Last weekend’s exploring adventure involved a bit of history, some socializing, and the continuing quest for apple cider donuts.

I started by going to the heritage day at the Mennonite Heritage Farm. That’s part of Eastern Mennonite University about 40 minutes north of me, and it’s a preserved/restored/rebuilt farm/settlement. For this event, they were demonstrating some aspects of farm life from the past. I took the back roads up there and saw some amazing scenery, as well as driving through some of the towns that get mentioned on the TV newscasts, so I managed to orient myself better around the area along the way.

When I got there, I was just in time for a shape singing lesson. I’ve sung a lot of pieces that had their origins in shape singing, but I hadn’t seen the actual shapes in use. I’ll have to research more to see how that works because I’m not sure of the point. The old hymn books we were using used both the shapes and a regular staff, so I never looked at the shapes. I just looked at where the shapes were on the staff. It’s possible that this publication was a hybrid and the true shape singing didn’t use a staff. Anyway, it was fun getting to sit in an old one-room schoolhouse/church to do this kind of singing.

They had some farm animals, as well as activities mostly for kids to do, like a two-person saw, a cider press, and tin punching. They also had some blacksmith demonstrations and they were making molasses and making popcorn in a big kettle. Then the buildings on the property (old farmhouses) had some craft displays, like showing the transition from raw flax to linen fabric.

They had a lunch on the grounds, with soup, homemade bread, homemade butter, and homemade apple butter, plus pies. They had long tables under a tent pavilion, with open seating. I ended up chatting with the people I was sitting near, swapping suggestions about places to visit in the area (they’ve been around here for a while, but I’ve gone to places they haven’t). And it turned out that they’re friends with my neighbor a couple of doors down, the one I met at the town visitors center when I first got here. I got to try some shoo-fly pie, which I’ve read about but have never had. Then I got to take a buggy ride. They had an Amish/Old Order Mennonite buggy and were giving rides. I walked up to take pictures and they said they had room for one person, but everyone waiting was a group, so I went for it. I got to sit next to the driver and chatted with him.

After that, I headed up into the mountain foothills toward an apple orchard that supposedly sells cider donuts, along with cider, and there’s a brewery for hard cider, with a tasting room with fabulous views. Well, it turns out that everyone else thought it would be a great day to pick and buy apples and have cider, plus they were having a wedding there. I could smell the donuts. I saw people eating them, but I never found where you bought them. There were some really long lines around the place, so one of them may have been that line. It was too crowded for me, so I bailed. At least it was a really pretty drive.

On the way home, I stopped at a heritage market that I’ve seen advertised on TV. They advertised baked goods, produce, and other stuff, so I thought maybe they’d have donuts (and probably a restroom). It turned out to be more of a mall, and they had a really good kitchenware shop where I found a pastry cloth and rolling pin cover that I’ve been looking for and unable to find. No donuts, alas, though. When I get a permanent house and am ready to decorate, this place would be good to go back to because they had a lot of handcrafted items, plus that kitchenware shop (so many gadgets!).

I have leads on a couple of other possible orchards that advertise cider donuts, and I think I’ll go on Friday this week, when it may not be as crowded. On the weekend, there’s an event at the Frontier Culture museum, plus there’s a festival at the park near me, which means it would be a good time to walk or drive around the neighborhoods I’m targeting for buying a house to see how far I can hear the music from the festival. It’s not too bad where I am, though there are times when it’s less pleasant to sit on my porch, so I want to see where the music is louder.

It was around this time last year that I came here to visit and see if I wanted to move here. I really did pick the best time to visit because autumn here is absolutely glorious.