Fri 26 Apr - Lancaster, PA

Today we are "gawkers" - staring at the Amish and taking photos when we can.

We feel a bit bad about it but their way of life if so interesting and different that you can't help but pull out the camera. We try to maintain distance but wish we could sit down and talk with them to understand more.

We start before 9am at Intercourse. Yep, that's the name of a town here.

Despite its name (which has been in place for 199 years) it is a conservative and quiet Amish town. Horse and buggy are very common sights here. So are the fumes from the "exhausts" of the horses...

Nobody knows quite how a town came to be named Intercourse and there are at least 3 theories and none have to do with sex. Doesn't stop the tacky jokes and t-shirts though... Just like Boring in Oregon and Dull in Scottland, an odd name sells...

You see this road sign everywhere in the area.

The horses all look lean and fit and they don't go slower than a trot. Lots of training and skill is evident when you see them all cope with big trucks passing by.

The road rules apply to them too - a red light and waiting to turn left.

In most shops in town there is space of car and horse and buggy parking. See the white sign on the left on the fence.

Some locals look and dress Amish but drive cars... We assume they are not strict in their followings, however many are true believers and don't even have bicycles. Push Scooters for all ages are common.

An older lady in traditional black cloak and headdress parked her scooter outside a local general store.

No farm tractor for this guy, just 6 horse power and a plow.

Zimmerman's is a very old local store and has many Amish customers. This store, and it's phone box (on the right where Di is standing) featured in the movie "Witness". Harrison Ford was here! Big sigh from Di...

We expected to find lots of Dutch or German goods but despite the names very few Northern European traditions remain. Dill gherkins, good cheese and wurst is one for which we are grateful, but no Dutch licorice. Hans finds mini Licorice AllSorts so that will do.

German names are everywhere - Pennsylvania Dutch is actually Pennsylvania Deutsch but was distorted over time. The various religious groups came here 250 years ago because William Penn proclaimed religious freedom in the area. At one time a local told us there were 28 different types of Mennonites.

We liked the name of this place - Immergut means Always Good - but unfortunately it was not open when we passed. So, not Always Open...

Of course we had to buy some local produce and this place had great attraction - local Amish people shopped here and they provided samples. Good name too.

We bought some smoked meat and cheese to have with bread for dinner.

We love that kids are kids everywhere and even with the more formal Amish clothing they still play "tag" with a tennis ball at school. Yep, the girls are running in long skirts, bonnets on their heads and sneakers on their feet.

We take some back country roads leaving Intercourse and we really enjoy seeing washing drying naturally but in general slung up very high to avoid low dust and dirt.

In the photo below the day's washing is hung from a line suspended from the home's second floor then a pulley system takes it to the height on the top of the barn. Cows and horses can now pass underneath if need be. This is a common site in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

On the way we follow signs to a bakery on a very rural back road - called Bird In Hand Bakery (Bird In Hand being the name of the town). We need bread to go with our meat and cheese. We find it, buy our bread, and are amazed they got a few large tour coaches down these tiny rural roads to be there too. We don't linger although we think the goats are cute.

 

A side note - if Di was holding the camera we would have lots and lots of photos of chubby dairy cows. Also very cute and they were everywhere. We had the car windows down and the fresh cow "fragrance" was everywhere.

William Penn's religious freedom allowed people to basically set up their own churches and religions and we had read that there was one German group at Ephrata where their buildings and details of their group had been preserved.

 

We went to investigate the Ephrata Cloister and paid $10 for admission and a personal 1 hour tour. Fantastic and odd place at the same time.

We think you could sum it up as a Cult in modern terms. There was a charismatic leader who sort of was a brethren but did not quite agree on all things so headed off into the wilderness to be a hermit. People followed him and joined his community. The fearless leader's name was Conrad Beissel and he lived to be 77 years old.

The Ephrates cloister group believed that...

• God was both a man and a woman
• God did not eat so they should limit their food and eat simply - one meal a day
• They should be ready for God's call at any time so they would sleep 3 hours, then wake at midnight for 2 hours of prayer, and then sleep 3 hours more before spending all day working and praying
• They should be celibate so they could marry God when he/she came back to earth.

As a result, they were all skinny while they lived and with no procreation they soon died out - gone by early 1800's. Many of the old buildings still remain and have been preserved by the State of Pennsylvania since 1941.

Gotta love German engineering and also American foresight in keeping this safe for future generations.

Celibate women and men lived separately. This is the original sisters house.

The Cloister Group all wore white robes, as did our guide Michael. Like all tour guides we've had on our various tours, he was passionate and well spoken on his subject. He unlocked doors and we went inside these buildings. Very special but a lot of ducking down through tiny doorways.

Lovely grounds.

Each person has their own room but the bed was a board with a wooden block for a pillow, to ensure they did not sleep soundly and could easily awaken if God returned in the middle of the night.

Much of the furniture and tools are original but we assume this broom was not - and could not help "the witch" comparison... Yes, Di could not wait until we get to Salem in Massachusetts...

Conrad Beissel is buried here.

The German precision comes through and makes us laugh. What other group records a person's age on their gravestone in years, months and days!

The lifestyle must have suited them. On average the congregation outlived the average life expectancy of their day by 10+ years. In the graveyard ages 80 and over are common for the followers.

It had been such an interesting morning but we have not stopped for coffee or lunch and its now after 2pm.

We drive for a while and come to a PA Dutch Buffet at a place called Dieners. It is supposed to be one of the best places around. So we stop and stuff ourselves for $11.50 each. Pretty good but we have had better in South Carolina at Engelhardt.

We waddle out and decide we need more exploring before finishing for the day - plus we have to digest all the food. We drive along the quieter back roads which were generally much more interesting than the towns.

We love this sign. A nice local has stocked his creek with trout which you can fish but not on Sundays (we assume for religious reasons). Fair enough - his fish, his rules.

We head into a town a few miles down the road called Strasburg. An old town and definitely one for train buffs. They have the Pennsylvania Rail Road Museum here.

They still run steam train rides from Strasbourg about 4 times a day. This sign makes it clear that it is so well preserved because a private group in 1832 took on the rail road when the main rail line by-passed their town. They kept it alive and still do today. Wow - 180 years of conservation.

The trains are in pristine condition and you can go on a ride to a local town called Paradise. We could not help but press our noses against windows and wander around.

Such a classic old scene.

Hans trying out to be railroad conductor some day...

The name of this carriage made us laugh. For fans of the movie "Groundhog Day" the place where the Groundhog declares whether it will or will lot be a long winter is at Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney PA.

The open sided Coach carriage.

The more glamorous and warmer first class lounge.

After 5.30pm we head gradually homewards and have to stop at this fabulous historic covered bridge from 1844. You can still walk on it - but no cars or other vehicles.

The floor is not very straight so you have to watch where you step.

A lovely end to a perfect spring countryside day.

One small frustrating note. We decide we want some more beer or cider with our meat and cheese, but the "smallest" quantity of any beer or cider was 24 bottles or cans, and we didn't really need that many.

One suggestion we heard was to buy it as "takeaway" from a restaurant. We think that there may be a Lancaster County or PA restriction and after 3 attempts in 3 bottle shops we give up.

Dinner is just a little bit of cold meat, cheese and crackers, washed down by the last 2 Coronas. We are still full from our late lunch.

Time for rest. Good night.

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