Cheesy Polka: Mohican SP, Loudonville, Ohio 10/10/09

We left the campground traveling through the gaps and hollows of Appalachia. The colors continued to be fantastic, but we felt a bit claustrophobic in the sunless deep valleys of the mountains. When we finally crossed over the Ohio River and entered the rolling valleys of Ohio, it felt like an entirely different world. Eastern Ohio is stunningly beautiful, made up of colorful hardwood forests, picture perfect dairy farms set in green rolling hills and quaint towns. It was a perfect fall day (crisp weather & fluffy white clouds) to drive through the Amish country of Ohio. Perhaps because it was the holiday weekend, it seemed that every small town was having some sort of celebration. After stopping at one of the numerous cheese factories and sampling every variety of swiss cheese known to man, we arrived at Sugarland, the Little Swiss Village of Ohio. Polka music was broadcast, LOUDLY, over several blocks. When we decided we couldn’t take it anymore (in about 10 minutes), we headed to the next event, which was an Oktoberfest Wine and Cheese festival. Sure enough, as soon as we entered the building a LIVE octogenarian Polka band was entertaining the crowd - no they weren’t very good. (See today’s pic). We finally succumbed to the polka vibe and decided to stay for the event. We tasted more swiss cheese and every wacky cheese concoction imaginable (pumpkin swiss cheese balls, apple strudel cheese topping & burgundy wine cream cheese spread to just name a few), but finally decided upon a bratwurst sauerkraut sandwich for me and Mr. Ned decided to go whole hog with the bratwurst, sauerkraut AND accompanying brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes. Gotta love the mid-west. Now in the heart of Amish Country, passing numerous horse and buggies, laundry on the line, and Amish crafts everywhere, we decided to visit the Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center, aka the Behalt Museum. We were initially very interested in learning about the Amish way of life and thought this would be an educational and informative introduction. The Center also had a cyclorama, and after our incredible experience visiting the Gettysburg cyclorama, we couldn’t pass this up. Mmm, it felt more like an indoctrination of the Mennonite faith. The circular painting, 10 feet high and 265 feet long depicted every ghoulish and grotesque persecution and milestone of the Anabaptists. We were “treated” to a laser pointer description of each scene, the entire presentation lasting 30 or so minutes. This was after the 15 minute video on how cool the Mennonite and Amish way of life is. Shell shocked, we drove to the next town and lo and behold, they were having the Holmes County Antique Festival, complete with a parade! We decided to hit a local Laundromat (our clothes were still sopping wet from our previous day bike ride and the van was taking on a cheesy aroma) and watch the parade. We stayed for the vintage cars, but left before the decorated fire engines. When we finally arrived in Loudonville, our camping spot for the night, guess what – the town main street was closed off for their “Annual free street faire!” We immediately headed to the campground, secured our spot for the night, and took a tour of the State Park highlights. This included the gorge overlook and covered bridge. Call us crazy, but we decided to check out the street faire. It was really awful; about 6 blocks of fried carnival food – including fried cheese on a stick, bright new Kubota and John Deere tractors and kiddie rides. Feeling that the night was still young, we took a half hour ride into Wooster to check out the happenings. For a college town it was pretty much dead. We ended up eating a late dinner at a Greek Restaurant and had a delightful conversation with the owner. Fun Day.