Our tour meanders through the heart of Amish country. In a cornfield, two small boys work alongside their young father, all three in matching broad-brimmed straw hats. It's not unusual for an Amish family to have 10 or 12 children to help with the manual labor required on farms resembling those found in Middle Tennessee 150 years ago. Power lines are conspicuously absent on the route, since the Amish don't use electrical power or telephones. Smoke coming out of stove pipes on this humid day indicates that food preparation is underway.
Tours typically stop at two or three Amish homes, depending on items available for sale.
Visitors can purchase reasonably priced hand-woven baskets, as well as quilts, furniture, hats, and wood crafts. Food items include a variety of candies, fresh bread and pies, seasonal produce, and sorghum. Tourists from all over the world come to Dutch Country, but they are not invited into the houses or any of the adjacent buildings. In fact, visitors are not welcome at Amish homes that do not display for sale signs. Because of the educational value provided by the tours, many Middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama school groups often schedule field trips in Ethridge.