Denisa has learned to keep her arms folded so she doesn't accidentally place a bid on that entire box of cantaloupes or a 50 pound bag of corn. We found that the bidding is for the basket or box of produce, so it isn't an option to buy a single melon or a few tomatoes. All the minimum quantities are more than we could eat, but it would be a great value for someone that enjoys canning or freezing produce.
The winning bidder can take choice of the group of vegetables, and also picks how many bags or boxes they want to purchase. If they don't take everything, the bidding starts again. Everything is recorded by hand, and young children run the receipts to the clerk at the pay-out station.
Much of the produce is delivered via horse-drawn wagons in this Amish community.
We thought it was interesting to see the different modes of horse-drawn transportation at the auction.
Just to get the bidders in the mood for some fresh produce, the auction is situated in the middle of a cornfield. It is a beautifully green agricultural community, and we enjoy seeing the fields and big red barns.
We also enjoy finding the fruit orchards in this area. We were told that the beginning of school signals the beginning of apple season. We found the Hugus family orchard on one of our drives, and their long lines of apple trees are loaded with fruit.
The Hugus family has been in the business of raising apples for three generations. They are experimenting with new kinds of fruit to expand their customers' options. We bought some of their new Asian pears and they were delicious! The top three are hosui pears, and they remind us of the fruit we ate in South Korea last year. The bottom two are shinseiki pears, and taste like a very sweet and juicy apple.
We found that apple orchard on a country road while we were hunting covered bridges. There are 18 original bridges in Fairfield County--more than anywhere else in Ohio. Since we had limited information from an old travel brochure, we went on some wild bridge hunts on some very remote roads. This day we finally found the R.F. Baker Bridge in the woods behind the Fairfield Union high school football field. We were afraid that school personnel would be calling the police on the old creepers with Texas license plates that kept circling the school grounds in search of that bridge.
The Rock Mill Covered Bridge was better known and therefore easier to find. There is a group in the county working to make this area a historical park.
The park also includes the Rock Mill. This mill was built in 1824, and was used to grind wheat and corn as late as 1905. The mill sat vacant for almost 100 years, but Fairfield County Historical Parks is working to renovate its 26-foot waterwheel--one of the largest in the country.
We found one more covered bridge as we were running out of daylight. Yes, Denisa is talking on the phone as we are making these last bridge discoveries. When an old friend calls to chat, she can talk on the phone and walk a bridge at the same time!
Not all of the gems we found could be classified as shiny jewels. We drove down to a place called Cross Mound Park. It started well with a suspension bridge over the creek that was built in 1936.
Then we walked through the woods to find Cross Mounds--an ancient earthworks. The brochure described the site quite romantically--"The unique structure, shaped like a plus sign, is composed of four identical arms each about 12 feet wide, 3 feet high, and 45 feet long." Supposedly the only known earthworks of its kind, it wasn't as cool as we thought it would be. It was even harder to photograph. If you're not impressed with the following photograph, please know that we weren't either.
The good news is that we stumbled upon another of the covered bridges on our list on the way to the mounds. This is the Johnston covered bridge, the longest bridge in the county still resting on its original abutments. It's amazing to us that this 99-foot-long bridge was built in 1887.
We also stopped in at the "Flight of the Hawk Park." It started with this 2,500-pound red-tail hawk perched on its nest 42 feet above the ground.
The hawk has a wingspan of 14 feet, and is made of 3,000 pieces that were carefully cut and shaped before they were welded into place by a local artist.
The hawk is joined by other native wildlife. Life-size versions of turkey and deer where sculpted by the same artist.
Our last hidden gem stop was to visit a presidential cemetery that is now in the middle of a residential area. In 1817, Nathaniel Wilson started a beautifully walled cemetery that would be fitting for a presidential resting place. Too bad that President Monroe wasn't interested. But Mr. Wilson died a year after he started the project, so he is buried there instead. His son finished laying the dodecagon-shaped 8-foot-tall walls that are "considered one of the best examples of dry-stone masonry in Ohio." (Because this is an educational travel blog, we should point out that a dodecagon means there are 12 sides to this presidential cemetery.)
After roaming the country roads of Fairfield County, we are back in our new home town of Lancaster. One of the public squares downtown has been adorned by this fountain since 1890.
We enjoyed the fact that the downtown trees were also properly adorned. A very prolific crocheter has them properly attired for this winter.
At the edge of town is Alley Park, home to another covered bridge, and a nice trail around the lake.
Whoo! We have done lots of driving and lots of treasure hunting during our stay in Lancaster, Ohio. We are finding that few locals even know most of these places exist, but we always seem to find hidden gems that fascinate us. We could add a tasty bakery to our list of gems we have discovered in Lancaster. But after 6 days and (weigh) too many cinnamon rolls and donuts, it is time to move down the road to find more Ohio treasures.
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