Weekend Roundup: A Visit to Amish Country

Hello, dear reader! I hope you had a great weekend 🙂

As usual, our weekend was packed. Instead of giving you a blow-by-blow of all our fascinating activities, I’ll share with you a trip we took to the largest Amish community in Illinois. In the past few days, the weather has turned cool and brisk, with strong breezes that rival those coming off the Rockies. Someone here told me that the weather turns into knife-like cold winds that cut right through you from November to April.

Yikes.

As part of my resolve to live in the present, instead of dwelling on cold winds I’m thinking about how beautiful it is here with the changing trees.

The first place we stopped at in Amish country is, in fact, not associated with the Amish at all. The 200 Acres is a family farm that describes itself as “an agritourism destination, a botanical showcase and an educational center”. We went to see the hundreds of pumpkins and squash on display, including kinds we’ve never seen before.

Let’s take a look!

 

 

 

 

 

(Click on thumbnails to see full-sized photos.)

Joanne, this picture is for you 😉

There was a map where you could mark hometown with a pin. Peter was thrilled to see no one had marked Connecticut …

… until he saw the blown-up US map, where clearly people had already marked off CT. I’ve cropped a weeping-with-disappointment Peter out of the picture below.

He perked up when he saw the squash sampling tent, where people were dishing out squash chowder, squash lasagna, squash pancakes, and squash marshmallow fluff.

 

 

 

 

 

The third picture from the left shows what kinds of squash they used in the sample. The center one is a Jarrahdale pumpkin, an Australian variety I’ve never heard of. We ended up buying one to display on our mini-porch until Halloween, upon which we will turn it into the tastiest, most epic chowder we’ve ever had. Have I mentioned how humble we are?

A few more pictures of this kid-friendly habitat/farm:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterward, we visited a few Amish-run stores where we picked up bulk grains and baked goods. I didn’t take too many pictures while out and about in the area because I wasn’t sure what was allowed. I also didn’t want to bother anyone — this area is not a museum or zoo, after all. I will say that everyone was incredibly nice, and the pace of life there is slow and relaxed. I’m looking forward to our next visit.

A few pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps I should have called this post: A Visit to Squash Country 🙂

Q: How was your weekend?

14 Comments

  1. I love all the pumpkin & squash pics! I think the colorful pyramid is my favorite!

    We also had some fall fun and picked up a few pumpkin. It was a good weekend! 🙂

    Have a great week!

  2. How fun! That looks like a real fall season and it must feel so cozy, especially with you delicious chowder 🙂 I still keep thinking it’s summer because the weather hasn’t really changed much here! There’s lots of pumpkin and squash and Halloween stuff everywhere though and it makes for a lovely atmosphere. I bought some pumpkin pecan oatmeal at Trader Joe’s 😉

  3. *YOUR delicious chowder (rather than YOU, I am aware that you are of human, not chowder, form and substance :-D)

    1. Haha! I’m honored to be called “delicious chowder”! 😉

  4. Joyce McVay says:

    You can visit Amish country around here, Northern Missouri and Southern Iowa are filled with Amish farms and businesses. I loved your photos. Tell Peter he could have marked Kirksville Missouri and nobody would have ever heard of it (except the Amish folks).

    1. Too bad! I guess we’ll have to put Kirksville on the map, so to speak 🙂

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