It's only about three hours away from Brooklyn, so we made a day trip of it. To prepare, I made a grand list of fabric and quilt shops I wanted to visit. Nobody else made any requests, so those made up the majority of our stops. (And about half-way through our first fabric shop stop, though, it became pretty clear that every male I was traveling with regretted that. But even after cutting my list down to two stores, I still came away with some awesome stuff. Projects, here I come!)
But those boys didn't completely luck out. Blake wanted to drive off the beaten path through the actual farm country, which we did, and which was absolutely gorgeous. We even happened on an Amish funeral. I have no desire to live an Amish lifestyle, but Pennsylvania would be a gorgeous place to settle. Blake also had the itch to browse Amish furniture stores. Everything they have is so lovely -- and so out of our price range. We stewed over whether or not to purchase a lovely children's rocking chair (since Amish rocking chairs are our favorite), but ultimately decided to let the boys pick out some handmade wooden toys instead. The boys got also to decorate a gingerbread cookie each and sample jams in a congested tourist trap, which made them happy.
We may have escaped from the city, but we didn't manage to escape the heat, which called for a stop to pick up some cold, homemade root beer from two little Amish sisters. Their farm also boasted a tiny petting zoo, and all the boys were enthralled with the baby goat.
The day ended with dinner at Denny's (the boys' pick), and a chance encounter with an Aldi, which we of course stopped at to stock up on our favorite inexpensive private label groceries.
Out of respect for the Amish, we didn't take any pictures of them. But rest assured, Lancaster County was positively swimming with them. They seem to be such lovely, hardworking people, and I'm glad we got to go visit their stomping grounds.
Beautiful Pennsylvania farmland.
The boys' favorite thing to spot on the roads were horses and buggies.
Caleb showing off his decorated gingerbread cookie.
Matthew sampling the child's rocker -- and doing a bit of flirting with the doll in the neighboring chair.
Feeding, and being generally quite fascinated with, the goat.
Nice, cold root beer on a hot, hot day.
4 comments:
Fun! When we lived in Delaware, we were 45 minutes from Lancaster County and very frequently made trips up there. I'm pretty sure I bought root beer from those same sisters! We haven't been back in quite awhile and these pictures made me miss it. If you go again, you'll have to stop at the Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market and convince your boys to eat at Millers or Good and Plenty. So good!
It is strwnge seeing people visit where you live as a tourist destination. Do you feel the same about when your friends blog about visiting Brooklyn?
Carrie - Not really, since NYC is such a huge tourist destination. Unless they're moving here, commuting in for work, or visiting relatives, that's why they come: to see the sights. I guess, though, it would be more strange if people came to our little corner of Brooklyn to sight-see, since it's really just a regular almost small-town-like neighborhood. We actually thought about you while we were in PA. You sure live in a beautiful part of the country. :) Hope you're doing well!
Erin - We thought about stopping at the Bird-in-Hand farmer's market, but it was so crowded and the boys were cranky, so opted out. Maybe next time. I've heard from others, too, that's it's a must-see.
Looks so fun! One of these days, I wanna go. Road trip?
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