Thursday, August 18 - Berlin, Ohio
While staying at a campground in Horicon, WI, we met a gentleman from Missouri named Bob Unland, an accomplished archer. During the course of our conversations with Bob, he asked if we had been to the Amish settlements of Ohio. He proceeded to tell us about the area, because he had recently visited here. He told us about the beauty of the area, and also about a "master carver", who once lived and worked in the area - Dover, OH, to be exact. He had us spellbound as he told us about the magnificent carvings he had seen at the museum in Dover. We made a decision that night to make it a point to visit this area before going back to Massachusetts.
After another stop in Shipshewana, IN, to pick up a few items, we made our way into Ohio to visit this "phenominal exhibit" in Dover, OH. Another village he mentioned was the town of Berlin, OH. Berlin is known as "The Heart of Amish Country" in Ohio. We found a campground here in Berlin, so this is where we are staying until Friday morning. We did some scouting of the area after dinner on Wednesday evening. I have to pause here to tell you about the amazing food establishments here! We have frequented a few of them in the area, and their food is absolutely delicious!! As an example, dinner last night - I had pork chops (2), mashed potatoes and applesauce, while Kathy had a Grilled Chicken salad - our total bill came to less than $18.00!!! Plus, we shared an appetizer of "French Fried Mushrooms" - which were also delicious! Anyway, back to the main topic - the first photo album contains photos of our "scouting around" the area. One of the towns we visited during our scouting trip was Walnut Creek, OH.
Today we drove into Dover, OH, to visit the Warther Museum and homestead. On the way, we stopped for breakfast at the "Dutch Valley Restaurant" in Sugarcreek, OH, known as the "Switzerland of Ohio", a quaint little town where the buildings resemble a Swiss village. From here, we continued on to Dover, and the Museum. If you have never been to this town, Dover, OH, and if you've never heard of Ernest "Mooney" Warther, then you MUST put it on your "bucket list"! We learned so much about this phenomenal individual that I am not able to put it all in this post. I will, however, share some of the facts we learned while touring the Museum. At around age 9 or so, young Ernest, too young to work at the steel plant, became interested in whittling after seeing a gentleman whittle a pair of working pliers from a single piece of wood. As luck would have it, he found a pocket knife in the dirt while doing some chores. Thus began a career that would transform him from a "whittler" to a "carver", and to become renowned as the "world's greatest carver"! His "passion" was trains, steam locomotives, to be exact. I have posted lots of pictures of his work for you to understand how he came to be known as a "Master Carver". As you browse through these photographs, keep in mind that every one of these pieces was carved by hand. He had no lathes, sanding belts, etc., just simple carving tools, which he designed and made himself. Be sure to click on the link (above) to the Museum before you look at my photographs. There is a video on the web site that is well worth the 3-1/2 minutes it takes to watch.
Some of the facts we learned which truly "blew my mind": every time he would set out to carve one of his models, he would give the exact day that he would be finished. So accurate was he with these estimates that he only missed two times, and one was because he had attended a Christmas Party and he missed his predicted completion date by two days. You see, he knew that he could carve 1,000 "parts" per month, and he also knew, intuitively, how many "parts" each model would take to complete. Another amazing fact we learned, this one regarding the "pliers tree", is that it was carved out of a single piece of wood and yielded 31,000 "pliers". And each and every one of them worked!! He envisioned this masterpiece on his way home from the steel mill, and began working on it shortly after arriving home that evening. Another amazing fact about the "pliers tree" is that it will actually fold back into the single piece of wood he carved it from. There is a photo of the "pliers tree" in the album, so be sure to take a good, close look at it. These "pliers" he carved became his calling card, and he passed them out like cards. He was so good at carving these, that he could turn out a pair of working pliers in about 15 seconds, from a single piece of wood, without any "waste", i.e., no shavings! The fastest pair he ever carved took him 9.5 seconds, on the "Johnny Carson Show". Now, take that knowledge and imagine the "pliers tree", 31,000 pliers, with no waste, from a single piece of wood! Each "pair" of pliers is made by making no more than 10 "cuts" in the wood.
OK, now, I want you to remember that he could carve 1,000 pieces per month. As you look at the photos, when you come to the photo of his "favorite", the "Great Northern" engine # 2577, reverse the number (7752) and that is the exact number of "parts" he had to carve to complete this model! At 1,000 pieces per month, how long did it take him to complete it? Amazing, eh? Also, if we could have videotaped the models, you would see that almost every one of them actually "moved", i.e., the piston-driven arms and wheels actually turned, just like on the real trains!! Even if you are not "into" trains, you will be amazed at this collection, described by the Smithsonian Institution as "priceless treasures".
