Ohio Weekends > Travel Guide > Ohio > Holmes County

We spent our days in Holmes County lodging at Zinck's Inn, a comfortable and reasonably-priced motel. In the Zinck's gathering room, continental breakfast featuring Amish bread is offered in the morning and fresh-baked cookies greet you in the afternoon. If you stay at Zincks on Saturday or Sunday night, your next night's stay (Sunday or Monday) is half-price. They also stamp a card for each night you stay. Ten stamps earns a free one-night stay.

Although we had a comfortable stay at Zinck's Inn, we went driving on country roads one evening and drove past the Inn at Honey Run. The long driveway intrigued us. The Inn itself looks very peaceful and restful. Perhaps we will spend an anniversary at Honey Run.

We toured Schrock's Amish Farm and visited Henei's cheese and a few bakeries. Ate a lot of good homemade pie. However, even many of the restaurants appear to be designed by non-Amish businessmen for busloads of senior citizens. Boyd & Wurthmann on Main Street was very nice exception.

The Mennonite Information Center was "informative", but we spent most of our time reading books - the women at the desk didn't seem very approachable, although a young family from Switzerland came in and one of the older Amish ladies was excited to be talking in German to somebody. Their church services are in German, too, although I think some clans are Dutch. It's very sad that they came to America because they were being persecuted in Europe for being critical of both Catholic and Protestant churches that believed in infant baptism. Some of the books we read had letters between husbands and wives in jail.

We still haven't figured out the white hat vs. black hat controversy. One of the books said that unmarried women wear white hats and married women wear black, or at least have black straps on their hats. But the Amish woman baking cookies at Schrock's Amish Farm said the opposite.

Ironic that the Amish don't pay nor take Social Security; however, our government pays retired workers to take bus trips, eat fried chicken, and buy Amish wares.

I'm still skeptical of the claims that the Amish aren't rich. But it is pretty obvious that somebody is getting rich from the tourism. Berlin is getting commercialized, with shops of "crafts and household junk" that aren't Amish at all. A Comfort Inn is under construction. I wonder if the Amish will have to pack up and leave to get away from the mess!

We drove to Holmes County stopping in Germantown for lunch  at The Roost, a 50's diner, and at Young's Dairy in Yellow Springs for ice cream. We drove back home by way of Coschocton and Newark, going past the Longaberger basket headquarters, which is shaped like a basket. We recommend taking OH-83 South out of Millersburg. Route 83 gives Pontiac wide-track handling a run for its money!

Mennonite Information Center
County Road 77
Berlin, Ohio
(330) 893-3192

Schrock's Amish Farm
4363 S.R. 39
Berlin, Ohio
(330) 893-3232

Warther's
331 Karl Avenue
Dover, Ohio
(330) 343-7513

Boyd and Wurthmann
Main Street
Berlin, Ohio
(800) 877-1830

Zinck’s Inn
4703 East Main Street
Berlin, Ohio
(330) 893-6600
(877) 435-6600

Amish Heartland

Holmes County Visitors Center

Schrock Family

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