Visit to Lancaster County

Friday we decided to go to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for the day on Saturday. I spent a bit of time checking out some web sites and made a little itinerary for the day. This would be our third trip to area since we married. The first trip was 29 years ago when we attended a convention held at Hershey Park. The second was a quick road trip up from Baltimore when Erica graduated from Hopkins. The area is beautiful and we wanted to make the most of the day.

The hardest part of getting there from here is trying to keep on the right road in Delaware. For some reason the road signs do not always say where you are or indicate where you are going. They only say which route you are on or headed to. A good map with all of the routes is an essential when travelling around here. That way when it is obvious that a turn was missed then it is possible to work ones way back to where one needs to be without ending up in New Jersey when it is actually Maryland where you want to be. With maps and pre-planned routes in hand we headed off for an excellent day.

Bentley went along for the trip. The weather was very comfortable so we didn't worry about him getting too hot in the car. This is a blurry photo of him in the back checking out where we had been.

This is the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge just out side of Wilmington. I really like the design. I find this to be a very attractive bridge and take fond gazes every time we cross it.

A trip to this area of Pennsylvania is always special because the farms are so beautiful.

We had not been in Pennsylvania too long when we saw this man and horse in a parking lot patiently waiting for his wife who was coming out of the Bank of Wachovia.

Here is but another of the beautiful farms we passed before we made our first stop.

Our first stop was at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. This was a very interesting place to stop. There were historical items dating back a couple hundred years. The amazing thing was to see how even in our technical, automobile and Mcmansion society how so much of what was the Amish and Mennonite life is still so today.

This is a picture of hat worn by a woman for her wedding. The dress was made from the same fabric. They were lovely.

This is a story quilt that hangs in the museum. It well over 100 years old and is beautiful -- the fabric is in excellent condition and the colors are not faded. There were other pieces of handwork there including beautiful samplers. Lighting conditions being what they were it was hard getting a clear picture of them. You will just have to take my word that they were beautiful. We would see other quilts later in the day at the People's Place Quilt Museum.

Here are just some of the farm tools that we displayed in the museum. Some of the tools are still used today.

After the museum we headed to Bird-in-Hand where we visited the Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market. We purchased pastrami, rare roast beef, kaiser rolls and meat loaf from S. Clyde Weaver Quality Meets and Cheeses; fudge from Lennon's Fudge; Bill got some Shoofly pie from the Good 'N Plenty Bakery; two delicious mustards from Kitchen Kettle Village; and some gorgeous tomatoes from Keagy's Quality Fruits and Vegetables.

After visiting the farmers market we proceeded to our next stop. On the way we saw several men working the fields with teams of horses. One of the most interesting sights we saw during the day was on this leg of the trip. There was a man working the field near his house with his team of horses and at the same time in the front of the house a woman was mowing the lawn. The lawn mower was being pulled by a pony. We passed by so rapidly that I could not get a picture. But, it was a wonderful sight.

Saturday must be laundry day for many families as we saw numerous clothes lines with clothes blowing in the breeze. This clothes line was at our next stop, Glicks' Foods and Crafts. We did not purchase anything here but spent several minutes looking at the various quilts, furniture and other finely crafted items. It was at this stop that we saw a couple piles of the most beautiful compost you can imagine. I suppose that is one of the reasons that the gardens in the area a so beautiful.

From Glick's we went to a store called Zimmerman Marketplace. We bought some phony fruit there. And, then we headed to farm stand called Olde Heritage Rootbeer where we picked up a half gallon of homemade rootbeer. We haven't tried it yet but will do so soon. From there we went into the village of Intercourse and visited the People's Place Qult Museum, a small art gallery and a pottery shop. The afternoon was wearing on and we realized that we had not had lunch. It was closer to dinner time than lunch time. So we decided to call it day and find a place to eat as we headed back to Delaware.

Here is yet another farm and clothes line we saw as we searched for a place to eat. We stopped to eat at a family restaurant. It was called Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant. The restaurant is located in what was the old family home of the business founder. The meal is family style and you pay when you arrive. The meal included rolls, apple butter, two relish plates, chicken, sausage, ham loaf, green beans, corns, mashed potatoes and gravy and desert. Needless to say, we were not hungry when we left and we had spent about $32 for our meal.

I don't think I can ever get tired of scenes such as this. Sure we were starting to be in a hurry to head home but the quiet more peaceful life held us back. And that was good.

We will return for another day.