We spent 2 days in Lancaster county, in the small town of Ronks, so we could check off one item on Sandy's bucket list. She wanted to see Amish country, so here we are!
The 4 of us decided that the top thing on our "to do" list was to take a buggy ride through the countryside. Let me introduce you to our two lady horses: Louise and Laura. If you can't tell them apart, that's okay. Louise is the one on the left. Both were bred in Canada and bought specifically for pulling tourist buggies around. Our Amish guide and driver, Elsie, had trained them to obey her voice commands.
Along the way we got to view men and boys working in the fields, just like they've done for hundreds of years. Elsie told us her ancestors came here from Holland in the 1700's, and they speak Pennsylvania Dutch at home, high German in church services, and learn English when they go to school.We passed by some young school children on their way home, and were surprised to see that many of them were barefoot! The little girls looked so cute in their long dresses and bonnets. All Amish children go to one room school houses that are near their homes, so going barefoot is not a problem. There are hundreds of these small schoolhouses here in Lancaster county. Many kids (and adults) use scooters to get around from place to place, in addition to their buggies.
The ride took us through an old covered bridge, built in the 1800's. These are the same timbers being used today. As we toured, Elsie told us a lot about what it's like to be Amish. Not only did we have an enjoyable and relaxing ride, but we also learned about the Amish customs.
Below you can see a silhouette of a man working in the field. It was a warm, humid day here, unusual for this time of the year in Pennsylvania.
One night we looked out the back window and were greeted with a beautiful harvest moon looking over the pumpkin fields.
The next morning, this is what we saw...a fog enshrouded tree with the fields and horse behind it.
On our second day here, we hunted down covered bridges. Even though they are on a local map, they can be doggone difficult to find. The maps are not to scale, roads change names when they go around a bend and some of the road names are left off the map completely! We went up and down some of those country roads more than once. I think we wound up finding at least four of the ones scattered around different towns (except here they aren't called cities or towns: they are called boroughs or townships). Please don't ask me what the difference is. I have no idea.
This was a longer covered bridge...can you see Sandy sticking her head out of the little window?
Sandy is checking out the pumpkins at this little place. We did have Shoo-fly pie for dessert one night. None of us had ever tried it before. We bought the wet bottom Shoo-Fly pie, which everyone told us was better and more moist. One thing for sure, it has LOTS of sugar! Need a rush? Just eat this pie with a cup of coffee and you're off to a jump start!
The ride took us through an old covered bridge, built in the 1800's. These are the same timbers being used today. As we toured, Elsie told us a lot about what it's like to be Amish. Not only did we have an enjoyable and relaxing ride, but we also learned about the Amish customs.
Below you can see a silhouette of a man working in the field. It was a warm, humid day here, unusual for this time of the year in Pennsylvania.
One night we looked out the back window and were greeted with a beautiful harvest moon looking over the pumpkin fields.
The next morning, this is what we saw...a fog enshrouded tree with the fields and horse behind it.
On our second day here, we hunted down covered bridges. Even though they are on a local map, they can be doggone difficult to find. The maps are not to scale, roads change names when they go around a bend and some of the road names are left off the map completely! We went up and down some of those country roads more than once. I think we wound up finding at least four of the ones scattered around different towns (except here they aren't called cities or towns: they are called boroughs or townships). Please don't ask me what the difference is. I have no idea.
This was a longer covered bridge...can you see Sandy sticking her head out of the little window?
Sandy is checking out the pumpkins at this little place. We did have Shoo-fly pie for dessert one night. None of us had ever tried it before. We bought the wet bottom Shoo-Fly pie, which everyone told us was better and more moist. One thing for sure, it has LOTS of sugar! Need a rush? Just eat this pie with a cup of coffee and you're off to a jump start!
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