A Ride Through Ohio’s Amish Country for Lunch at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Walnut Creek
I was supposed to get off work yesterday at 8 AM and rush home to get our daughter from Grandma’s house so Grandma (Amy’s mother) could go to work. As luck would have it, there was a semi-truck crash about 30 minutes before shift change, so I was unable to get Kaitlyn in time for Grandma to go to work. A few phone calls were made and Kaitlyn was on the way to the Wayne County Fair with my Father and Stepmother. I ended up leaving work about 3 hours later than expected, but this was not a problem. Since I had nothing else to do now, I decided to ride through Ohio’s Amish Country and go eat at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Walnut Creek, OH.
I had wanted to eat at Der Dutchman for several days. I knew what I wanted for several days, so it was easy to order when I arrived. I got there at 12:40 PM and feared that I would have to wait in a long line. There was a tour bus in the parking lot, which has not been uncommon when I have been there before. I walked in the front door, and was surprised that there was no line. I was seated and the waitress was there in seconds to take my drink order. I ordered my drink and food, as there was no reason to pretend that I needed to look the menu over. I ordered sweet tea to drink, they have only had it for 3 weeks now. For my entree, I had the noodles over mashed potatoes, the full order.
My food arrived and as expected, there was a ton of it. I have had many of the menu items at Der Dutchman, but the noodles over mashed potatoes is my favorite. With the homemade rolls, it is a carb lover’s delight. After eating, I was so full that I was almost in pain. The waitress asked about dessert. Unfortunately, I could not eat any dessert, I really wanted some chocolate cream pie. Check out the Der Dutchman website. This really is one of my favorite places to go to eat.
Leaving Walnut Creek, I traveled Rt 39 to Dover and then went to the BMW dealership in New Philadelphia (or New Pennsylvania if you are running for President of the US). I wanted to pick up an o-ring for the oil cap on my R1200RT. There is a slight leak right now, as can be seen in my photos from the Cherohala Skyway post. While at the BMW dealership, I looked at a couple of motorcycles that may be a part of my collection one day. First, I looked at the BMW G650 Cross Country. This was a nice bike, and LIGHT. The G650 Cross Country felt like a toy after riding the R1200RT all of the time! According to the dealer, there are people getting 65 and 70 mpg on this bike. This kind of mileage is normally reserved for scooters. The other bike I looked at and really liked was the BMW F800GS. Again, it is very light, and gets great mileage. The dealer reported that there have been people getting 60-65 mpg on the F800GS. Outside in the used bike area, there was a Kawasaki KLR 650 with only 500 miles on it. All three of these motorcycles would be very nice to have. I cannot have all three, and I am not ready to purchase any of them right now, but one day I would love to have a “dual sport” or “scrambler” to ride. I would like to keep the bike as light as possible as I would probably ride it when the weather is less than ideal. There are people on the year round riders forum that put studded tires on their motorcycles and ride in the snow.
After leaving the BMW dealership, I rode my favorite road in the area. This road is OH 416, on which the dealership is conveniently located. I rode south to Rt 36 then turned around and rode 416 back past the dealership and to the north end of it, where it terminates at Rt 800. I then followed Rt 800 noth to get home. With the exception of the stretch of 416 where it passes through downtown New Philadelphia, it is a very fun road. I don’t even mind the part in town to much, as New Philadelphia is a great city.
The weather was a nice 75 degrees for most of my ride yesterday. I saw many bikes out, mostly BMW motorcycles for some reason. I did see two or three Harley Davidson motorcycles and one Gold Wing, but I saw at least 20 BMW motorcycles. Of the 20 or so BMWs I saw, only 4 of them were near the dealership. I never notice this many BMWs in our area, as they are not nearly as common as other brands. I have no idea why there were so many on the road yesterday, but it was great to see others out enjoying their bikes too.
Once again, I took a trip through one of the most beautiful areas in Ohio and did not take my camera. I need to work on that. Until recently, my focus has been on riding, and I didn’t really need too many photos of rides. This has changed some now that I have started blogging. I will try to remember my camera to take some photos
Tags: BMW R1200RT, food