Day 3 - Summer 2014 weekend in Laneville

We were up a little after six am when the sun came up.  The rooster in the pen across the cabin announced the morning while we had our yogurt and muesli for breakfast.  We cleaned up after ourselves and did some straightening and packing.  I tightened the turnbuckle on the screen door, cleaned the faucet in the bathroom sink, and checked to see if the roof leaked during the rain.  Mary cleaned the bathroom and kitchen then swept the porch again.  Before we locked up and left we turned off all the power and drained the water lines.

The hour long drive from Laneville to Beverly was in a light rain.  Beverly Heritage Days didn’t appear to draw a large crowd, probably because of the rain.  We parked in front of the Beverly Heritage Center and walked through the museums and historical buildings that were open for the weekend.  The Stalnaker log cabin from the 1700s was remarkably well preserved.  Moved from about a mile south of town into Beverly, the home of square hewn logs made a comfortable dwelling for the family.  We walked through the Blackman-Bosworth Store which is now a museum.  At the 1841 jail, local men in Civil War uniforms of Union soldiers issued passes for the day.  There was a pie sale at the David Goff House and camps set up in the town’s public square.  We enjoyed our visit then left town around noon.

We headed south on Route 219 past the Armstrong flooring plant where Bruce Hardwood Flooring is produced, through Dailey to the town of Mill Creek where we took Adolph-Helvetia Road toward the tiny Swiss town of Helvetia.  The drive was only about 20 miles but took over an hour on the curvy road through the mountains.  We had lunch at the Hutte Swiss Restaurant which is always good.  Since the day was cool and rainy, Mary had a pot of hot tea which came in a pot with a cozy.  I had iced tea.  The server brought a plate of Helvetia cheese and homemade breads while we waited on our lunch.  Mary’s Morgan Henle (roast chicken) was good as was my Swiss sausage.  We both had potato pancakes (kartoffelpuffer), green beans, sour kraut and hot applesauce on the side.  Although the desserts at the Hutte are always good, neither of us had room so we bid our goodbyes and headed for home.

On most days we would like to walk through the town and do some sightseeing, however, the rain was light but steady.  There was also a funeral at the church in town so there were a lot of people in the town.  We decided to take a different route back and went through Holly River State Park to Flatwoods.  Once again, we were on a small gravel covered narrow mountain road with many curves.  We saw a ruffed grouse on the edge of the road that didn’t appeared to be bothered by our passing. 

There was still steady rain when we got to Flatwoods but we were able to park near the entrance to the Flatwoods Factory Outlet Stores.  We browsed the Fiesta outlet and found the small canister called a jam jar that Emily needed to complete her set for the kitchen.  We also cruised through the seconds room and found some of the bowls in white that Sarah uses.  After getting the canister, we walked to the Amish market and bought dried bananas, sesame sticks, thin chocolate cookies for making ice cream sandwiches and a ham bone for Cody. 

We arrived back home around 6 pm and started unpacking.  We always enjoy our weekend trips.  Getting away for a couple of days is always invigorating.  We will need to spend the day on Sunday mowing, doing laundry, and preparing for the week ahead.

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