In Lancaster, the center of Pennsylvania Dutch County, you will absorb Amish heritage coexisting with modern society. Electric vehicles share the road with horse drawn carriages, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Shoppers carrying groceries in hand crafted baskets wait next to individuals texting on cell phones. Lancaster, unlike most of the United States has evolved so that everyday life today is possible with or without modern technology.
On our visit we explored Old Town Lancaster and our first stop with the Central Market, a historic public market located in Penn Square. Built in 1889, it is the oldest continuously run market in the United States. We browsed over 60 food stalls selling products of Amish, Pennsylvania Dutch, German, Greek, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and Slavic origins. There was a local bounty of fruits and vegetables, gourmet cheeses and delicacies for the modern foodie. The fresh baked Amish Whoopie Pies and Apple Dumplings were our food of choice.
There are several architectural tours around Old Town Lancaster’s National Historic District which include 578 buildings. Most were erected between 1840 and 1901. On our walk we saw structures from three different eras, including the 1700’s the 1800’s and the 1900’s right next to each other. We stop in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster to appreciate the stained-glass windows by Franz Xaver Zettler. A conversation with the pastor made us fall in love with the windows and the town. In the town square we were happily greeted by a colorful hand painted piano, and we played away.
Amish family style homey dining is popular in Lancaster and for lunch it was hard to choose between fried chicken, country baked ham, roast beef and chicken pot pie. They were served with Amish classics side dishes, corn fritters and brown butter pasta. The baked goods including unlimited bread with apple whipped butter was indulgent, although the real treats were dessert- Shoofly Pie and Angel Food Cake!
A short drive through the countryside brought us by farmers plowing the fields and baling hay with horse powered tractors. We drove through covered bridges and saw picturesque homes with unusual lawn ornaments.
Meandering through the landscape led us to Lititz, Pennsylvania. Here we experienced the Julius Sturgis Pretzel factory. It is not a working factory but a historic site that displays of old equipment and offers a a guided tour of the pretzel making process. We even engaged in kneading dough to twisting pretzels ourselves.
There is much more to do in the area. To learn more about Amish life visit the Amish Farm and House. The region has a fair share of amusement parks including Dutch Wonderland for little kids or Hershey Park for chocolate lovers!
