November - 14th - The Road home.- Amish Acres, Nappanee, Indiana

Packed up and headed out very early amidst darkness, fog, and drizzle. There was really no where to stop all the way through Pennsylvania and Ohio.  Made a couple of quick stops for geocaches so we could say we did in those states.  We took the turnpike through Ohio, so our finds were in the service islands on the way.  That was our first night time find.  On we went until we reached Indiana.  Did you know that more RVs are manufactured in Indiana than anywhere else?  Fun fact.

Faced with decent weather, we started to enjoy the drive.  The fun thing about the geocaching, is that it breaks up the monotony of the trip.  Sure, there is a lot of great scenery, and the occasional special stop of some location you didn't know you were going to pass, But even stopping for gas, you can get in a quick find and just have a little extra fun.

It wasn't a big deal doing the turnpike through Ohio, because we spent a lot of time there on the way out with our Sandusky adventure. also it was night for a lot of it.  Into Indiana, we were cruising down a highway and saw a sign for a place called Amish Acres.  So, we took a detour that because of how the roads run, wasn't that far out of the way.

We found the place, and saw there were a couple of caches not actually on the property, but right there. We searched around and found one.  Then we proceeded to the welcome center for information and tickets to the various tours and such.  We purchased a package that included a guided wagon ride tour, dinner, and a couple of other tours.  The Amish lifestyle is fascinating both in it's embrace of history and it's devotion to strict practices despite modern life.  Overall, it was a lot of antique equipment and such, but we had a great time.

At the end of the day, we were driving on.  Our route from a smaller state highway towards an Interstate, caused us to go through a small town to change highways.  We passed a small park abut the size of a 7-11 parking lot.  A town clock which I always try to capture and a couple of memorials.  While I was taking pictures, Laurie got curious and checked the area for geocaches.  There was one right there in that tiny park. On the back of a plaque I had just photographed.  funny.

Amish Acres is a tourist attraction in Nappanee, Indiana, created from an 80-acre Old Order Amish farm. The farm was purchased in October 1968 at auction from the Manasses Kuhns’ estate. The farm was homesteaded by Moses Stahly in 1873. Wikipedia.  The classic Indiana round barn is their symbol. This one is actually a theater where they perform plays.

This area is big into apple growing.  Each business in the nearby town has one of these apples painted differently.  There are Peacocks here.

Old apple juice canning equipment

Love this old scale

Our driver and tour guides

Birds. lol.

Old school. K thru 4 on one side, 5 thru 8 on the other. Amish schooling stops at grade eight.

On the tour

Horse powered apple press

Honey box. stove inside keeps bees warm during winter.

Shaving station. The Amish don't wear moustaches or buttons because the soldiers of the country they rejected had them as styles.

Butter rocker.  rocked back and forth rather than churned.

Such workmanship

A WOODEN combine

Friends

Butterfly garden here.  A magnetic key holder on the back.

Marblehead and Johnson Island

Map of the Port Clinton and Sandusky area https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4846505,-82.7813418,12.25z

If you look at a map, you see a finger of land poking east into Lake Erie. At the base of it is Port Clinton. The peninsula splits north and east.  Catawba Island to the north and Marblehead to the east. The section of water cut off from the Lake south of this is Sandusky Bay with Sandusky on the mainland to the south.  There is a small island just south of Marblehead that is accessible by bridge. This is Johnson Island.  These areas are where we went that day.

MARBLEHEAD.

Our first stop was Marlehead State Park and the location of the Marblehead Lighthouse.  Wonderful little park with waves breaking on the rocks on shore. The lighthouse was closed as was the Keeper's house.

Marblehead State Park

Interesting facts

Marblehead lighthouse

Lighthouse keeper's house and museum.  The keeper actually had another residence down the road.

JOHNSON ISLAND

After the lighthouse, we drove across to Johnson Island.  The island is all private property except for two places.  We drove to the Johnson Island Confederate Cemetery.  There was a stockade and prison built to house Confederate Officers during the Civil War. This is no longer in existence. Just down the road from there is a cemetery where prisoners who died during the war were buried.  The original markers were wood and were replaced by cement ones later.  There are more people here than there are markers. A lot of solemn history here.  Here is a link for more history.

http://www.johnsonsisland.org/history/war_cemetery.htm

The bridge to Johnson Island

Confederate Cemetery Gate

1910 Memorial. "Dead, but sceptered sovereigns who still rule us from the dust"

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CATAWBA ISLAND and the EAST HARBOR STATE PARK

Quite a full day. we left Johnson Island and drove to Catawba island and the state park there.  The shore line is not very wide but sandy and we ventured out into the lake.  The day had been overcast but warm and we expected the water to be cold.  We were very surprised how warm the lake was and it was nice to swim in water that wasn't salty.  The Lake water is inadvisable for drinking, but we had a great time.  There are small reefs of rocks a ways off the shore, but the lake there is so shallow we could walk out to them.

Standing in the waters of the Great Lakes for the first time

in the shot you can see the breakers.  we could walk out to them

It was all in all, a great time.  We drove up to the point of Catawba island and back to our camper.

Parting shot leaving Catawba Island. Water lilies  in abundance.