By Joy Kraft
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Traditional Amish hickory rocker, $139 and up at Keim's Family Market. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

Sign above the flour board in Miller's Amish Bakery in Adams County:

Do you want to speak
to the man in charge
or to the woman
who knows what's going on?

So much for the timid, bonneted women up to their elbows in flour behind the counter. No shrinking violets; a common misconception about the Amish.

Here are a few more untruths:

The Amish do pay taxes.

They're not all named "Miller."

They don't live in log cabins.

They're not standoffish but rather downright friendly, with a few chatterboxes in the mix.

They take credit cards.

And, they deliver. As far away as Cincinnati.

Socially, the Amish keep to themselves, respecting God and one other, in this part of central Adams County, with its rolling farmland and wandering streams - crossed by Ohio 32.

But nothing shows how their subsistence has changed more than a visit to Kim's Family Market or Miller's Bakery and Furniture complex, the biggest shopping spots, about an hour and a half's drive from downtown Cincinnati.

Fan back oak glider with cup holder available at Milleršs Bakery & Furniture, $289.95 | ZOOM |

Some 20 years ago, Roy Keim, now 55, loaded up his buggy with a dozen blackberry pies and a watermelon harvest, heading to the newly opened James. A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway "to keep the wolf away from the door," he says. He came home with about $70, not bad for a day's work, considering his dairy cows weren't filling the milk buckets fast enough.

Six children and many-a-pie later, he runs Keim's Family Market, on the side of the highway, and sells everything from porch rockers to pecan pies. And he still has about 30 cows, but now one of his sons does the milking.

Twenty-five years ago, Gerald Miller's father sold fruit pies and freshly baked bread from a small shop on Wheat Ridge Road. But Mr. Miller had bigger thoughts.

"I didn't want to be stuck in the bakery all my life,'' he says, so he and his wife bought the parents out, and the little shop has grown into a bustling complex - a bakery, a bulk food store, an outdoor furniture area and a whopping 16,000-square-foot furniture store.

Because of Mother Nature's color show, fall is prime time for shopping these well-known stops, as well as the smaller roadside shops hidden down driveways and tucked behind barns along the way. Add a luminous autumn blue sky and you have a Kodak day in the country. (But be polite and know when to pack it up. The Amish do not like to be photographed). And remember, "Never on Sunday." It's a day of rest.

Head south on Ohio 247 and slow down or you may miss the peace and quiet.

The roads are made for those dreamy TV car commercials - gentle hills, graceful curves, covered bridges, lowing cows and draft horses that meander over to the roadside fence if you stop. Watch for buggies and folks pedaling up the hills. But don't stop for too long. On a map stop that turned into a close-up cow contemplation, I was approached by a pick-up, a man on horseback and a buggy, all offering aid.

Dave Hammack of Dallas, Texas shops for baked goods at Keim Family Market | ZOOM |

Turn west on Graces Run Road and turn up the driveway (at 4776) to Hilltop Designs by Jo Hall. Her sunny shop alongside her hilltop home and pond is filled with dried hydrangea, yarrow, roses, blackberry lilies and herbs tucked along the ceiling's trailing willow branches. Among the gifts, china and antiques you'll find several pieces of willow furniture ($150 and up) from South Carolina, grapevine cone trees ($45 and up) , a few Longaberger and other hand-woven baskets ($50 and up) and a 30-inch hydrangea wreath. Besides crafting the dried arrangements, Ms. Hall runs the local tuxedo and wedding dress business from the shop and a nearby Frosty Freeze. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Tuesday and Sunday.

Head east across Ohio 247 on Graces Run under the covered bridge and the road changes names to Wheat Ridge. Turn right on Unity for Miller's Country Store (4153), with upholstered mission-style furniture, hickory rockers and lodge-pole furniture from Montana. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, "Thursday by chance."

Across the street, wind up the stone road and bear right at Cedar Brook Farm to As It Was Antiques & Collectibles (4192 ), where you'll pick through wooden crates, feed sacks, chests, chairs, farm tools, antique signs and glassware. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Back on Unity, north of Wheat Ridge Road, stop at Racer's Shoe and Saddlery (5212) for no-nonsense working and riding gear and that wonderful smell of custom leather saddles, bridles and halters. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m.. Saturday.

