We, at Bridging the Gap, continuously minister at several events each year and online with our weekly Bible studies and Kingdom Academy. That’s why we like to insert some fun events whenever possible. Our Amish Country Getaway began in the beautiful Charm, Ohio last October in 2022 and it went over so well we repeated it again this year. We plan to have another in 2024 and will likely elect it to be an annual event.
We minister at various places in this largely Amish area and love how scenic it is and especially in the fall of the year when the foliage is so vibrant. Charm is a peaceful and picturesque community which is near Berlin, a popular tourist attraction. There are unique places to see, ample shopping, and fun things to do in the neighboring towns.
Thank You to the Locals
Before I tell you about our fun excursions, I want to give a shout out to our local friends who join us for some fun and help us with delicious meals and atransportation for the bus tour so we can enjoy ourselves while we’re here. I’d also like to take this opportunity to appreciate Angie Yoder who puts in a lot of effort to secure the house for us, recommend all of the best tourist sites and organize our itinerary and meals for us. She’s an excellent event planner! (See the footnotes for the links to the businesses.)
On the Go
We have many friends who travel a good distance to experience this weekend of food, fellowship, shopping, and entertainment. This year we enjoyed a bus tour of the countryside with the matchless horse and buggy sightings. Our shopping adventures included the bBerlin shops on Main Street, the cHeini’s Cheese Chalet, dThe Ohio Market, and ended the day with our eAuthentic Amish home dinner. It was fabulous!
Last year’s tour took us to the fWorld’s Largest Cuckoo Clock, the gBehalt- Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center, the hHershberger’s Farm & Bakery, and the iGuggisberg Cheese Factory. Next Year we plan to attend the jAmish Country Theatre Comedy show and possibly play some mini golf. You can see that there are plenty of sites to shop, see, experience, and learn about; as you explore all that is available in Holmes County, Ohio.
Fellowship
I have mentioned all of the great places we went to and fascinating things we did, so now it’s time to reminisce about the best time of all to me, which is playing games at the khouse we rented. First of all, this home is lovely and spacious, accompanied with a comfortable, cozy, and warm feel about it. It is an immense boost to the fellowship we experience there. In my mind, I can still hear the laughter, smell the food, and see the happy faces all around me. I still chuckle when those who we playfully called “the troublesome four” were downstairs together laughing and talking with a few others, louder than the rest of us who were upstairs playing the Mafia game. We couldn’t help but laugh since they were having such a good time.
It all started because of their noisy first night and then the first morning they were late for breakfast. We started to call them the troublesome four. This group of ladies mostly hung out together separated from the rest of us. That might be my fault for placing them in the downstairs cozy section of the house that had two bedrooms, a den area with a small kitchen and a four seater table. It is like a small apartment in a section of the basement that fit them perfectly. I discovered them having a discussion at the table. Later they invited me to join them, but I was checking things out to ensure everything was going well. I was pleased to see that they were enjoying themselves so much. These are the same ladies I spied dancing as a band played while we were shopping at the Ohio Market!
Fun and Games
On the first night right after we arrived and the meal was being prepared, some of the group had already begun to play the game Four Up, Four Down. I could tell they were eager to get the party rolling. I would not be doing this getaway justice if I didn’t brag a little about the games, especially the Mafia game.
If you’ve never played Mafia, I highly recommend you try it. It is great to get a large group engaged in playing. It is based on the idea of a town that has citizens. You draw cards to see who becomes the mafia, a doctor, and a sheriff. The rest are citizens. No one knows who anyone is. The mafia tries to take out all the others in the town to win the game. The sheriff investigates to find the mafia and the doctor has opportunities to save a citizen one at a time. The citizens have to communicate to figure out who is who and vote others out hoping they are voting out the mafia. When the mafia is out, the citizens win. This is one of the most captivating games I have ever encountered. We play several rounds until wee hours of the morning and we are exhausted.
Some of our Amish Country friends opened up a new game to us called Dutch Blitz. It is a very fast paced card game that we play with partners. I tried my best to slap my cards down to a pile, but a young man to my left kept slapping his card down a split second before I did causing me to have to put my card back. I thought young men were supposed to let women go first!? It turned out that my partner was superb at playing this game and thanks to her, we were dubbed the winners.
Looking Forward
With this wonderful weekend comes the bonding from getting to know each other better and making lasting memories. We went back home invigorated from all the cheerfulness and with all of the goodies we purchased. I’m already excited for next year’s Amish Country Getaway 2024.
Our next fun event will be the New Year’s Eve celebration. Watch for more information about this opportunity to celebrate with us.
If you are interested in more information about the companies or places we visited, I have included links to their websites. We highly recommend them!
a http://www.pioneertrailsbus.com/index.html
b https://www.visitberlinohio.org/
c https://www.ohiosamishcountry.com/businesses/shopping/heinis-cheese-chalet
d https://www.ohiosmarket.com/
e https://www.visitamishcountry.com/foods-brews/amish-home-cooked-meals/sues-gourmet-meal
f https://visitsugarcreek.com/visit-the-worlds-largest-cuckoo-clock.html
h https://www.ohiosamishcountry.com/businesses/shopping/hershbergers-farm-and-bakery
j https://amishcountrytheater.com/ k https://agreatertown.com/millersburg_oh/4br_house_vacation_rental_in_millersburg_ohio_0004624163