Saturday morning we traveled up through Lawrenceburg, TN….and into the Ethridge community, which is known for its Amish people. We stopped along the side of the main highway to buy corn from an Amish man who was selling it out of the back of his buggy. $2/dozen. He laughed so hard when I told him we only needed half a dozen, b/c we only had half a dozen kids! Later that day a lady tourist walked by as our girls were devouring the raw corn on the cob, and said in a shocked voice, “Eating it uncooked!!!!!! Oh my! I’ve never seen anyone do that before!” (City girl, I guess!) J Anyway, the corn salesman directed us to the area where we could visit Amish farms to buy various things. Sure enough, as we drove along, there were neat white signs at the end of most of the driveways, stating what they had to sell (jams/jellies, corn, peppers, onions, tomatoes, candles, soap, quilts, furniture, rugs, baskets, fried pies, bread, etc., etc.) There are about 100 Amish families in the Lawrence County area. I think we stopped in at 5 or 6 of them. Such fun. We weren’t the only ones! This area is used to tourists and Saturdays are the biggest day for visitors, so at one farm, we were one of 8 cars there to buy! We bought a little bit at each place we stopped. They have their wares spread out on tables on their side porches. The Amish women are polite, but not at all friendly. The men are much more cordial. The children are naturally friendly up to about 3 or 4 yrs old…and then very reserved beyond that. The Amish lady I used to buy chickens from in Indiana was VERY friendly with us, so the silent nature of these ladies in Tennessee was a little strange to me. As we were leaving the last farm, the little girls on the front porch were so adorable, I whipped out my camera and snapped the photo shown here! I was then severely reprimanded!!!! Everyone in the van gave me a complete sermon of how I was infringing on the Amish religious beliefs. So I apologized and agreed that yes, I’d been wrong and it was awfully inconsiderate of me, and I'll never ever do it again…..but for the benefit of those reading this, here’s the one and only picture from that whole eventful morning!
That afternoon, we drove through Leipers Fork and Franklin - both of which we enjoy immensely. Franklin is like a quaint old town square with all the unique local cafe's, but then it also has artsy jewelry shops, a fabulous toy shop, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and a CHICO's!!!
Sunday we attended church in Centerville, Tennessee….w/ some new friends, and met several families we previously had only known through e-mail correspondence! It’s so nice to find yourselves one of the smaller families in the congregation, even with 6 children! There was a fellowship meal afterwards.
Whaaat??? Raw corn on the cob? Is that safe? (city girl) ;0] Your post brought back fond memories of the time I live with my grandparents in PA. We'd take special trips into Lancaster. I loved the Amish market and became quite fascinated by them. Thanks for sharing.
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