Monday, November 16, 2009

We are so not in Kansas (and by that I mean DC) anymore Toto...

Saturday, John and I decided to get out of the house and explore some of the local sights. Now that we're not in DC, that eliminates most museums and national monuments, but turns out there are some really fun things to see, and they're a bit more practical (especially for this area) than what we're accustomed to.

First, we headed to the local orchard. Now, I grew up down the road from a strawberry farm, and not far from several orchards. In fact, I remember several years of turning apples into apple butter, apple jelly, and dried apples to send off to various relatives. John hadn't had that experience, and we knew Timothy would get a big kick out of it. Sadly, we were a little late in the year for tractor rides, or u-pick, but we did get some nice apples, and apple cider that had been pressed that day.

When we left, since the day was still young, we decided to head down to a cheese factory we'd heard a lot about. It was everything we heard. The cheese is delicious, and it's only about half a mile from an Amish grocery, that is renowned for it's spices. Lots of good bulk items too for when I want to build up our food supply. =)

The grocery/spice store was nice, and I got some great ideas for when I need to stock up, but the cheese shop experience was what really blew my mind. I had assembled about half a dozen items, and when I went to pay for them, was informed that they only took cash or check, and I only had plastic. I was about to ask about and ATM, when the clerk said: "Oh, it's okay, put your name and address on this receipt, and you can mail us a check."

Wha-Huh? I'm sure I looked as if she was speaking a different language, because she repeated herself. I offered to go find and ATM if she wanted to hold m purchase, but she said that was okay. This worked too. Still blown away, I filled out the receipt, and we took our cheese. We wrote them a check once we got home, but I'm still a bit shocked by the whole experience. Back in DC (and pretty much anywhere else I've lived in the last several years), you had to present at least one form of ID, if not two to write a check, and they let us walk out with our cheese, trusting that we'd pay them back. It really restores my faith in human nature, so see someone trust others that much.

4 comments:

Shannon said...

Wow, that's an awesome story! You really can't find that kind of trust anywhere!

hdknowles said...

The Amish are known for their kind deeds. That doesn't surprise me at all. Nice that you are so close to their market. There are a couple in MD that are opened from Thurs-Sat each week.

Anonymous said...

That sounded like an awesome day! I would love to visit an amish store, bet their product is amazing. One thing I liked about living in Payson, ut there was an apple farm down the road. I use to have an apple tree in my backyard an would make all sorts of stuff. I want to plant some fruit trees now. What a great idea to do with Timothy to make something from apples. Good idea!

Mama Llama-Karen said...

Thanks for sharing. I made more of a comment on Johns post. sure love you guys!!!!!