BS: Visiting the USA this summer

Subject: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Tootler
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 07:05 PM

My family are visiting the USA this summer. We are going to the Amish country in Ohio initially as my wife and daughter are both quilters. We went there two years ago after going to my nephew's wedding in Detroit and enjoyed ourselves and my wife wants to go back.

I have been in contact with one mudcatter who has given me suggestions for other places to visit but I would also like to know if there is any traditional music activity in the area as a bit of light relief from visiting quilting venues. We are flying out on the 9th July and returning on 20th July.

Any suggestions within reasonable reach welcomed.

Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 08:23 PM

I don't know about music, but drop in to Lehman's in Kidron, Ohio. "Products for Simple, Self-sufficient Living"

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Apr 06 - 09:34 PM

Which Amish area are you going to? Holmes or Geauga County? Both have LOTS of Amish; I'm quite familiar with Geauga.

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: leftydee
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 12:24 PM

Are you coming back to Michigan? We have loads of music here and Amish as well. Let me know and I'll set you up. Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Hollowfox
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 03:44 PM

Search "WKSU" on the 'Net. It's the radio station for Kent, Ohio (south of Cleveland). Their website has lots of information on the northeast Ohio folk scene. Kent is a neat little college town, as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 09:43 PM

Unless the Ohio National Guard happens to be in town...........

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Apr 06 - 09:54 PM

Also, the town of Shipsewanna in northern Indiana is a great Mecca for quilting folk.

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: SharonA
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 03:53 PM

Then there's Pennsylvania! (Just head east instead of west from Ohio!) Lots of Amish until you get east of Lancaster, but lots and lots of folk music in the Philadelphia area!

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: gnu
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 03:58 PM

Spaw... that's a fine State of affairs you brought up.

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Windsinger
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 04:29 PM

Second Hollowfox's comments on Kent. There is a large artists' community there (hell, I even had my work exhibited a couple of times before I moved.) IIRC, a buddy of mine still helps to run a co-op store on main street.

Overall, a relaxed, colorful, pleasant hippy-trippy sort of place. Unless you happen to dislike hippies, of course.

The coffee's quite good.

Slán,

~Fionn

www.geocities.com/children_of_lir

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Tootler
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 05:39 PM

Many thanks for the various suggestions. To respond to some of the questions.

We are going to Holmes County, at least intially. I mentioned Shipshewanna to my wife and she was definitely interested. More info would be welcome. I wasn't aware of Geauga Co. though we were aware of Indiana.

My wife is also interested in the possibility of visiting Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but our concern is the distances and travel time. One thing we learnt from our previous trip was just how much greater the distances are compared with here when you can cross the country in 2 - 3 hours. My sister is visiting us at the moment. She lives on the west coast of England, we live on the East and it takes about 3 hours for her to get over here.

For info, we are flying to Cincinatti - that worked out cheapest and most convenient and are planning to hire a car while we are over there.

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 08:18 PM

Hey 'Fox!!! I'm the 'Catter he's referring to and I suggested Warther's....No quilts but doncha' think its a must see??? LOL.....

Seriously Folks, I took Hollowfox to Warther's Museum
once and she couldn't quit talking about it for a year or more! At least they'd know at least one American hadall her buttons.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 12:52 AM

i was intrigued and did a Google search on "Ohio festivals 2006" and found the following site:

http://ofea.org/

You can probably find more information like this on the web.

I think you would have more luck finding fun things to do if you searched for events or festivals rather than for traditional music. These small-town fairs are fun,and often traditional msuic is part of them.

I worked in a fabric store (part-time) for five years recently. Much is made of Amish quilts,they are only a small part of the world of quilting. I think your wife should visit a big chain store, such as Hancock's, JoAnn, or (gasp!) Walmart and look at the fabrics and the books there so she can see the variety that exists today.
--------
Are you a bird-watcher? This sounds like a good trip for that.

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 12:37 AM

What's going on here? I posted remarks to this thread yesterday and they've vanished. Did Mudcat lose data overnight?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Tootler
Date: 08 May 06 - 03:42 PM

I'm afraid our trip this year is off. I have to have surgery at the end of this month and will not be in fit condition to undertake a long trip of this nature this year.

We are hoping to make the trip next summer, all being well.

I would just like to thank you all for the suggestions you made and the kind offers of help.

Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: bbc
Date: 08 May 06 - 03:53 PM

Sorry to hear that, Geoff. Heal quickly & completely & may this merely be a postponement!

best,

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Barry Finn
Date: 08 May 06 - 05:47 PM

I'm sorry too, Geoff. I hope all goes well & maybe you can refresh this for next year & you can make up by having a longer visit here & that way maybe you'll include the hospitality of us coastal New Englanders, not real big on the quilts, well, we do have the Shakers & New England Folk Art is highly reguarded but best of all you won't find better Folk Music on a larger scale any where else in the country (OK, let's hear it all you non New Englanders).
Good Luck with the surgery & a speedy recovery.
Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 09 May 06 - 11:12 AM

Hope you feel better.   When you do come, consider combining a quilt festival and a music festival in your plan.

