by one of the staff;  however as Tom and I had already seen Behalt twice we just visited the cultural center and bookstore.

      We then went for a drive out into the beautiful, serene  Holmes County countryside dotted with Amish farms, homes, and schoolhouses.

     We passed through the another Amish Country tourist stop, the town of Sugar Creek,

...which calls itself The Switzerland Of Ohio,

...and where we stopped at Heini's Cheese Chalet for some cheese.

    Then we returned to Berlin, where the streets, stores, and restaurants  were beginning to fill with Friday afternoon week-end visitors.

    We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Boyd and Wurthmann where we'd eaten on our last visit to Berlin,

..and where the food had been substantial, down-home, and delicious,

...but where this time we made the mistake of ordering one of the healthy options, the marinated, grilled chicken breast. 

...though maybe not so healthful with that pile of fries and those hunks of bread.

    The chicken wasn't actually bad, but the marinade was rather uninspiring.  Well, that's what you get for ordering the healthy option at a place that specializes in the voluptuous options.

    Still, the hot, crispy fries and soft, fresh bread were oh, so, yummy.

     After lunch we returned to the Berlin Resort where Tom went for a swim while I took a nap, then I went for a swim while Tom took a walk, then we both sat around and read until dinner time.
     As for the night life in Berlin, the town closes down at around 5 pm except for the restaurants - there are only a couple in town, which we find a bit strange for a place with such a big tourist trade -  which close at 8 pm except for the East of Chicago Pizza, which closes at 10.
    Anyway, for dinner we did find a really local nice place called The Farmstead that one of my aerobics classmates - see yesterday's post - told me about.

The Farmstead.

   The place was pretty inside and patronized by Amish as well as "English" - the Amish name for non-Amish people.

   We opted for the $13.99 buffet, which was copiously stocked with tasty entrees, vegetables, salads, and desserts.

     Of course, there was no alcohol served at The Farmstead, or anywhere else in town,

...which was fine by tee-totaling moi.

    After dinner Tom and I returned to our hotel where, as we passed the front desk, I over-heard the receptionist talking on the phone telling someone that, yes, the restaurants close at 8 o'clock and no, there wasn't really anything else to do in town at night and no, there was no alcohol served anywhere unless they wanted to drive to Millersburg, where there was one sports bar that served drinks.
     As  the movie showing that evening in the hotel theater didn't interest either of us, nor could we find anything of interest on any of the over 50 channels offered on the TV, we spent the rest of the night until bedtime buried in our books.
    "This place is kind of boring,"  Tom observed.
    "Yeah," I agreed.
    "But it's not bad,"  he added. 
    "No, it's not,"  I agreed.
    To Be Continued....