We faced a rainy Saturday at a time when our to-do list featured mostly outdoor tasks. Rather than trying to sand stair treads or garden between showers, we decided to do some shopping in Amish country. We did a quick search for 'Amish grocery' on Google, planned a route, and hit the road.
Our first stop was an Amish bulk store on School Road, Sunrise Bulk Foods. This store is closest to our house, and we come here for eggs and goodies like M&Ms and banana chips. The owner's father is a carpenter, and Maggie made plans to stop by later in the week to discuss having beehives constructed. After stops at hardware stores in Viroqua and Westby to buy onion sets, we headed to Cashton and Pasture Pride Cheese. I picked up a block of Provolone for grilled cheese sandwiches and Maggie bought some Colby. We apparently did not buy enough cheese, as I went out of town the following week and at one point got an email with the subject line "Your Cheese is all Gone" - a message that seems unique to Wisconsin.
We turned east onto State Highway 33 and County Highway D in Monroe County, where many Amish homes and businesses are located. We are not, strictly speaking, tourists. We live in the area, have Amish neighbors, and frequent an Amish lumberyard - I had stopped at Yoder Lumber that morning. However, the rain seemed to have brought out other 'English' for the day, as the road was crowded with cars in an area that mostly sees buggies. We stopped at Amish Dent Grocery, and at a small variety store where Maggie bought an enamelware pot for her solar oven. We stopped at Scenic View Bulk Foods and the associated bakery on Irish Ridge Road. Maggie picked up some sliced almonds for a rhubarb upside down cake recipe I found, and I picked up a loaf of bread and a couple of hand pies at the bakery. I love hand pies, and these were fresh. Both stores were crowded.
Our last stop was at Trail's End, a large salvage yard and thrift store. It shows up on Google with the unfortunate name 'Amish Walmart'. Maggie bought some bungie cords and I bought a vintage brace for drilling maple trees by hand. It was not a good day for saving money, but we bought mostly food for the pantry. The rain kept to a drizzle, which made for a pleasant ride in the country before the mad rush of spring planting.