Lancaster County, PA

Our time in Lancaster County went by all too quickly. As anxious as I was to get up to New York to see family, I wanted to also soak in and savor all the sights of this beautiful area.

Now, not all of Lancaster County is beautiful. In fact as Mom and Dad's GPS system took us through some of the seedier parts of town, I was surprised. 'Jane', Mom and Dad's nickname for the GPS, was later relegated to the trunk.

Another surprising thing was how commercial Lancaster County was. Never having been there before, I really didn't know what to expect, but I wasn't expecting a large outlet mall, a theme park (mini golfing, water park etc), nor did I expect the Amish house and farm that we toured to be right next, I mean right next - a literal stone's throw- to a Target and Panera. But they were.

To see the real Amish countryside, you need to get off the beaten track. And of course, there are bus tours that will take you To See Where The Real Amish Live and Work! You know us, we would not fork over good money for that sort of thing. We took off for the countryside ourselves.

And we were not disappointed. We were driving through at about eight o'clock in the morning and already, laundry filled the clothes lines. At almost every home. Black pants, blue shirts for the men, black dresses and different colored blouses for the women.

Did you know that the Amish are not allowed to wear red, orange or bright yellow? These colors call too much attention to one self, which is not allowed. Humility is enforced.

The houses we drove past were fairly close to the road. Neat gardens surrounded the houses. Beautiful flowers. Orderly lines of laundry. Men working the fields with horses. A little barefoot boy on a scooter going as fast as he could (bikes are not allowed). A grandmother with a grandchild pulled up to the stop sign in a horse and buggy. I was charmed and enthralled.

One things I appreciate about the Amish is the deliberate way they live. They make their decisions about what technology they allow into their community very thoughtfully. If having a certain thing will detract from family life or promote the individual or encourage pride; it is not allowed.

One surprising thing: one of the main cash crops in Lancaster County is tobacco. And the Amish have no restrictions on smoking the stuff themselves. There is nothing in the Bible that says 'thou shalt not smoke', so they do permit it.

We ate at a restaurant that served a smorgasbord of Amish food. The family that ran this particular restaurant was formerly Amish and many of the servers were young Amish girls. The food was mouth wateringly delicious. All three of us ate too much.

Once again, I had a delightful time. If you can get to Lancaster County, I highly recommend you do so. But don't settle for the main stream tours. Get off the beaten track and see the countryside.

(I do recommend this, though.)