Believe in the Magic Traci Diary

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  • Swiss Heritage Center – Berne, Indiana – Part 3

    Swiss Heritage Center – Part 2

    After we finished watching the glockenspiel at the Clock tower, we first visited a tiny bit of the inside museum while waiting for the other couple to return.  (I’ll share photos from the inside museum in a different blog post.)

    First we visited the Baumgartner Church which was the first Mennonite Church in Berne, Indiana.  It was started in 1839 by Reverend David Baumgartner.  He was originally from Bern, Switzerland.  He was 73 when he began the church. 

    Since there is no Bibles in Swiss, the Bible is a German Bible. They hold a Christmas service in both English and German.  So neat!


    A very plain pulpit
    The ladies sat on one side of the church while the men sat on the other side.  

    Beautiful fall foliage


    The photograph is the first couple who were married at the church.


    The German Bible
    The yellow piece of paper in the top left photo is the bulletin for the Christmas service.

    After we finished with the church, we went to the doctor’s office.  When the doctor whose office we were visiting died, over 2,000 mourners came to his funeral.  That was a lot of mourners especially since there were less than 2,000 people in the town.

    I’ve got one more blog post about the Swiss Heritage Center and then I’ll have one with photos from our hotel.

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Thanksgiving 2018 – Our Menu

    Here is this year’s menu:

    I’m also going to have some deviled eggs and veggies to snack on until it’s time to eat.

    Here is a breakdown of when I’m going to make the different recipes so that I’m not going to be in the kitchen all day long.

    Monday – Finish shopping for the perishable items. 
    Make the white salad.  Hope I don’t eat all of the white salad.
    Assemble the corn casserole.

    Tuesday – Make the vegetarian stuffing in the slow cooker.
    Make the pecan pie bubble up.
    Make the whipped cream.  Make sure there is enough for the Imaginative One to taste test.

    Wednesday – Make the pressure cooker mac and cheese.
    Bake the pumpkin pie sheet cake.
    Hope the boys have cleaned enough for us to go see Wreck It Ralph.

    Thursday – Turkey
    Bake the corn casserole.
    Make the green bean casserole in the casserole slow cooker.
    Make the stuffing in the slow cooker.
    Warm the brown and serve rolls.
    Make the mashed sweet potatoes in the microwave.
    Take the boys to the senior center so they can help serve lunches.
    Watch Moana with the boys.  (Their request)

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Swiss Heritage Center – Berne, Indiana – Part 2

    Swiss Heritage Center – Part 1

    After we finished with the Luginbill House, we went over to the Cheese House.  We learned how they made the Amish cheese which was interesting.  Did you know they have to boil the milk in a copper pot and check the constancy later with a silver spoon?  It’s interesting how they knew how the metals interacted with the different steps of the cheese making process.

    • That post was  used to press down  the cooked milk to get the whey out.
    • The cheese maker’s room
    • The cheese maker’s room
    • The cheese maker’s room

    Next we went over to the Apple Cider Press. When it was in operation, it was the biggest apple cider press in the United States.  It was not original to the Berne area but was moved to the Heritage Center from a place within 40 miles away.

    The press barn was rather dark so I apologize for the quality of some of the photos.

    F. William Hauenstein built this press during the Civil War.  The pressing beam was oak that at time was about 300 years old so it was already growing when Christopher Columbus arrived in the West Indies.

    More info about the press

    After visiting the Cider Press, we left the Heritage Center to go watch the glockenspiel at the clock tower.  Then we came back to enjoy the rest of the tour with Char.

    Join me next time when we’ll visit the church and doctor’s office at the Swiss Heritage Center.

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Yes, it’s messy! We’ve worked all day!

    On Monday, my work space in my classroom was littered with folders, paper books, pens, pencils, and copies of worksheets.  One of my students told me that it looked as though a tornado had blown through my room.

    Throughout the day, I provided services for my students while creating an emergency sub tub in my spare time. It’s that time of the year that I need to have something in place in case they actually get me a sub if I’m ever not at school.

    I also decided I needed to clean off my desk.  I had a few random items that needed to be put away.

    I also provided services to students while they were knocking random papers off the desk.  I kept having to move papers, folders, and other misc. so the students could have a space to work.  Only one of my students complained about the mess.