There is so much more to tell about this "master carver", but you will have to visit to get that information "first-hand". As you scroll through the photographs of his model train carvings, remember that Ernest "Mooney" Carver had only a 2nd Grade education, yet his works put him in the "genius" category! Truly one of the real "wonders" of this world. This is one place we will never forget!
Here are the photo albums:
Berlin, Ohio - The Heart of Amish Country
Breakfast at Dutch Valley Restaurant
Ernest "Mooney" Warther Museum and Homestead
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Indiana - Crossroads of America
Tuesday, August 16 - Shipshewana, IN
We're back in Indiana
for another visit to Shipshewana, an Amish community with great shops and restaurants, a huge flea market, and plenty of horse-driven buggies clip-clopping along the roadways. This visit marks the 3rd time we've been here this year. However, although we have lots of photos from the previous visits, I've not posted a blog to share them. Since I seem to have nothing better to do tonight (K's watching "America's Got Talent" and so I am not able to watch the Red Sox game), I decided to post.
As you know, we just left Wisconsin this morning, after spending the past two weeks in that state.
If you've never been to Wisconsin, it reminds me very much of Vermont, with lots of dairy farms and cheese factories. It also has mountains with ski resorts, but much further north from where we were. Driving along the highways and byways, you'll see lots of corn fields and soy bean fields. Those seem to be the main crops along the way. As we found out, the corn is actually feed corn for the dairy cows. The corn crops also provide corn oil and is also used in the production of ethanol. We did manage to find some corn for eating, and it was delicious!! They call it bi-color corn, while we call it butter and sugar corn. The state of Wisconsin is also home to some of the most beautiful lakes and rivers. If you get the chance to visit, DO NOT pass it up.
OK! Indiana. Got here this afternoon and got settled at the campground (Shipshewana South). After settling in, we made a trip to the local "bulk foods" store, E & S Sales, which is just down the road from the campground. This is a great store for purchasing local food products in bulk. We bought out every bag of pretzel sticks they had on the shelves. We have found that the price of the pretzel sticks here is as low as many other sources we have found, but people LOVE these sticks when we put them out! Since we stocked up on cheese up in Wisconsin, we did not purchase any here, although the cheeses here are also wonderful.
On a previous visit
to the area, we visited South Bend and the Tippecanoe Place restaurant, along with the Studebaker Museum and got lots of photographs at both places. In addition, we also visited the RV Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkhart. Have lots of photos from there, as well.
Tippecanoe Place is the former Studebaker Mansion in South Bend. It was sold back in the 1970s, I believe, and has been through several incarnations. Finally, back in the 1990s it was purchased by the current owners and converted into a restaurant. Most of the rooms in the mansion have been converted to dining rooms, and, overall, the restoration of the mansion is fantastic. Be sure to take a good look at the photos of this magnificent structure.
The Studebaker museum houses
a collection of Studebaker wagons and automobiles dating back to the 1800s. These vehicles are magnificent, also! Unfortunately, Studebaker ran into labor problems which it refused to bow to, and, subsequently, went out of business somewhere in the 1960s, or so.
The RV Motor Home Hall
of Fame and Museum is located in East Elkhart, just off of the Interstate (I-80/90) on County Road 17. It contains vehicles used in camping dating back to the early 1900s and continuing up to the present day. We saw some very interesting "campers" on our visit.
On our most recent visit
to the area, last month (July), we got to do some walking around the city of Elkhart, Indiana. We had noticed, as we drove through the city, that there were various sculptures of elks scattered around the city. (Which makes perfect sense, since Elks are also called Harts, thus the name of the city!) We decided to do a walking tour to photograph as many of the sculptures as we could find. As we discovered, each of the sculptures had a different scheme/color pattern. We also found a sculpture of a marching band, which reminded us of days past when we followed the UMass Minuteman Marching Band. Please take the time to view these photos, as well. The elk sculptures will capture your imagination.
I'm glad I was finally able to put this post and the photographs together. I think you will enjoy seeing some of the things we saw, especially if you've never been to this area of our beautiful country!
Here are the photographs:
South Bend, IN
RV Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum
Elkhart, IN
Wakarusa, IN
We're back in Indiana
for another visit to Shipshewana, an Amish community with great shops and restaurants, a huge flea market, and plenty of horse-driven buggies clip-clopping along the roadways. This visit marks the 3rd time we've been here this year. However, although we have lots of photos from the previous visits, I've not posted a blog to share them. Since I seem to have nothing better to do tonight (K's watching "America's Got Talent" and so I am not able to watch the Red Sox game), I decided to post.
As you know, we just left Wisconsin this morning, after spending the past two weeks in that state.
