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BERLIN, Ohio – Mel Gingerich has fielded a lot of questions in the nine years he’s been giving buggy tours around Berlin. Where do you live? Why do you wear those clothes? What kind of food do you eat? Gingerich usually answers the questions something like this: “We’re not that different than you,” he said. “We just dress differently.” There are numerous ways to experience Amish country in Ohio. Almost all involve a big meal and some shopping. But dig a bit deeper for a more rewarding experience. On this trip to Berlin (pronounced burr-lynn), my first in several years, I booked a 40-minute ride with Gingerich, a member of Holmes County’s Old Order Amish community. With me on this trip: my husband and my mother-in-law, who was celebrating a milestone birthday. We climbed aboard Gingerich’s buggy, powered by 18-year-old Joe, about a block from Main Street. We headed north onto some less-traveled back roads, where Gingerich pointed out the sites, including a neighbor who makes kitchen chairs and another who milks jersey cows. I also revisited the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center, home to the cyclorama Behalt, the stunning work of art that chronicles the 2,000-year history of the Anabaptist movement. And yes, of course, I devoured a week’s worth of carbs at Boyd & Wurthmann’s, loaded up on apples and fry pies at Hershberger’s Farm and Bakery, sampled a dozen different cheeses at Heini’s Cheese Chalet, and capped it all off with a night of music and fun at the Amish Country Theater. Touring Berlin Berlin, population about 1,500, is an unincorporated community in eastern Holmes County, the epicenter of Ohio’s Amish community, about 80 miles southwest of Cleveland. Holmes, alongside Wayne and Tuscarawas counties, is home to one of the largest Amish communities in the world, with more than 40,000 adherents, a population that is expected to double every 20 years. Only Lancaster County in eastern Pennsylvania has more. For decades, the region has been a top tourist spot in Ohio, known for its scenic rolling hills, unique attractions and slower pace. In recent years, a proliferation of places to stay -- from cozy inns to full-service hotels to luxury treehouses – has made Holmes County a lovely weekend getaway. It’s also close enough to Cleveland for an easy day trip. Any first-time visitor should begin their trip at the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center just northeast of downtown. Its centerpiece attraction is Behalt, the 10-foot-tall, 265-foot long circular painting that traces the history of the Anabaptist movement from the earliest days of Christianity through modern day. (The Anabaptists, with adult baptism as a foundational tenet, encompass the Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite faiths, and trace their origins back to 16th-century Switzerland.) Behalt, German for “to remember,” is experienced via a 40-minute tour, with a guide who explains the work’s history and its highlights. The painting was created by German-Canadian artist Heinz Gaugel, who fell in love with the area when he was traveling through in the 1970s. “He thought it looked like Southern Germany,” said guide Carita Keim. And so he relocated his family to Holmes County and started work on what would become his signature achievement. The painting took 14 years to complete, from 1978 to 1992. The Heritage Center was built for the painting, and also includes exhibits on Amish clothing, historic Bibles and newspapers. There’s a one-room Amish school and a pioneer-era barn to tour, as well. (Hours and admission: behalt.com.) To further our Amish education, we spent about 40 minutes touring the area with Gingerich, who has lived in Berlin for nearly two decades. The father of six, Gingerich grew up in Geauga County’s Middlefield, east of Cleveland. Gingerich said he’s always surprised when he meets a first-time visitor to the area. “Every day I give somebody a ride who has never been here. I would think everybody has been here.” Gingerich, who worked in construction and horseshoeing before starting his tour business, said he’s used to visitors asking him questions about his religion and culture. I asked a few of my own, curious about the electric bicycles that have become so common along the roadways in recent years. “A lot of people don’t have a horse anymore,” said Gingerich, who noted that not all Amish approve of the battery-powered mode of transportation. We also talked about the growth and development of the region, including the large number of Californians who are buying up property in Holmes County and converting homes into Airbnbs. “You get people like that coming in here and then they want to change stuff,” Gingerich said. Gingerich, who has a heater in the buggy, offers tours year-round, every day but Sunday. He uses a flip phone (330-275-7896) to schedule tours, but also takes walk-ups. Other highlights on our Amish country day tour: Hershberger’s Farm and Bakery was our first stop, where we stocked up on apples, trail bologna and fry pies. The large property, just southwest of downtown Berlin, features an animal petting area, buggy tours, plus several retail shops offering a large selection of produce, baked goods, leather items, wood toys and outdoor furniture. Heini’s Cheese Chalet, just northeast of downtown, is a long-time Holmes County favorite, recently rebranded to Bunker Hill Cheese (though the store is still Heini’s). The retail outlet offers a wide variety of cheeses to sample before you buy, including spicy hot Carolina reaper and ghost-pepper Monterey Jack. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, you can see cheese being made. All that cheese didn’t spoil my appetite for lunch at Boyd & Wurthmann, which usually has a line stretching down Main Street. It was worth the wait for my heaping plate of beef and noodles with a side of green beans and a piece of peanut butter pie. The stuff of dreams. Other stops on our tour: Sol’s in Berlin, which bills itself as Ohio’s largest craft mall, with 400 vendors across three buildings; and Tis the Season, Ohio’s largest year-round Christmas store, with three floors of holiday delights. After a glass of wine at the Guggisberg Doughty Glen Winery, we ended the day at the Amish Country Theater, a rare nightlife option that opened in Berlin in 2012. On stage the evening of our visit: Haystack Hilarity, an old-fashioned variety show, with music, magic and humor from several engaging entertainers, including the Beachy Boys (“And we’ll have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes her buggy away”), ventriloquist Kevin Johnson, singer Donnie Abraham and Cleveland magician Elie Magic, all performing alongside show emcee Lynyrd. The show was over by 9 p.m. – plenty of time to get us back to Cleveland at a reasonable hour. I was in no hurry to leave, however, the slow pace of a day in Amish country having worked its magic on me. If you go: Berlin, Ohio Where: Berlin, at the junction of U.S. 62 and Ohio 39, is about 80 miles southwest of Cleveland in eastern Holmes County. Amish Country Theater: The theater, at 4365 Ohio 39, offers performances most nights of the week (excluding Sundays and Mondays), including variety shows, musicians, tribute performers and more. Christmas in the Country, a holiday-themed variety show, starts Nov. 11. Details: amishcountrytheater.com Upcoming events: Berlin Main Street Merchants host numerous events year-round including a Christmas Open House Nov. 6-8 and a Live Nativity Nov. 28. Details: visitberlinohio.com Note: Most stores and restaurants in Berlin and nearby communities are closed on Sundays. More information: visitamishcountry.com
