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Daytrip to Amish Country
SUBMITTED BY: Jamie Parks
LAST UPDATED: January 10, 2008
One of our favorite activities was taking a day trip to Lancaster Co. Pennsylvania to explore Amish Country. Depending on how much you want to see, I’d recommend going to Lancaster, Intercourse and Bird-In-Hand. Planning the trip together the weekend before was a good learning experience. We looked up attractions, compared them, made reservations, and made a budget for the trip. And the two and a half hour drive was a great opportunity for my little to practice reading aloud to me, and once she got tired, for a Roald Dahl audio book!
Katherine and I made our first stop at a Mennonite quilt shop and fabric store. She loved looking at all the beautiful quilts and watching a young woman working on hand appliqué. Alternatives for the guys include Amish cobblers, blacksmiths, and carpenters.
Once we made it to Bird-in-Hand, we visited a furniture store and looked at all the handcrafted beds. Katherine had fun helping me pick out a style of bed, a type of wood, and a finish on the wood.
From there, we went to Ed and Jessica’s Buggy Rides at Plain & Fancy Farm. There are four other buggy ride companies in the area as well. The tickets for all the different companies are around $10 for you and $5 for your little. While we were waiting for our turn (no one takes reservations for 2), we visited an Amish country store and picked up some supplies for a picnic lunch. Plain & Fancy also has video about a young Amish boy called “Jacob’s Choice” but we didn’t see it, so I can’t make a recommendation.
After the buggy ride, we were pretty hungry and stopped at a cute Amish-style restaurant in Intercourse, PA. There are a bunch of home-style Amish restaurants dotting the road. I tend to avoid any place with room to park a tourist bus but I understand that all the places are pretty good, if not great.
Plan to be a little flexible with this trip! And don’t be afraid to stray from the main road either. We stopped at an Amish one-room school house and visited with some Amish girls, about Katherine’s age, selling baked goods on the side of the road.In addition to the beauty of the countryside and the sheer novelty of the Amish lifestyle, this was a wonderful opportunity to talk about materialism, the importance of community, and religious values. For our next trip to Amish Country, we’re planning to visit The Amish Farm and House in Lancaster, PA. (www.amishfarmandhouse.com).
Don't forget
- entertainment for the drive
- a picnic lunch
- a blanket to spread out on the grass
Additional resources
www.zipcar.com
www.flexcar.com
www.800padutch.com
http://www.800padutch.com/25things.shtml (free attractions!)