If you've never been to Wisconsin, it reminds me very much of Vermont, with lots of dairy farms and cheese factories. It also has mountains with ski resorts, but much further north from where we were. Driving along the highways and byways, you'll see lots of corn fields and soy bean fields. Those seem to be the main crops along the way. As we found out, the corn is actually feed corn for the dairy cows. The corn crops also provide corn oil and is also used in the production of ethanol. We did manage to find some corn for eating, and it was delicious!! They call it bi-color corn, while we call it butter and sugar corn. The state of Wisconsin is also home to some of the most beautiful lakes and rivers. If you get the chance to visit, DO NOT pass it up.
OK! Indiana. Got here this afternoon and got settled at the campground (Shipshewana South). After settling in, we made a trip to the local "bulk foods" store, E & S Sales, which is just down the road from the campground. This is a great store for purchasing local food products in bulk. We bought out every bag of pretzel sticks they had on the shelves. We have found that the price of the pretzel sticks here is as low as many other sources we have found, but people LOVE these sticks when we put them out! Since we stocked up on cheese up in Wisconsin, we did not purchase any here, although the cheeses here are also wonderful.
On a previous visit
to the area, we visited South Bend and the Tippecanoe Place restaurant, along with the Studebaker Museum and got lots of photographs at both places. In addition, we also visited the RV Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkhart. Have lots of photos from there, as well.
Tippecanoe Place is the former Studebaker Mansion in South Bend. It was sold back in the 1970s, I believe, and has been through several incarnations. Finally, back in the 1990s it was purchased by the current owners and converted into a restaurant. Most of the rooms in the mansion have been converted to dining rooms, and, overall, the restoration of the mansion is fantastic. Be sure to take a good look at the photos of this magnificent structure.
The Studebaker museum houses
a collection of Studebaker wagons and automobiles dating back to the 1800s. These vehicles are magnificent, also! Unfortunately, Studebaker ran into labor problems which it refused to bow to, and, subsequently, went out of business somewhere in the 1960s, or so.
The RV Motor Home Hall
of Fame and Museum is located in East Elkhart, just off of the Interstate (I-80/90) on County Road 17. It contains vehicles used in camping dating back to the early 1900s and continuing up to the present day. We saw some very interesting "campers" on our visit.
On our most recent visit
to the area, last month (July), we got to do some walking around the city of Elkhart, Indiana. We had noticed, as we drove through the city, that there were various sculptures of elks scattered around the city. (Which makes perfect sense, since Elks are also called Harts, thus the name of the city!) We decided to do a walking tour to photograph as many of the sculptures as we could find. As we discovered, each of the sculptures had a different scheme/color pattern. We also found a sculpture of a marching band, which reminded us of days past when we followed the UMass Minuteman Marching Band. Please take the time to view these photos, as well. The elk sculptures will capture your imagination.
I'm glad I was finally able to put this post and the photographs together. I think you will enjoy seeing some of the things we saw, especially if you've never been to this area of our beautiful country!
Here are the photographs:
South Bend, IN
RV Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum
Elkhart, IN
Wakarusa, IN
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Wisconsin Dells (Upper) Boat Tour, etc.
Monday, August 15 - Wisconsin Dells, WI
After working two RV Shows over the past couple of weeks here in Wisconsin, we decided to take a couple of days off before traveling east to Massachusetts. So, yesterday morning we left Madison and drove about 60 miles north to Wisconsin Dells. We've heard so much about this area of Wisconsin that we just could not leave without spending some time here. A big "thank you!" to Charlie and Kathy Burch for telling us about this beautiful area.
After arriving at our campground, Sherwood Forest Camping & RV Park, we set out to take a boat tour of the Upper Dells of the Wisconsin River. Fortunately, the campground provided us with a coupon for a 15% savings on the tickets! Be sure to check out our photographs of the boat tour. FYI: one of the things we learned on the boat tour - Wisconsin, the state, got its name from the river, and not the other way around. Also, the word "Wisconsin" comes from an Indian word meaning "land of dark waters"; the word "Dells" is derived from a French word meaning "pillars of stone". Thus, Wisconsin Dells translates to "land of dark waters with pillars of stone".
As we rode the shuttle bus from
the parking lot to the boat docks, we noticed that the downtown area is quite "touristy"! Lots of places for tourists to "drop some dough". I would compare this to a place like Myrtle Beach, SC, or any other tourist attraction. Lots of young people walking around and playing games in the video arcades; wild amusement rides, miniature golf - all the usual touristy things.