    By the end of the day, my room was put back together.  My desk was a little cleaner. A sub tub was created.  I could breathe a little easier. 

    If anyone looked in my room, they might have said it looked messy.  I would have said it’s a worn in look.  We have been working hard all day learning so we could become better students.

    Then this afternoon, it was fifteen minutes before dismissal for Thanksgiving/ fall break.  I asked my last students of the day to help me clean up the room.  We wiped down the room with the Clorax wipes, threw away trash, and got it ready for learning on November 26th.  

    When I walked back in my room from my dismissal duty, I could smell the Clorax.  It smells so clean in my room. Such a good feeling

    When I get back from break, the room will once again get messy. That’s okay because it means they are learning.

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Swiss Heritage Center – Berne, Indiana – Part 1

    Random photos of Berne, Indiana

    As I previously said, Berne, Indiana really did not have a lot to explore.  If you wanted Amish furniture, you could certainly find it.  The clock tower and the architecture is wonderful.  It’s a small town so there is not much there.

    There is one other interesting place.  That is the Swiss Heritage Center. Berne was settled by Amish and Mennonites immigrants from Switzerland.  They were being persecuted in their native country so they came to America.  Eventually they moved and settled in Adams and Allen County.  

    We were pleasantly surprised when we got to the Heritage Center. They had a guide to take us around the grounds which was neat.  The guide was a 73 year old lady named Char.  She was a wonderful storyteller.  It was almost as though she was there when the American flag was being created or when the Amish were being persecuted in Switzerland.  Hubby kept wanting her to tell us more.

    She had a golf cart for her to ride from place to place. There was a total of four guests plus herself trying to get on this golf cart more than once.  Some of the buildings were a small distance.  On a nice day, it would be a good stroll.  Not on the chilly and then rainy day we visited.

    The first building we visited was the One Room School Room.  She talked about the reasons why girls were more educated than boys, the history of the American flag, and how many school buildings were in the county at one point.  

    • Ringing the bell
    • In Trouble

    After we left the schoolhouse, we went to the Lunginbill House.  The Lunginbill House was the house of Peter and Barbara Luginbill. It was built in 1856 and moved to the Heritage Center in 1987.  

    While we were in house, we learned about the typical day of the family, how they built the original house, and how they made soap back in the day.  Char also told stories about Barbara.


    Join me next time for the cheese making shed and apple cider mill.

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Random Photos from Berne, Indiana

    Before I begin with this blog post, I should tell you they’ve changed how we write blog posts.  It’s going to be interesting writing this blog post today.

    Clock Tower

    Hubby geocaches.  One of his geocaches was located at their war memorial so we headed there first.

    • The Eternal Flame

    After we finished at  the war memorial, we headed to the local coffee shop.  We loved all of the different signs in the coffee shop.

    We briefly walked around the town. I tried to get photos of the town but Hubby decided it was too cold and windy to enjoy the walk.
    I especially loved the Dollar General and it’s Swiss exterior.

    • Their version of a five and dime store.

    When we were leaving town, we tried to find Amish cheese which we never found.  :(
    We ended up on a road that was unpaved but very well taken care of.



    Okay that wasn’t so bad.  I got through this new way of blogging on WordPress.

    Join me next time when we’ll either explore the Swiss Heritage Center or check out where we spent the night. 

    Stay kind!

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Berne Clock Tower – Berne, Indiana

    Johnny Appleseed’s Grave Site

    Forty-five minutes south of Fort Wayne is a little Amish town called Berne.  The founders immigrated from Switzerland by way of Ohio.  A lot of the architecture reminds me of what I think of when I’ve seen Swiss architecture.  I felt as though I was in another world when I was walking through the town.

    It’s also an Amish town.  I had to remind Hubby to watch out for the Amish buggies.  I didn’t want to be on the news because we hit a buggy.

    The reason for our visit was the clock tower.  The clock tower is designed after the Zytglogge in Bern, Switzerland.  Every noon, 3, 6, and 9, there is a glockenspiel when the clock comes alive.  There are 13 different symbolic representations during the 5ish minutes.  I took a video but since it was raining I was far away so you really can’t see the individual characters.  :(

    These were taken Friday at almost 7 p.m.  You can see it was raining.  Plus it was cold!  Hubby wanted to come back for the 9 o’clock glockenspiel.  I’m was like no way!

