Intercourse, Blue Ball, Fertility…

are names of cities in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and home to many of the Amish.  Rick and I took a week off and headed to PA to check out some residency programs.  The highlight of the trip, for me, was driving through Amish communities. I can’t stop thinking about it.

Our journey started as we headed north on route 322 from route 30.  Suddenly, in just yards, all of the traffic and tourist traps disappear and you’re out in the real countryside.  It happens so fast. It’s hard to imagine that you are only a 1/2 hour from shopping centers/restaurants/highways when you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere!  There is a quietness that hovers over Amish communities.  This was the first sign we were entering an Amish town:

As we drove up the 322, we saw lines of laundry, hanging on a  line, drying in the brisk wind. Black pants, simple dresses, stretched out for yards and yards.

A common site: A farm.  The Amish grow or raise much of what they eat.  They are self sufficient on so many levels.  I felt so much respect for their simple and plain lifestyle. No t.v., no video games, no worldly distractions.  I envied it.  I wanted to stop, knock on their door, and be invited in to visit, to learn more about what they believe and what they do.  I was so curious and so compelled.  I really didn’t want to leave. I loved everything I saw: the barns, silos, clotheslines, Amish furniture, bake shops, horse and buggies.  It was all fabulous! (The Amish make incredible wood furniture.  We dropped in 2 or 3 furniture stores and were really impressed with the fine workmanship we saw in the furniture.  It was so neat.)

Hands down, the greatest highlight for me was seeing this horse drawn bugging zoom past us, right before our eyes!  I was screaming in excitement, as I reached for my camera, “Rick…ah…a buggy, a buggy!!!” We passed another horse drawn buggy a few minutes later, and inside was an Amish man, dressed in his black hat and full beard.  I felt I was watching a clip from a movie.  It was so fascinating.  It was no longer something I read on the internet or in a book, it was real to me.

We stopped at the Bird-In-Hand Bake Shop, situated in the middle of this countryside, where we purchased our first ever, gooey Dutch SHOOFLY PIE!  I didn’t know what a shoofly pie was until we were walking into the bakery, and they had a sign hanging on the porch, that said they were voted #1 in Lancaster County for Shoofly Pie.  I had to find out what it was all about.  In short, it’s good, gooey and tastes like molasses and sugar with a crumb topping.  If you have a chance to try it out, well by golly, try it out!

Yes, they park their buggies in their drive way, just as we would park our cars.

Sunset.  Our trip in Amish country ended at dusk.  It was beautiful!

This sign caught our attention!  We zipped in for a few minutes.  It was  filled with crafts, quilts, t-shirts and other souvenirs, you know, AMISH STUFF!

Check out this website to learn about the best places to vist if you are in Lancaster County and how to get the best Amish experience.  Here is a map of a great Auto Tour. (Here you can also purchase your own shoofly pie on Gibbons road.)