Lancaster County, PA

After four months in one spot, we got back on the road again the day after Labor Day. It was great. And without realizing it, our course was much the same as it had been one year ago when we traveled between the Finger Lakes of New York and Rehoboth Bay, DE.

We didn’t realize it until driving through Tamaqua, PA. We were talking about how similar the town looked, reminding us of that drive. As luck would have it, I had saved the route information and discovered that it was the same. What a coincidence!

Within a few miles of our campground, we started to see signs of the Amish lifestyle. We saw several young boys presumably walking home from school. A few yards behind them was a small group of girls. Not much later, we saw a horse and buggy on the road. It was so interesting.

After driving through lots of farmland, we started back into the hills and soon got to the campground. Driving to our site was like being back in the Poconos: trees everywhere. This is one of the most rustic campgrounds we’ve been to, and VERY pretty.

We headed out Wednesday morning to check out the towns of Intercourse and Bird-In-Hand. We’d picked up pamphlets and found places we wanted to check out. We had sun at the start of the day and took these pics of the farmlands on the way.

It amazed me how close to the road the corn was growing. It made it hard to see around the corners, sometimes.

We started out at the Information center and watched a couple of movies about the Amish and their background. By then, we were ready for lunch and decided to go to Good & Plenty. OMG! Both words were totally descriptive. The food was very good and there was plenty of it. We agreed it was one of the best non-Italian meals we’d had since leaving home in May. Good, old-fashioned home cookin’.

From there we headed to the Bird-In-Hand Farmers Market. We found all kinds of wonderful things there. I saw home-made iced raisin bread which I haven’t seen since I was a kid. We found fried peas which we haven’t found since leaving Florida. We bought all sorts of good stuff.

We had dinner at Plain & Fancy. This proved to be yet another wonderful meal. Everything tasted home made, including the bread. You could taste the butter in that bread, too. Totally delicious foods!

We had desserts that we brought home from lunch, which included them. We were just too full to eat them then, so we got them to go. One was shoo-fly pie, which I don’t think either of us had ever had before. I could feel the pounds increasing with every bite, but – OH – it was good!

The next day we headed back to the same area, hoping to get more photos of the Amish lifestyle. We started out in Intercourse again, and then decided to go up to New Holland where there was a Farmers Market. We went past this school on the way up there. The kids were playing softball and looked like they were having a great time.

This was a common sight wherever we went. There are no clothes driers in Amish homes. So the movable clothesline runs between the house and the barn, or some other post high enough to keep them off the ground. We even saw several houses with the clothes hung out on the front porch.

Once we got to New Holland, we discovered that the Farmers Market only ran on Saturdays. Bummer! So we took a different road back south to Intercourse. Here’s another good look at the farmland.

While stopped to take the farmland photos, this horse and buggy came up the road.

After that we had other opportunities to snap more pictures. This couple was just leaving the shop next to one we’d stopped at.

Aside from the great food, quilting is a big thing in the area. We peeked into this shop after our last dinner and found some truly beautiful work. Made me think very fondly of my mom.

Speaking of that last dinner: we went to Miller’s Smorgasbord in East Ronks. WOW! We picked the “no soup or salad and no dessert” option, and we still waddled out of that place, stuffed and happy. And the best part for me was that they had iced raisin bread on the buffet! I had to have two pieces – one served as dessert!

This visit to Lancaster County turned out to be so wonderful for us. We both enjoyed it a ton. Of course, now we’ll have to diet BIG time once we get home! But, OH, it was worth it!