Since everything here seems so "touristy", we asked at the campground office about a good place to go for dinner where we wouldn't have to fight the crowds. The recommended "local" establishment for good food and drinks at reasonable prices was a Supper Club called Cimaroli's in Portage, WI, about 10 miles east of the Dells. This was a good take! Although it sounds like an Italian restaurant, which we thought it was, it was actually a Steak House! Their "house specialty" was a "Flat Iron Steak", which is actually prepared on a flat iron. It is then placed on a wooden slab and served piping hot. We had ours smothered in sauteed onions and mushrooms. I also sampled some of the "local suds", a very light ale called Spotted Cow. For an ale, this was quite light, almost a lager beer. I am bringing some of this home to Massachusetts, so, if you would like to try it, let me know.
Today we visited the
Carr Valley Cheese Company in Ironton, WI (Pop. 257). We had hoped to get there in time to see them making the cheese, but we arrived at about 9:55AM and they were cleaning up, the run for the day completed! We were told to get there by 10AM to see them making the cheese. So much for that! The cheese, however, is delicious. We think that Wisconsin Cheese actually has Vermont cheese beat, but it is real close!
We also visited the
International Crane Foundation Sanctuary in Baraboo, WI. There are quite a number of cranes in residence here, cranes from around the world. We got pictures of most of them, but I failed to caption a few of the photos (4). The ones without captions are of the African Blue Crane, quite a beautiful bird! Be sure to check out these photographs, as well as the photos of the boat tour.
Speaking of the photographs, here are the links:
Upper Dells Boat Tour photos
Cheese Factory and ICF Sanctuary photos
Tomorrow morning we will be starting our journey back east to Massachusetts. Our first stop will be in Shipshewana, IN, to pick up a few items. We should be in New York for a weekend visit with Mike, Lisa and Ava. We will be back in Massachusetts by late Monday, or Tuesday.
After working two RV Shows over the past couple of weeks here in Wisconsin, we decided to take a couple of days off before traveling east to Massachusetts. So, yesterday morning we left Madison and drove about 60 miles north to Wisconsin Dells. We've heard so much about this area of Wisconsin that we just could not leave without spending some time here. A big "thank you!" to Charlie and Kathy Burch for telling us about this beautiful area.
After arriving at our campground, Sherwood Forest Camping & RV Park, we set out to take a boat tour of the Upper Dells of the Wisconsin River. Fortunately, the campground provided us with a coupon for a 15% savings on the tickets! Be sure to check out our photographs of the boat tour. FYI: one of the things we learned on the boat tour - Wisconsin, the state, got its name from the river, and not the other way around. Also, the word "Wisconsin" comes from an Indian word meaning "land of dark waters"; the word "Dells" is derived from a French word meaning "pillars of stone". Thus, Wisconsin Dells translates to "land of dark waters with pillars of stone".
As we rode the shuttle bus from
the parking lot to the boat docks, we noticed that the downtown area is quite "touristy"! Lots of places for tourists to "drop some dough". I would compare this to a place like Myrtle Beach, SC, or any other tourist attraction. Lots of young people walking around and playing games in the video arcades; wild amusement rides, miniature golf - all the usual touristy things.
Since everything here seems so "touristy", we asked at the campground office about a good place to go for dinner where we wouldn't have to fight the crowds. The recommended "local" establishment for good food and drinks at reasonable prices was a Supper Club called Cimaroli's in Portage, WI, about 10 miles east of the Dells. This was a good take! Although it sounds like an Italian restaurant, which we thought it was, it was actually a Steak House! Their "house specialty" was a "Flat Iron Steak", which is actually prepared on a flat iron. It is then placed on a wooden slab and served piping hot. We had ours smothered in sauteed onions and mushrooms. I also sampled some of the "local suds", a very light ale called Spotted Cow. For an ale, this was quite light, almost a lager beer. I am bringing some of this home to Massachusetts, so, if you would like to try it, let me know.
Today we visited the
Carr Valley Cheese Company in Ironton, WI (Pop. 257). We had hoped to get there in time to see them making the cheese, but we arrived at about 9:55AM and they were cleaning up, the run for the day completed! We were told to get there by 10AM to see them making the cheese. So much for that! The cheese, however, is delicious. We think that Wisconsin Cheese actually has Vermont cheese beat, but it is real close!
We also visited the
International Crane Foundation Sanctuary in Baraboo, WI. There are quite a number of cranes in residence here, cranes from around the world. We got pictures of most of them, but I failed to caption a few of the photos (4). The ones without captions are of the African Blue Crane, quite a beautiful bird! Be sure to check out these photographs, as well as the photos of the boat tour.
Speaking of the photographs, here are the links:
Upper Dells Boat Tour photos
Cheese Factory and ICF Sanctuary photos
Tomorrow morning we will be starting our journey back east to Massachusetts. Our first stop will be in Shipshewana, IN, to pick up a few items. We should be in New York for a weekend visit with Mike, Lisa and Ava. We will be back in Massachusetts by late Monday, or Tuesday.
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