    The next day we went to the Swiss Heritage Center.  They allowed us to pause the tour until we saw the glockenspiel.  Then we went back and continued the tour.

    These are photos I took during the glockenspiel.  I was underneath a shelter so they are not close up shots.  You could certainly click on a photo and enlarge it if you want to see the actual characters.

    Some of the views from the plaza.  That is an Amish horse.  The buggy is behind the bush.

    I hope you enjoyed visiting the clock tower.  I don’t know if next time if I’m going to share random photos of the town or the Swiss Heritage Center.  Maybe I’ll share the Amish furniture in the hotel we stayed at.  Who knows.

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Johnny Appleseed’s Grave Site – Fort Wayne, Indiana

    Visiting the Art Museum

    When researching ideas of what to do in Fort Wayne, I discovered John Chapman; aka Johnny Appleseed had lived there.  We decided to try to find the grave site.

    Close to the grave site is the Johnny Appleseed Campgrounds.  That is where we ended up at first.  We weren’t far from the actual grave site.

    It was still raining when we were at the grave site so I got some photos.  Honestly, there is not much around there except if you go into the area where the campground is located.  There is a river which would have been pretty to photograph if it was not raining.

    There was two other graves located there.  I also took photos of those graves.

    After we got done at the grave, we went to get supper.  We were going to drive to a pizza joint that was 20 minutes away.  However while stopped in traffic at a light, I saw a Blaze Pizza restaurant.  Hubby quickly turned into the parking lot.

    Boy were we glad that we changed our minds about where we were going to eat.  The food was delicious.  We both were able to get our own customized pizzas.  His was a meat lover pizza while mine was a veggie pizza.

    They had an awesome deal where you got half of a pizza with either a salad or garlic knots.  I got the deal with the salad while Hubby got the garlic knots.  The half of a pizza was perfect since were traveling.

    Afterwards we traveled to Amish country – Bern, Indiana.  It is also a city based on the culture of the Swiss.  Join me next time for more of our adventure.  I can’t wait until you meet Char.  She took us around the Swiss Heritage Center in Bern.  Such a great storyteller which is a lost art.

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Fort Wayne Museum of Art – Fort Wayne, Indiana

    Part 4 of our visit to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo

    After we were done with the zoo, we went to the Museum of Art.  It was between lightly raining and raining harder so we could not really explore the downtown area.

    20181026144419_IMG_3862

    We enjoyed the Museum.  Since it was the Friday before Halloween, they had a Day of the Dead exhibit.  I took a few photos of the area.

    They had a book for visitor’s to sign and leave messages for their loved ones who have died.  I left a message for Tanya.  You can see it on one of the photos.

    These were taken in the hallways.  They had a glass ware display and an older toy display.  I thought the bourbon keg and the Fisher Price circus toys were pretty interesting.

    They also had a guitar exhibit.  Hubby decided to pretend he was playing an air guitar.

    In the hallways

    In the sculpture garden

    The friendship garden outside the museum.

    Join me next time for when we visited Johnny Appleseed, aka John Chapman’s grave site.  He lived and died in Fort Wayne.

    Have a magical day,
    Traci

  • Halloween at the Zoo (Part 4) – Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo

    Part 3

    They had a deal where the train ride was free to everyone on the day we visited.  Earlier in our visit, we saw it went past some beautiful fall foliage so we decided to ride the train.  We ended up the next people up for the ride when we got in line so we sat in the front behind the conductor.

     

    Near the end of the zoo is the Indiana Farm.

    The weather forecast had called for rain.  It started to lightly rain when we explored the farm.  It’s just a petting zoo/ farm animals.

    The pig scared me because he all of the sudden stood up on the fence to say hi to me.

    They were giving away free pumpkins to the kids right by the exit.  In true touristy places, the exit was through a gift shop.

     

    Since it was raining when we left, we opted to go to Fort Wayne’s Museum of Art next.  I’ll share photos from there on another blog post.

    Have a magical day,
    Traci