Go See The Worlds Largest Cuckoo Clock

The phrase "It's not the destination, it's the ride" is quite true, however, if you want to plan the ride, pick a destination! That's what we did on Sunday, May 26th. On this trip: Hammer, Tiny, Goldilocks, Meanie, and me.

Google Maps is a great invention. I zoom in and out and move around and boom - there it is - something interesting shows itself. When I was planning rides for 2019, I came upon this gem - the world's largest cuckoo clock located in Sugarcreek, Ohio, also known as Little Switzerland. It's way out in Amish country south of Canton and was settled by Swiss Amish immigrants in the mid-1800s.

Well, we started out from McDonald's in Hubbard, despite the rain clouds to the west. Up through town and south on 616 we went, right into a really shitty downpour! It was so heavy and pretty much blinding, that we pulled over at a church in (wow, we went so far) Struthers and hid under an awning until it passed. But we were soaked. Look at these guys with their pee pants! LOL Does anyone else do the "have you ever sat on a Harley before?" to someone in the group hoping they'll dry off your seat with their pants? Poor Goldilocks, she knows to say no.

We could have cancelled the ride, but who cares! The clouds passed, the westward front was clearing and we hit the road again. Now our route as I planned went like this: OH-616 to Poland, and took North Lima Road to OH-164 south. We followed 164 to OH-11 south and exited where it said we could catch US Rt. 30 west. That we did, then following OH-9 south (nice road) to OH-171 west (also nice), we made a turn onto Bachelor Road only after having missed it and turned around at a meat packing place where there were two huge piles of deerskins stacked out back. Bachelor Road heads to Magnolia and there we continued on OH-183 west, then taking a left onto OH-800 into Dover, Ohio. At Sammy Sue's BBQ, we turned right onto OH-211, left onto W. 3rd St., and continuing straight it becomes OH-39 under I-77 and an quick right then left turn onto Red Hill Road NW. OH-39 goes right into Sugarcreek. Easy Cheesy!

We turned left onto Broadway once in town, and the clock was down a ways at the Main St. intersection. There was plenty of street parking, plus a parking lot across from the clock which displays a sculpture wall and veteran memorial. The clock started doing it's cuckoo thing as we dismounted the bikes, but as you can see, bikers have a lack of urgency.

There are some neato small shops in the town, but closed on Sundays. Oh well. We peaked into the windows. One is a garden fairy mystical store, and another is all local handmade stuff, and another is an art store, and another is the info center. There is also a bakery and a store that sells beer steins for those who want a souvenir or are collectors. Someone said there was a cheese store within walking distance, but we didn't see it, plus it was hot - who wants to tote cheese home in a saddlebag?

The clock is huge! It's well kept by the community and is a historical sight as well. There is a water wheel on the right and a bell with a little character that rings it inside the very top roof peak. Under the bell is a bird, hard to see in this photo. The historical marker tells the story of how and when it was made and where it resided before landing in Sugarcreek. Click here to see it in action. 

We had to wait for the next half hour mark to see the clock play again, so instead we walked downhill to see if anything was open. We found Village Antiques, a huge place a little like a flea market with stuff either old or relatively new, and sections of old toys that people in my generation played with, including a Tree Family house! And there were posters, and nudey mags, and a section with records and music CDs. It was actually pretty cool, and a few of us found interesting things. If you're looking for old car and motorcycle plates, they have them too. 

Hunger set in. We hadn't eaten since leaving McDonald's. The good news: the Amish-Irish Bags Sports Pub was on the corner and open AND they had burgers! It's a nice place. We were immediately seated and the server was friendly and on top of things. All of us had a burger one way or another. They serve these 8 ounce wonders on white, pretzel or whole grain buns, with all the toppings and choice of side. They also have the mac daddy 1 1/2 pound burger! Tiny would have gotten it if we guaranteed him a 3 hour break for sleeping and burping! Nah, we had riding to do. 

I'd eat there again. 

Then there was this guy. A British subject who has lived in the USA for three years and loves it! Asked Bryon what our store name meant, and Bryon said it had to do with the thirteen colonies. Ha! This guy gets all like oh boy, I may be in the wrong place! He told us over and over how America is the greatest country in the world, and he wants to raise his young boy here instead of in England. How about that? He said we are lucky to be citizens of our country instead of subjects to a monarch. He lives in New York, I think he said, but he was talking so fast and excited, and traveling with his family and father who came over from England to visit. They came to see the clock too. He was very much interested in making sure that he wasn't pissing off any bikers, especially after reading Tiny's patch about making sure a fucker is dead if you have to shoot! He went on and on, told us how traffic in London is a nightmare and how great the US is with all it's space. A nice fellow, shook all our hands, read the guys' name patches, and made sure again that Tiny wasn't going to end it all for him right there in small town America. 

 We were ready to roll. To head toward home, we headed west first, continuing on OH-39. That really is a nice road. OH-39 connects with US-62, and that's what we took east to make our loop. We followed 62 a long ways getting close to Akron and followed it until we reached US-30, the Lincoln Highway. Someday we'd like to travel the entire Lincoln Highway. In some little town we stopped for a photo op with a byway sign.

As we kept going, we turned north on OH-9 toward Salem. Blah. Rain clouds were moving in. It got darker and darker. Were we to end our ride the same way we started? Yep. Wet. Drenched. Blinded by foggy glasses and alerted with squeaky brakes. And pee pants, again. If you don't ride in the rain, you don't ride. Plus, who cares? What we went through on the Blue Ridge Parkway storm last year in North Carolina toughened us up good.

Well, we finally made it home with a route through Canfield and Boardman on 224. We had great weather most of the day, and were glad that a little rain didn't stop us. We went somewhere we'd never been on roads we hadn't traveled and met people along the way that believe in America and still hold onto their dreams. If the Swiss Amish believed and came all this way, we can believe too. 

~ Holly

One of the many Swiss murals on the buildings in Sugarcreek. This one has a little train that runs through it.