An Amish Adventure

I had a rough week, a real rough week. School got pretty intense, I was stressed and very, very tired. So, on Friday, I took an entire day off and escaped from the city! Where did I go, you ask? Well, I spent the day in Ephrata, Pennsylvania... the heart of Amish country! Why, you ask? Well, it's a long story. Basically, last week was my grandmother's high school reunion. She and my grandpa attended and then rode home with her best friend Nancy and spent a week with her at her home in Ephrata, PA. Since that is only 3 hours or so from me, I definitely wanted to get to see them. It just happens that I REALLY needed to get away for a day and I have been DYING to go to Amish country. It's like it was meant to be...

Friday morning, I woke up at 5 and packed up my bag, picked up my pack of munchkins from dunkin donuts and hit the road. I just made it out of town before the traffic started up. The drive through Maryland was boring, but I really enjoyed Pennsylvania. I got to pass Hershey (as in the chocolate), Hanover (as in the pretzels), Gettysburg, and lots of roadside vendors.

I made it by about 9:15 and we headed into some of the touristy areas. First, we passed underneath a covered Amish bridge:

Next, we stopped at some local shops to do some shopping. My grandparents were very sweet and helped me pick out some artwork for our apartment as a housewarming gift.

I know the picture is small, but the first one says: "May I never wake up from the American dream," and the second one says: "He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." I LOVE them!

Next, we headed to an area called Kettle Kitchen Village. We did some more shopping and had lunch. Here are some of my finds/gifts my grandparents sent back for Caleb.

Here are a few pictures of the Kitchen Kettle Village area. It was so cute! They had converted this old Amish home into a restaurant where we had lunch.

After lunch, we continued on to Intercourse, Pennsylvania. So yes, I can now say I've been to Intercourse (no jokes, please). On our drive, we saw, and were often slowed down, by lots of these:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Amish country is everything I imagined it to be and more! I can't wait to go back! During our after lunch shopping, I found my greatest treasure, a rocking chair. As Caleb will attest to, I'll I've talked about since moving up here is a) how much I want to go to Amish country and b) how all I want is an Amish-made rocking chair. I looked at them all day and at our last stop, I found it. The problem was that it was a tad bit expensive. I called and asked permission and the response was, "I'm sure the Amish will still know how to make rocking chairs when we have xx amount of money." Shot down. So, I gave up and we left to go on a tour of an Amish home. Here are just a few pics:

Very cool! It was SO hot, but we had a great time and learned a ton about the Amish. Example, girls are not allowed to wear buttons on their clothes, but boys are; they are allowed to use whatever shoes they like, including flip-flops; the reason they don't have electricity is because they don't like the idea of having a wire going into their homes that is connected to other people's homes; their church servies are 3-4 hours with 3+ sermons and are held in their homes; they do not have dietary restrictions; and we learned how to distinguish an Amish person from a Mennonite.

By then, we were completely beat, so we got drinks and went home to rest up before dinner. By this time, Caleb had called me back and told me that since my birthday is next week, I could go back and get my chair, but we were long gone from Intercourse. He felt so bad that he told me to stay later in the morning and go back and get it. So, I did!

I had to wait for the store to open at 930, so after breakfast I wandered down the road and followed this sign:



The arrows literally led me to drive straight up to an Amish family's farm where one of the kids was running a little booth. Not only did I buy the cold, fresh, homemade root beer, but I picked up a couple of homemade whoopie pies as well : )

Then, I got my chair. I love it. I think its perfect. Not only is it pretty and made by Amish people, but it is super comfortable. I think it looks great out on my balcony, what do you think?

Well, I guess that concludes my Amish adventure. I had a GREAT time and can't wait to go back. Caleb is pleased that I like the simple life so he has a chance of not living in the city forever. I also feel alot better about my bad week and I'm ready to move on to a better one this week!