Lancaster County, PA

A couple of blogs ago, I wrote about taking advantage of local getaways. These short weekends spent exploring something different can be energizing and add quality time spent with a loved one or your family. My husband and I were in need of quality time and drove two hours to Lancaster County, PA this past weekend.

Lancaster County, aka PA Dutch Country, is known by many as a largely Amish community. We stayed just east of the city of Lancaster and didn’t quite make it downtown because we took advantage of the quaint towns in the country side. What we found interesting is the blend of activities for tourists to choose from. You can take an Amish buggy ride or spend time at an Amish farm learning about their way of life and then head over to the Dutch Wonderland Amusement park or shop at one of the large outlet malls. This overlap of visualizing life in the 18th century with the roller coasters and fast food joints of today can confuse your senses. My husband and I chose to explore the peaceful environment of the country side. With no children in tow, we could drive and stop when we wanted to and just really enjoy each other, the beautiful weather, and anything that we found along the way. The towns in the area to explore are called Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, New Holland, Ronks, and Strasburg. If you have a good map, you can easily get to these towns in one weekend. There are many places to take buggy rides with the Amish. These rides range from 20 minutes to 90 minutes and include different activities along the way. You can also take Amish tours. Do you remember the movie Witness? There is a movie tour on a farm where it was filmed. There are farmland tours where you can milk a cow, feed the animals, taste the homemade food, and pick fruits and veggies from the garden. There are train tours and theatres featuring energetic productions. The one experience that we thought would be great for families with teenagers would be the Amish Camp- leave modern life behind and live as the Amish do, complete with school lessons, cooking sessions, chores and no electricity. We also had a good laugh thinking about how our children might think we were punishing them. If you like antiques, furniture shopping, baked goods and jams, and driving the beautiful country side, then this place is for you. The custom made furniture quality is amazing and the price is unbelievable. The food is fresh and provides that nostalgic home-cooked meal you remember as a child. The popular dessert found throughout the region is called Shoofly Pie. It was delicious. Whoopie pies are also very popular. Of course, I tend to be a dessert person but I love their homemade pretzels. Have you had a buttery soft pretzel from the mall? This is similar but better! Especially when you are eating this in the country while watching the bouquet of animals interact peacefully in the backyard of an Amish home while a little Amish girl in her bare feet serves you a sample with some homemade root beer.

While we enjoyed shopping, eating, watching, and exploring, we couldn’t ignore the Amish men working their fields. They had between 4 and 8 horses pulling them through the fields while a dedicated dog ran beside them. Local families were seen in their buggies throughout the day going somewhere. I remember seeing Amish families near my home in Indiana but the concentration of Amish families in Lancaster County are much higher. I admire their hard work, their dedication and their peaceful lifestyle. I did envy it for a moment as I thought about trading mental exhaustion for physical exhaustion. It’s funny to think that our ancestors all lived this way at some point. Today, we have to go to the gym or go for a run to get physically tired. I hope that the tourism industry hasn’t exploited the Amish. If so, I am at fault too. I respect the Amish way of life and I did get a sense that the locals and tourists do as well, but that is without asking them. I encountered many Amish families and they were all smiles and very helpful. We will be going back to take our children and do buy some furniture on our next visit to PA Dutch Country! There are more pictures posted on my Facebook page. The link is at the top of the homepage.