DAY 18 – July 16, 2012 – John Johnson’s Home, Amish Country, Cheese Factory, and Kenmore, NY

Today was less scheduled than most of our days, but it turned out to be so amazing! We started off by visiting the John Johnson Farm, in Hiram, OH. So many things happened there. It’s amazing how one home could hold so much history. It was a wonderful, peaceful place, and it ended our visit to Kirtland beautifully.

There was a brochure saying that the largest Amish Community in the U.S. is in Ohio.  And we could pass through a part of it if we went through Middlefield, OH.  So we decided to drive through on our way to New York. We saw farms where the Amish had hand cut the hay and stacked it in piles. There were buggies riding down the street, and Amish riding scooters that looked like altered bicycles. It was fun to explain to our younger kids about their culture and religion. They’ve seen so many people dressed as pioneers lately, it was hard for them to believe they weren’t just play acting, and that they really lived like that.

Then we headed to the Middlefield Cheese factory. One family trip I took as a teenager was to the cheese factory in Nampa, ID. I always tell the kids about not eating all day, and then buying squeaky cheese and jerky, and eating so much I was sick the rest of the day. So having not done that since my teenage years, we decided to give our kids that opportunity, and had lunch on squeaky cheese and jerky. But apparently my kid’s stomachs are tougher than mine, because they all thought it was fabulous.

Then we headed to New York. One of my favorite things about being back east is we jump from state to state so fast, we feel way more accomplished at the end of the day than we do traveling back West!

I was raised in Buffalo, New York during my elementary school years. We lived in a suburb just outside of Buffalo called Kenmore. All of the children in our family that lived there, have such fond memories of our home and friends. Our parents have told us we have totally romanticized the whole place…that no our house wasn’t a castle even though it had four stories, and the streets weren’t paved of gold. But for us children, there are no better memories, and I was so anxious to go back and see.

We drove down our street and I was so disappointed…I know I love to remodel homes, but for

Old home in Kenmore, NY

heavens sakes, no one buying any house I grew up in as a child should be allowed to touch it! How can you remodel the porch, or add a deck to the back yard, or change it from the beautiful forest green color it once was! I had to call my sister to verify my memory wasn’t wrong on the address. The home is beautiful, but it looked so different. I was slightly sad about that.

A neighbor came out and started talking with us. He said he moved in about the summer that we left, so he could answer all the questions I had. Apparently our dear rascal friend Sarah B, who was constantly going home to tell on us, still has her dad living 2 doors down from us. And my best friend Elizabeth H’s parents still live in their home. So of course I had to go knock on their doors! I talked to Sarah’s dad, and apparently she told on us enough times he remembered me : )

Best friends home

The H’s weren’t home, but I asked my daughter to sit on their porch so I could take a photo, and then it just hit me…growing up my whole life, one of my most favorite names was Elizabeth. I never really thought of the origin of that, I just always knew I loved that name. Well, that is my daughters middle name, and as she was sitting on my best friends step, I realized that I always loved that name, because I always loved my dear friend Elizabeth. I basically named my daughter after her, without even realizing it. She was a tall slender girl with beautiful brown hair. And there is my daughter with similar features sitting on her step. It made me wish her parents had been there to say hi. Even today, there is a certain dog I love, that I’m always begging Mr. S to get me, and I realized all the dogs I love are the dogs that look like her dog Cocoa. It’s funny what an impact things can have on you as a child, that you don’t even realize.

The neighbors told me how to find all the things I remembered. Around the corner and down

Keener’s, once a penny candy store, now a home

four blocks was a little store that sold penny candy (now that truly makes me sound old!). It was run by a bunch of grumpy old ladies, but the candy was cheap, and we were always so excited when mom would let us walk to Keener’s. Well apparently someone decided to turn it into a home. My younger children were very bummed, the idea of penny candy just boggled their minds.

Lindbergh Elementary 2012

Then we headed to my elementary, Lindbergh Elementary School that I remember walking to in some of the most ridiculous weather that Buffalo has to offer. I can trump walking up hill both ways to school, because here I walked to school with snow piled miles high in blizzards! It was fun to spend the evening with a friend later who verified to my children, whatever your mom said about the weather…it’s all true! The school looks just the same. It was very fun to see.

Then I had to take the kids to one of the streets made of brick. I remember as a child thinking brick streets were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. My kids weren’t as amazed with it as I always was. But it was fun to see.

We were going to head to the campground, but I had been carrying a phone number of one of my mother’s best friends with me for days, but had been scared to call. I had gotten the number off the internet and didn’t know how to start this conversation telling her who I was and trying to verify who she was and if I got the right person. But she was such a close family friend when we had lived in New York 30 years ago, and I so wanted to see her. I made the call, and sure enough I found the right person. She was better than my memories, and all the stories I’ve heard my mom tell, all made more sense, because she was just as amazing as we all remembered.

Mr. and Mrs. P were so gracious. We showed up spontaneously, after a very busy couple of weeks for them, but they invited us in, and we sat in their backyard and talked way longer than I had expected to stay. But it was so fun to hear how all our childhood friends (their children) were doing. We had so many great friends in Buffalo. It was the same place my siblings and I romanticized in our youth. It was wonderful to come back.

Summary of Day 18

This is some information about the amazing things that happened in Kirtland

Drove: 254 miles
Places we visited or saw: John Johnson Home, Amish country in Middlefield, OH, Cheese Factory, Hiram College (where President Garfield attended and taught), Kenmore NY, Keener’s, Lindbergh Elementary, and Mr. and Mrs. P’s home.

Favorite thing we did today:
Jawbreaker: Cheese Factory or Hiram College
Spitz: Mr. and Mrs. P’s Home
Bazooka: Kenmore (mom’s home)
Warhead: Mr. and Mrs. P’s Home
Starburst: Kenmore and Mr. and Mrs. P’s Home
Fireball: Mr. and Mrs. P’s Home
Mr. S: John Johnson Home
Mrs. S: All of it!