IF YOU GO

Amish furniture Clear Creek Furniture, 1558 Ohio 73, between Waynesville and Springboro. (800) 328-8871 or 897-9669. Isaacs Shaker Hill, 3534 U.S. 22 and Ohio 3, Morrow, 899-2927. The Hay Loft, Landen Square Shopping Center, north of Fields-Ertel on Montgomery Road, 697-7455. Handcrafted Amish Furniture, 8143 Camargo Road, Madeira, 271-5567. Restoration Society, 3414 Decoursey Ave., Covington (Latonia) (859) 491-1292. Strictly Amish, 9662 Kenwood Road, Blue Ash. 984-4466.

Head down to Wheat Ridge and turn south to a roadside barn (3645) with Montana Woodworks in the back. Harvey Schrock supplements the rough-hewn lodge pole pine beds, rockers, dressers, tables, lawn swings, desks and bookcases from Montana with his own red cedar handiwork - handsome cradles and chests. Feel free to bend Mr. Schrock's ear with questions about construction and what to look for before buying. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

There's little chance of missing the Miller complex at 960 Wheat Ridge. The big decision will be where to shop first - indoor furniture, outdoor furniture, the bakery or the bulk goods food store.

"We like to tell people they can come here, buy a table, buy a loaf of bread, some cheese and ham, take it all home and spread it out," says Mr. Miller, who definitely has a gift of gab.

"A lot of people think the Amish have short pocketbooks and long faces. The short pocketbooks may be the same, but not the long faces," he says.

Dining room sets are big sellers here, and hutches. "People just love 'em," he says of the furniture, which comes from Amish craftsmen in Holmes County to the north.

"I'd go to Holmes County to get cheese and bring back chairs and cedar chests from people I'd meet,'' he says of the superstore-like collection that includes dining room sets, chairs, pie safes, bookcases, side tables, shelving, coffee tables and mirrors. The outdoor line includes the popular hickory rockers, fan-back cedar gliders, western cedar folding Adirondack chairs, gazebos, even gliders with cup holders.

Across the lot, the bakery door posts a sign: "Peach Turnovers are Back.'' Nearby ovens bake six kinds of breads, cream horns, raisin bread dripping with sugar icing, cinnamon rolls, cream cakes and - Saturday only - glazed doughnuts. A whiff will get you in the door.

The bulk food shed is where you'll find jams, jellies, summer sausage, cured hams, Minnetonka moccasins, Amish books and toys, baking supplies and dry goods. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

Take the kids another mile south and turn down Poole Road, a gravel path winding past Scenic Country Books and Gifts back to Family Traditions with corn stalks and pumpkins out front. The pygmy goats and farm animals will keep the children occupied while you browse the antiques, mums, gourds, furniture, dishes, chests, trunks and farm equipment. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The Murphin Ridge Inn, also off Wheat Ridge on Murphin Ridge Road, is a gourmet retreat for city folks with gifts, watercolors, stained glass, dried flowers, wreaths, carvings, crafts from local artists and a kitchen that lays out a meal well worth the hour-and-a-half drive. Best time to see the gift shop is 3-8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.

Keim's Family Market on Ohio 32 at Burnt Cabin Road, is the perfect ending - or starting stop. Another Amish superstore, Keim's has every kind of lawn furniture imaginable, from the handsome hickory rockers - "a staple of Amish tradition" - to lodge pole pine chairs, porch swings, picnic tables, even a chateau-style shingled 10-by-16-foot gazebo. Indoors, you'll be able to browse dining room sets, chests, shelves, knick-knacks, clothing, wooden toys, candles and cinnamon rolls that'll bring tears to your grandma's eyes.

There are shelves of Keim's jams and jellies, pure Ohio maple syrup from Grandpa Keim and long shelves stuffed with Jake & Amos pickled everything - sweet pepper relish to hot pickled cauliflower from Lancaster, Pa.

You will not be able to get out the door without a pie - black raspberry, raisin, apple, pecan - and cashew peanut brittle made by one of Mr. Keim's daughters. Be sure to try wasabi-covered peanuts and dried snacks. But make sure there's water nearby.

If cheeses are your weakness, sample some and then just give it up and buy. You won't be able to resist.

Don't skip the small garden shed with marked-down furniture, shelves, baskets and odd 'n' ends. I took home two oak dining chairs, $77 each.

Put aside a day for the drive and take a mini-van, station wagon or hatchback for impulse furniture buys. The prices are tempting. But don't worry about where to put the pies and baked goods. They won't even make it home. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

For more information and special events go to www.adamscountytravel.org.

E-mail jkraft@enquirer.com