Real Housewives & Dutch Cousins
And Dutch Country Cousins of Holland
5 Days | March-December
Starting At $Flexible Pricing
This tour features two European Cultures deeply woven into our American Tapestry. Many people believe there is a connection between them but beyond both being European immigrants there is not. The Amish are Swiss & German and any reference to Dutch is to the “Deutsch” language. The Dutch in Holland, MI are from The Netherlands and the heritage of their ancestry has lasted here for 150 years.
Highlights
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U S Tours Flexible Pricing:
- Customizable Comps
- Net Rates
- Luxury or First Class Hotels & Meals
- Motorcoach Transportation & Professional Tour Managers are available
Whatever you want, U S Tours will be happy to structure tour prices to match your needs. Just let us know!
Itinerary
Day 1 – Indiana Amish Country
Upon arrival in Indiana’s at Amish Country you enjoy a hands-on, group activity in a bakery kitchen. You will learn how to make a Shoofly Pie with an Amish baker … there will be significant sampling involved.
After the bakery you enjoy a welcome reception and check into your hotel for a two night stay.
Before dinner this evening the fruits of the Round Barn Winery where you find a tasting room in the loft. Then you enjoy a famous family-style Thresher’s Dinner in the old barn restaurant. From hearth baked bread, to platters of steaming country chicken, cider baked ham, and beef; the menu brings “Oohs and Aah’s” from hungry “Threshers” of all ages.
Topping off the day, here in the Round Barn Theater for a theatrical production. (D)
Day 2 – Real Housewives of Amish County Tour
This morning after breakfast you meet your guide and begin the “Real Housewives of Amish Country” tour. Forget reality TV! Instead meet the real housewives and learn how these ladies do household chores without electrical appliances and run their businesses without modern technology. Enjoy a cinnamon roll demo with Elaine or Mary Lou. Visit Carolyn’s home for a haystack lunch and peanut butter crumb pie making demo. Chat with a basket weaver about her thriving business. Meet an Amish school teacher and find out how she manages her classes in a one room school, here everyone will have after school treat – a whoopee pie!!
This evening Elaine Jones invites you to join her and her family and friends in an Amish quilting bee. Enjoy a delicious home cooked traditional Amish meal and then pull up a chair around original quilt frames filled with hand pieced Amish quilts. They will demonstrate how to piece, mark and get the quilt ready to sew. Then you will sit beside the ladies and participate, watch, learn or just chat as they lead both the novice and experienced quilter in an old fashioned quilting bee. Men in the group are welcome to join Elaine’s husband for conversation in the barn. (B,D)
Day 3 – Bison Ranching – Holland MI Arrival
This morning you check out of your hotel and visit Cook’s Bison Ranch. Here you learn the industry of raising, feeding and managing this wild animal. You’ll take a hay-wagon ride into the pasture where you have a chance to hand feed the great American Bison in its own habitat. After the tour you enjoy a Bison Burger luncheon before you depart Amish Country.
Afternoon travel takes you to Holland, MI where a Costumed Dutch Guide provides an afternoon tour. The European flavor of Holland stems from its roots as a haven for Dutch immigrants who arrived in the mid-1800’s. Popular attractions such as DeZwaan, the only authentic Dutch windmill in the U.S., the Tulip Gardens producing for the internationally-known and the annual Tulip Time Festival.
Following the tour your group will find a local hotel then enjoy an evening with free time for shopping in the downtown district, and dinner on own. There are more than 20 restaurants in walking distance. (B, L)
Day 4 – Holland, MI – Wooden Shoes & Windmills
Today begins at the Tulip Gardens, Holland’s only tulip farm is ablaze with acres of tulips from late April to mid-May. Also here is the De Klomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory, a store that words cannot describe. From the time you walk into the door, your eyes will not believe the beauty and splendor of the items on the shelves.
Next is a visit to the Dutch Village. This is like a step back in time to the Netherlands of 19th Century. You’ll see Dutch architecture, there are canals and beautiful gardens. You can learn a few steps from the klompen dancers, then watch artisans make cheese and carve candles. While here, enjoy a Dutch Culinary Experience. Learn how to make a traditional Dutch “Koffee kletz” and Ban’ket along with your lunch.
This afternoon you visit the Windmill Island Gardens, a beautiful oasis on the edge of downtown Holland, MI. It features a 249 year old working Dutch windmill “De Zwaan” (meaning graceful bird). The windmill, which reaches 125 feet from the ground to the top of the blades. It towers over 36 acres of manicured gardens, dikes, canals and picnic areas.
Next you will enjoy a Tour & Tasting at either Fenn Valley Winery or Coppercraft Distillery. Followed by dinner at one of Holland’s best restaurants. (B,L,D)
Day 5 – Departure Day This morning your visit to Holland ends. You either depart for home or we add another nearby destination and spend a few more days on tour. Would you like to visit Frankenmuth – Michigan’s Bavarian Village? Perhaps you would like to drive north and take the Ludington Car Ferry to Wisconsin and add a couple of day in Door County. Or simply visit the cities of Chicago and Detroit. Let us know your interest and craft a nice tour package unique for your group. (B)