Continuing our adventure from the previous blog, we spent the night in Lancaster, PA. We are in the heart of Amish country. Lancaster County has the highest population of Amish in the world. They came over here from the offer of William Penn to escape religious persecution in Europe. The early Amish and Mennonites originally came from Switzerland and southern Germany. I don’t express to be an expert on their beliefs or religion, but I do know that, here in Lancaster County, the Amish homes are not connected to public electricity, they do not have phones or computers in their homes, they do not drive motor vehicles of any kind, and all of their farming is done using horses or mules to provide the pulling power. When I got here, I envisioned a separate little close knit community where the Amish folks lived and stayed separate from the non-Amish folks. I soon found out that this is not the case. It is difficult to tell, from the outside, an Amish home from an “English” (non-Amish) home. Drive throughout the county, and you will see English homes right next to Amish homes and they don’t look different. After a while you can spot the telltale signs but you have to look for them. Most of the newer Amish homes are fully wired for electrical service, just not connected. This is so that later, if need be, the house can be sold to either an Amish or an English family. One of the most tell tale signs of an Amish home is the clothesline outside. It is easily reachable from the home and extends quite some distance from the house. It is on a pulley system and, most notably, is several feet off the ground. Again useful as the ground under the line is not monopolized by drying laundry. It can easily be used for other things while laundry hangs in the breeze!
Amish don’t drive cars, but do get around just fine in horse drawn vehicles. You see them everywhere in town. Even the Walmart and Target supercenters have covered tie up areas where the horse and buggies can be kept while the family shops.
You also begin to notice that the farmhouses may look small from the street, but they have several additions and sometimes other buildings on the same property. This is because there can be several generations living and working on the homestead. The average homestead is around 100 acres. It is most usually planted in either corn or tobacco and alfalfa. The tobacco and some of the corn is sold as cash crop. The remaining corn and alfalfa is used to feed the working livestock.
Now it’s not to be said that the Amish folk totally shun electricity and modern appliances. In fact, most of the farmsteads have a large diesel generator that produces electricity that is used to power wood working equipment or even to light the roadside shops that sell homemade products to tourists. You will frequently find a small gas powered motor, mounted on a trailer that uses it to power a piece of hydraulic farm equipment (like a sprayer or harvester). This implement is just like an English farmer’s, except instead of a tractor pulling and powering it, it is a horse and an external engine.
Tobacco in the field.
An Amish youngster goes to a one room schoolhouse from grades 1-8. After that, they are old enough to work in the fields or help out at home. You see the schoolhouses all around the county.
This is a schoolhouse. Typically, there are 25-30 students at any time. The teacher typically comes from the area and in fact, was probably educated at that very schoolhouse! Notice the wheeled “scooters” at the right. Amish do not believe in bicycles for the kids. Instead, they take a scooter type contraption and that is how they get around. Some of them use bicycle sized wheels and from a distance even look like a bike.
This is a typical buggy that is found only in Lancaster County. How can you tell? Other buggies that you may come across in the country will be all black. It is only here in Lancaster County, and a small part of the county at that, where you will find the grey sidewalls and top.
The farm where we stopped and visited not only sold homemade baked goods (which were to die for!!), but also raise miniature horses. The Amish will sometimes use miniature horses to train the youngsters on how to care for and hitch up a horse to a wagon. They also will sell them to other breeders and to those who want to raise miniatures.
My little goat buddy. He came up to the fence and enjoyed a good head scratch. Too cute!
There is also something unique to this part of the country that I had to find out about. I had heard about it and had seen it advertised at restaurants along the roadside. Even during the tour of Hershey, I was told that Milton Hershey loved it and ate it regularly. What is “it”? Well, “it” is chicken and waffles!!! Again, my mind immediately went to strips of grilled or boiled chicken served over a buttered and syrupy waffle. OH YUCK!!! As usual, I was wrong. The authentic chicken and waffles that I enjoyed (and went back for seconds mind you) was a kind of shredded chicken in a thick gravy. This combination was kind of like homemade chicken and noodles without the noodles. This is ladled over a small, plain, unbuttered belgian waffle. All in all it is pretty tasty. Our waitress, who was a lifelong resident of Lancaster County, said that this is what she makes for her family. In fact, she said that you make up the batch of waffles for the meal, then the last batch is made extra crispy and is served with ice cream for desert.
Another famous confection, the “Whoopee Pie”. Two big soft cookies with a homemade creme filling. Each one is unique to the various cook. The ones we tried were recommended because the filling was not as sweet and the cookies were extraordinarily tasty (yes on both counts!) I tried the chocolate one, but there were also oatmeal and chocolate chip. Between the homemade meals and the baked goods that we bought, I now have to do several days of additional exercise to work them off (but it’s worth it!).
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