My Visit At An Amish Home (Part 2)

The Garage Where We Ate--Dining Hall

When we arrived at the Amish home, the first thing we did was get in line for the restroom. We had a group of 42 seniors and so we ate in the garage which was one big huge room (bigger than the floor plan of our whole house).  I wondered how many potty breaks we would have and as it turned out, we had an opportunity to use a restroom at every stop we made.  I was so glad to hear that this particular family didn't mind having their picture taken and we were encouraged to take pictures.  There are different "levels" 1-10 of Amish, the lower the level, the more strict and simple.

Kitchen in Garage--Our Amish Couple Tour Guide seated on left

My plate was full--Delicious!

The garage dining hall had a good-sized bathroom in the one corner and a whole long counter with a stove, refrigerator, sink and an answering machine. This house was a stop on Amish Tours and they regularly had groups in as their business. When we were there, the son and husband were working so we didn't get to meet them. However, the mother and the three daughters served us a very good meal and answered our questions.  I was surprised it wasn't set up as a buffet; instead, they served drinks individually and passed the food all the way down both sides of the two long tables. We had home-made bread, home-made peanut butter, salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken, beef and noodles. For dessert, they had three pies: strawberry, chocolate and rhubarb. They made it easy on us and didn't make us choose--they let us have a slice of each! Everyone had a chance for seconds on everything too! No one left hungry and when we passed a Burger King, no one wanted to stop there.

Amish House--Huge Rooms

After we ate, we were permitted to walk through the house.  I was surprised at how big the rooms were and the modern looking kitchen they had.  I was also surprised that the kids rooms had clothes all over the floor and most of the beds were not made.  I'm not sure why they didn't have things put away better since they knew we were coming, but maybe they wanted to show us that the Amish children are not so much different than the non-Amish.  I would not want to be Amish simply because the women and girls are expected to wear dresses all the time.  Even if they go horseback riding, they still wear a dress over pants.    This particular family had a generator for electricity.

The Youngest Girl and Her Pony

The family we visited had two dogs (that I saw) and horses.  The youngest girl even had a pony and she was giving buggy rides.  Riding with her was a lot of fun because she did not want to go slow and got that pony moving.  We zipped around that farm and turned so fast I thought it was going to flip over, but it didn't.  That 10-yr.-old girl knew exactly what she was doing and made sure everyone got a ride who wanted one.  Too bad I don't have a picture of me riding, but I felt dumb asking someone to take my picture so just took a picture of someone else in the group getting a ride with her.

One of the Horses That I Pet

This was so much fun and so worth the $25 it cost me to go.  From the house, we stopped at three Amish businesses and yes, I did buy something.  To be continued tomorrow!

Their dog biting the Horse's leg

(50 cents per legitimate comment during May goes to Joni and Friends for family retreat scholarships for those having special needs children.)

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