You might search online for an annual big conclave of quilters I think it's called the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show or something like that. I went to one held in Williamsburg VA, well within striking distance of Pennsy and Ohio.   Hundreds of champion quilts, vendors, quite a circus, yer kinfolk will be in hog heaven.   From there a lovely reasonable drive to Washington DC which has many folk venues and lots of good touring attractions to boot.

And yes, driving distances are long, but the roads are good. I was humbled and terrorstricken by the roads in Europe; little windy 1.5 lane wide things make for MUCH slower and tougher driving than our big slabs. Pick a music festival you like, and go there, distance be hanged! (Mystic, Connecticut, or whatever interests YOU!)

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 May 06 - 11:22 AM

Definitely best to wait until you feel 100% for travel. Good luck!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Tootler
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 07:28 PM

All clear.

The medics had found a tumour in my bowel and have removed it. Tests showed that there were no cancerous cells in the tissue surrounding the section of bowel they removed, so it looks like I have been lucky.

I have been out of hospital about 4 weeks and am recovering well, though it is a long job. There is definitely no way I would have been fit enough to make the originally planned trip in July, though I have my daughter's wedding to go to in London at the end of July and I am booked in for Folkworks Summer School in Durham the first week in August. Durham is only 35 miles away, so no problems - though I may have to go easy on the dancing

We found an ad in one of my wife's quilting magazines for a small company that runs quilters tours to Pennsylvania and New England. They have one in mid-April 2007 based in Lancaster, Pa. It's timed for a big quilt show but there look to be plenty of other things to do round about for the non-quilter so we have put our name down for that.

Looking forward to a trip to the USA next spring.

Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 07:35 PM

Good news Geoff!!! Sorry you won't be over our way but Lancaster PA is very near the home of Mudcat Central in West Chester.......Give the great Mudcat Leader Max a heads up as well as a few other 'Catters in the area.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 27 Jun 06 - 07:40 PM

Geoff - sounds like a fine plan. In addition to wonderful quilting, you'll want to east yourself sick in Lancaster County - so much wonderful food there and cheap. Shoofly pie and soft pretzles to name just two treats.

If you have time, maybe you can also fit in a side trip to Hershey PA, home of the chocolate factory. They have a fine hotel as part of the park (Hershey has been turned into Disneyland for chocolate). Most folks who go enjoy it very much.

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: SharonA
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 03:05 AM

Ummm... it may be a bit soon after bowel surgery to make poor Geoff think about shoo-fly pie and Hershey's chocolates and eating himself sick...

But Spaw is correct: Lancaster is not all that far from West Chester, PA (which is not all that far from me!). We should indeed have some sort of get-together of the local 'Catters then -- PM us when the time is nigh! You might even get Bobert to travel up there from West Virginia.

You're right, too, Geoff, that there are plenty of things to do there besides look at quilts. Lancaster is in Amish country but far from "the middle of nowhere". Be sure to send home some letters postmarked in Intercourse and Blue Ball!

Hope to see you next spring,
Sharon

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: open mike
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 03:03 PM

glad to hear the good report and best recovery to you.
When yo do get here, look for Corn Cob Jelly....
you might find some made by the Amish.

Oh, and the Amish are peaceful people...
you will not find the traditional folks
wearing any buttons or mustaches
as they look at those as symbols of
the conformist society, military, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Tootler
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 06:34 PM

Thanks for your info all of you.

It was the Amish country that attracted my wife. We spent some time in Amish country in Ohio when we over there two years ago.

I also found out there is a railway - sorry railroad :-) museum at Strasburg - a must for me.

I shall put up a request for more info nearer the time. Even my wife does not want to "do quilts" all the time.

BTW, there was a mention of Intercourse - though not Blue Ball on the itenerary we got for the trip.

Cheers to all

Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: Tootler
Date: 30 Jun 06 - 10:59 AM

By the way, I see you have had some severely bad weather recently.

I hope that you are not too badly affected.

Geoff

Subject: RE: BS: Visiting the USA this summer
From: SharonA
Date: 01 Jul 06 - 12:50 AM

Geoff: Blue Ball is not far from Intercourse and Bird-In-Hand. Lots of B&B's (Bed and Breakfast inns) around there.

I haven't been to Strasburg's Railroad Museum (couldn't convince the friends I was there with) but I took the ride on the Strasburg steam train itself. It's okay except that at the end of the line there's no way to turn the engine around, so the latter half of the trip consists of riding in reverse back to the starting point! By the way, near the Strasburg Railroad they have a motel
that consists of restored cabooses! Here's a link to things to do in The Village of Strasburg to peruse while you recover.