A Perfect Amish Country Drive…

We were looking for a nice scenic drive through the Amish country when we came across one on the weather channel web of all places. We modified it a bit but will just paraphrase from their drive below as we did the entire drive and it was just what we were looking for.

The drive starts in Morgantown, PA and winds its way across the Lancaster Valley. All along this scenic drive are Amish and Mennonite villages and quaint historic towns. The drive ends in Lancaster, PA which is home to the oldest settlement in the United States.

On this drive, we shared the road with an Amish family heading to town on their horse and buggy. We also saw an Amish man and his son crossing the road to work field on their horse drawn plow. We also saw such majestic views of farmlands that spanned from horizon to horizon. The classic Amish farmhouses, and huge barns and silos dotted the landscape. Dairy cattle as well dotted the landscape and if you couldn’t see them you surely would smell them….

All along the roadside were farm stands selling the current produce of winter squash, pumpkins, cabbages and broccoli. Larger stores filled with local produce would call you off the road and before we knew it we had more bags of produce that you could possibly fit into the RV fridge.

“I admit it… I am a produce junkie… I need help!!!”

We enjoyed getting to know the solitude and simplicity of the quiet lifestyle of the Amish and Mennonite peoples. We even got to see a group of school children playing baseball in a roadside park where a bonneted girl on the pitcher’s mound had just thrown the boy running to first base out. Later in the day we observed the children scampering home on their modified scooters as they push their feet against the pavement so they could climb the local hills to go home.

If you are into crafts there are more hand made crafts than you can shake a stick at…hand-lettered signs, hand made furniture, crafted quilts, and canned and baked goods can be seen all along the side roads. With villages named Goodville and Churchtown how could anywhere be more tranquil than this rural Pennsylvania Dutch countryside.

We saw tobacco hanging in an old barn… we saw pretzels for sale and even the very first store that made and sold pretzels in the USA …we saw fields of corn stubble… we saw Amish run businesses that performed harness and buggy repairs… we saw buildings that were erected in the early 1700’s… we saw the township of Lititz which was once a closed community centered around the teachings of the Moravian Church... we saw a covered bridge… and on the way home we once again saw the Shady Maple Farm Market where we bought five more bags of produce…. must quit buying produce…

I mean we got butternut squash for $0.47 per lb, fresh celery for $0.74, freshly picked broccoli heads about 2 lbs each for $0.75 each… I thought I had died and gone to produce heaven…

“I admit it… I am a produce junkie… I need help!!!”

Tomorrow we are off to Gettysburg and if there is space available at the Passport America Park we will stay there a day or two and then head back to our friends in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia… until then we will vegetarians…