I arrived at the inn around 10:00 am this morning, Monday February 22. I checked in and got my envelope full of the coupons to get my free stuff. I couldn't get into the room until 2:00 pm, so I headed up the road to explore.
My first stop was Walnut Creek Cheese. The name is a bit misleading. It is more of a grocery store type of business, but cooler and has a lot of baked goods, including delicious fry pies. Which if you have never had, you need to. I picked up my first free item there, a jar of peanut butter. I also bought several fry pies.
My next stop was going to be P Graham Dunn in Walnut Creek, but they were closed for painting, so I could not get my personalized memo pad today. However, there was an interesting looking chocolate store across from it, so I headed there to investigate, They had some impressive candy items, and I walked out with some Easter candy for the nieces and nephews, some fudge, and other candy. I also watched them make candy through a few large windows for that purpose. I did not buy the chocolate tool set, but thought it was neat.
I headed for the town of Berlin next. One place I wanted to stop, though there were no free gifts there, was Heini's Cheese. Unlike Walnut Creek Cheese, this is a cheese place... with lots of samples. I sampled several cheeses and some dips, watched them making cheese, and bought several cheese ends - large pieces of cheese all different sizes and marked pretty reasonably.
As I was leaving the cheese place, I noticed Kauffman's Bakery was right across the road... and they owed me a loaf of bread. I browsed the store that had souvenirs and other merchandise. They also had samples!! I sampled some breads and desserts, and presented my free bread coupon to a sales clerk amid a coughing fit from trying the jalapeno bread. I had a choice of wheat or white, and chose white.
One place I was looking forward to visiting was the Gospel Bookstore in Berlin. They have about the largest selection of Southern Gospel music in the state, and schedule concerts in nearby Wooster. Unbelievably, I walked out without a purchase, dodging the exhaust from the horse and buggies in the parking lot and alley.
By this time, I was after 12 and I was hungry. Cindy's Diner looked promising, so I went in and got a delicious cheeseburger, fries, and drink for $8.99. Satisfied, I found Main Street Fudge where I got 2 small bags of popcorn, left my car parked behind the shop, and started out on foot to explore the town of Berlin.
I found another Christian bookshop I didn't know about, Good Steward Books. They had excellent prices on their books and had a lot of 99 cent books. I spent $10.63 and gave the lady $21.00. I was preoccupied when she gave me my change and didn't realize she gave me 37 cents and not the $10.37 I was owed. I crossed the street to browse in an interesting looking store that had a lot of wall art. I was upstairs when the man running the counter came up and said the lady from the bookstore across the street called him and asked if a man in a red jacket had just come in, because she hadn't given me the right change. Thankful she caught it - and me - I went back over and got my $10, and continued to browse the shops of Berlin.
I almost took buggy ride, but even with the weather in the high 40's, it seemed a bit cold for that, so I instead explored the shops around the buggy ride area, which had more samples! I hit another store where I got a battery operated candle, and then headed for my next town.
A few of the free items were in Millersburg, seven miles from Berlin. I headed there and had no success finding the one shop I was looking for - and my GPS would not find it either, but I did spy a Walmart, and did some shopping there. I then put in the two other addresses from Millersburg, and the GPS headed me back the 7 miles to Berlin - Millersburg is laid out weird, and some addresses are on the other side of Berlin towards where I am staying.On the way, I passed a sign saying "Charm 4 miles", and remembered I had a gift to pick up there, so I headed down a country road to Charm, Ohio. I tried to put the address in the GPS, but it couldn't even find the town of Charm, so I hoped I could find what I was looking for and kept driving. Fortunately, the town is so small, I had no trouble finding the harness shop where I got a free pair of white socks... not really worth the 4 miles, but oh well.
I headed back to the main route and decided to stop at a cheese place I had driven by that looked interesting: Guggiberg Cheese Factory. Unfortunately, they had stopped making cheese for the day, so I browsed the garden area and gift shop and bought more cheese ends at that cheese place.
I then headed onto the places that were in Millersburg but were really in Berlin. Yeah, I was confused also. Maybe if I had looked at the map the inn people gave me..... but at least I found a Walmart and the burg of Charm. Yoder's Dried and.... something - had a free kitchen utensil or dish towel. The options turned out to be a wooden spoon or dish towel. I browsed quickly, got my dish towel, and headed to Erb's Stoves which was closing in 15 minutes. There I grabbed my free 13 ounce bottle of BBQ sauce, and headed back to the inn. I decided to grab one more item that was just a couple of miles past the inn the other direction...at a cheese shop. I found Broad Run cheese and got a pound of "award winning Swiss cheese" free at my third cheese shop of the day...... then went to the inn.
I got my key for room 22, unpacked my car and got settled in. I relaxed a bit and freshened up.....and counted my cheese stash......which adds up to at least 8 pounds. and my stash of free stuff so far (peanut butter not pictured, I forgot it was in the car).... then headed out to get my free supper - or "dinner" as it said on the coupon.
I had my choice of 3 different restaurants, but my parents recommended Mrs Yoder's Kitchen in Mount Hope, 14 miles away. I was disappointed they don't have their buffet on Mondays, but ordered the fried chicken meal with two sides: mashed potatoes and gravy, and the salad bar. The chicken was awesome, but the potatoes could have been thicker and not so runny.... but it was still very good.
I stopped at McDonalds for a mike shake, then headed back to my room where I read a bit and relaxed, then watched a movie...... and then decided to do a blog post about my day so I can look back at it and remember it better. So here I sit shortly after midnight, finishing up my blog post..... then I shall decide which bed I am sleeping in and hit the sack, thankful for a beautiful and enjoyable day.
Pictures of my room:
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