Family Friendly Activities
I remember a time in college when my sorority sisters and I came to the Arthur area to go to our advisor’s home for a meeting and we saw some Horse and Buggy’s. Their reaction was PRICELESS - they all screamed and could not believe they saw a “real life horse and buggy?!” I didn’t think a thing of it, growing up near the Arthur area - I’ve seen them almost my entire life and they are a part of our landscape, right? While I have always seen them, and driven past them, I have never once ridden in one, and today that changed!!!
Last time we went to Beachy’s. I saw a little white sign that said Buggy Rides, so I did some investigating, and it is TRUE! Green Meadow Farms, located on E CR 200 N (translated: same road as Country Salvage Grocery & The Great Pumpkin Patch), is easy to find and fun to enjoy! Merle Kaufman is the gentleman who lives there with his family, and operates the goat farm, and offers buggy rides! We just walked right up - drive around behind the house and you will see the building with the sign for the Buggy Rides and where to enter. The buggy rides are $10 per person, cash only, and last about 20 minutes! Mr. Kaufman made the whole experience super enjoyable - from allowing us to go into the barn to pet the horses and dog (they are all WONDERFUL), to taking our pictures in front of, beside, and inside of the buggy, to letting Brayson “drive” the buggy - it was all wonderful!
Each and every time we pass a Buggy now, the kids squeal with excitement and say we rode in one (we passed approximately a dozen on our way home, so I am well aware of this.)! Mr. Kaufman was so gracious and kind and took time to let the kids pet the horses and ask questions and go back in the barn when we returned - they had a blast!
A few details… He said if you have a larger group, it is always a good idea to call ahead (217-543-4192) for a reservation so he can be prepared and ready for you! They are open 9AM-6PM Monday - Saturday and you are welcome to show up anytime, if you’d like, but if you want to be certain (for example, if you’re coming from out of town) someone will be there for you for a buggy ride, call ahead!
After our buggy ride, we headed into Arthur to eat at Heartland Deli & Delights (https://www.heartlanddelidelights.com/), downtown! They have so many yummy choices, and are super kid-friendly! Brayson got a hot dog & a grilled cheese to eat and devoured both! Bronwyn got the grilled cheese and enjoyed it - they are made on a panini grill! I was able to build my own sandwich and it was yummy - I brought home half to share with Ted and he loved it! They have lots of cheeses you can taste, before you buy, and they were so so good! If they don’t have them out - just ask! They are also super nice about allowing you to try something (like the chicken salad) before ordering a sandwich. I am picky, and I mean picky about my chicken salad (if you ever want to know where my FAVORITE chicken salad is in the whole wide world, I’ll have a post in Meet up with the Mingers sometime soon), so asked if I could taste test it first, and they were very gracious!
We brought home some cheese for Ted, some ice cream - holy yuminess - and some cookies too! It was hard to stop! All of the baked goods looked so delicious! You can either eat inside or outside, or take it to go - they were quite busy while we were there, but very prompt in taking and filling the orders! After you are finished eating, there are oodles of wonderful shops downtown Arthur, so you can stroll along and check each and every one of them out!