After a few errands in Oneonta, I turned on my GPS and headed out on 88. It was about an hours drive, and I saw a few places I would have liked to stop, but decided to stick to the plan and get to the intended area as soon as possible. NOTE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: we drove through a small village or hamlet not too far from Cherry Valley which had an interesting looking old store. I think it was SPROUT BROOK.
Our first top was at THE PALATINE CHEESE FACTORY in Nelliston.
It was a bit of a disappointment because while they had a lot of samples available to try, we saw a woman double dipping her toothpick over and over again, and did not feel like subjecting ourselves to her germs. From there, we went to the WILLOW TREE SHOPPE, which was interesting. I purchased a postcard and Christa purchased a couple of used books. In front of this shop, there is a neat hot dog stand.
The chef is really a Santa Claus! Our next stop was to look for a geocache at an old, still used drive in theatre. We did not have any luck, but we looked around the area for a bit. Then we looked for another geocache near the Palatine Bridge, but again we did not have any luck. We stopped to take pictures of a huge, falling apart building.
The signs posted in front and back of the building indicate that it was recently condemned. After that we went the location of McDONALDS CEMETERY. Christa found this geocache,
It looks like she enjoyed her first geocache! We never located the cemetery. Then we decided it was time to look for the Amish area. On the way to Stone Arabia, we stopped to see two interesting churches. This one is the old reformed church. I do not think they hold services here anymore.
We located an in home quilt shop, which was very nice. I purchased a small jar of jam. Then we located a one room Amish schoolhouse.
We were very surprised to find it unlocked, and we went inside and looked around briefly, being careful not to disturb anything. We stopped to take a picture of a tiny church 
and met its owner, an African American Messianic Jewish woman(named Denise) who was very friendly. She said occasionally services are held in the tiny church. She sells farm products, but not on the sabbath. (which for her was today)
We also found the BURNT CHURCH BELL.....which is a waymark, behind a church. We stopped at a tiny dairy stand (non-Amish) and a farmstore (non-Amish). Then we headed back to Palatine Bridge, where this adventure started several hours ago and stopped to see a very old building that appeared abandoned.
Indeed it was, and the doors were wide open and we went in and looked around a little bit, using flashlights. I think in its most recent life, this building must have been an inn/bar/restaurant. When we walked out the front door to leave, we were confronted by a man who lives nearby who wanted to know if we had an appointment to meet with the realtor. After that we headed for home, arriving very tired! It was a great day. I want to go back to explore the Amish area again in good weather (when the small Amish farmstands are open).
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