Thursday, July 8, 2010

Intercourse, PA and Bird-In-Hand, PA

Our Saturday took us right into the heart of Amish Country. Driving around here, you'll see numerous horse and buggys roaming the streets. Be careful not to spook the horses when passing them on the road! (Pass with care and DO NOT honk at them - they always have the right of way.)

While we didn't get to do one of the "Amish tours" this time around, we did get a Pennsylvania Dutch Country experience for sure. The first thing you'll notice is the smell as soon as you get out of your car. It's an aroma of manure, so it isn't very pleasant, but you'll probably get used to it pretty quickly.

Our first stop here was in Intercourse, PA at the People's Place Quilt Museum, located on the 2nd floor of the Old Country Store. The store itself has various items for sale which are exactly what you'd think of when you think of Pennsylvania Dutch Country...homemade furniture, quilts, etc. The museum upstairs has excellent examples of various styles of quilts and was a pleasant surprise. It's quite small, so it doesn't take long to go through, but for anyone with any interest in quilts, or even just an art fan, you'll enjoy your quaint visit. Another plus is that it is completely free to enter.






After this stop, we went further down the road to Bird-In-Hand, PA. There is an excellent Farmer's Market here where you can find some Amish wares as well as top quality baked goods!


Across the street from the market is the Americana Museum, which I must say was quite disappointing. It's basically a store filled with PA Dutch Country type items, which is all fine if you're interested in shopping. However, calling that a museum I think is quite mis-leading and I think can be passed up on any trip to this area.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

St. George's United Methodist Church

Lying at the northern edge of Old City is St. George's United Methodist Church, the oldest Methodist church in America. The Methodist movement first started here in 1769 and the building itself has not changed much in the past 240 years of use.




Services are still held here regularly. However, if you'd like a tour of the building itself and the museum and artifacts held within, you should make an appointment in advance. This can be done easily by contacting the church through their website at www.historicstgeorges.org. We were able to secure an appointment with Donna Miller, who spent an hour showing us around and giving us an excellent tour.

In the museum portion of the church, you can learn about the various contributors to the history of the Methodist movement and their contributions to Philadelphia. What stood out most to me is how one of its members in the early 1900s, Anna Jarvis, started Mother's Day. Originally, the holiday was meant to honor the mothers of this nation and she very much dis-liked how Hallmark made it a commercial holiday. At least she can rest in peace knowing how all Americans still celebrate this holiday.

For the church itself (which isn't air conditioned by the way for those of you thinking on visiting on a 100 degree day!), you'll see excellent craftsmanship and it is quite impressive.


Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Penn's Landing

Philadelphia is largely considered the "Birthplace of America", which always makes the 4th of July weekend a special holiday for this city. Beyond the obvious fireworks celebrations, what we enjoyed most was the All-You-Can-Eat Ice Cream celebration on Penn's Landing.

Located right next to the Independence Seaport Museum, for $5 you were able to get all the ice cream and ices your stomach could handle. And even better yet, your money goes straight to the Joshua Kahan Fund to help fight pediatric Leukemia.


Penn's Landing offers a gorgeous view of the Delaware River where you can see the Camden Waterfront.  This is a must-visit view for anyone coming to Philadelphia.


Also in this area, you can find one of the city's 20 Philly Phanatics at the entrance to the Independence Seaport Museum.


In this area are also various memorials.  Unfortunately, due to the heat wave currently hitting Philly, we were only able to see a small portion of Penn's Landing.  The first memorial we went to was built in 1992 for Christopher Columbus celebrating 500 years since he "discovered" America.  It's an impressive looking monument located right outside Penn's Landing's Hyatt.


The last memorial we saw was the Korean War Veterans Memorial.  This beautiful little pavilion commemorates the American soldiers who gave their lives during this bloody conflict.  I'd definitely recommend this for anyone who has any connection to this War's history.


Monday, July 5, 2010

Unlimited Ice Cream!

Today in Philly is the last day of the Super Scooper All-You-Can-Eat Ice Cream Festival.  It's located at Penn's Landing, right by Walnut Street.  For $5, you get to eat all the ice cream you can handle!  And you can be rest assured that your $5 is going to the worthy cause to fight pediatric Leukemia.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Lititz, PA

We found ourselves this past Saturday driving out to Lititz, PA in Pennsylvania Dutch Country to visit a few places. On the way though, we stopped at a Smorgasbord in East Earl, PA called Shady Maple.  The breakfast buffet here was phenomenal!  Basically, every type of breakfast food, with every variation you can imagine, was offered here, including a bar that would customize your pancakes and omelettes.  This is a must-stop location for anyone visiting this general vicinity.


After this, we continued on to the town of Lititz.  Our first stop here on Main Street was at the Lititz Historical Museum.  In the first building you see here, you can learn about the history of the town from it's inception in the early 1700's.  Various artifacts remain from the early days, and it should be noted many of today's residents can trace their heritage all the way back to the first century of the town's founding.


After this, you can go on a guided tour for $5 at the Johannes Mueller house next door.  This house, build in 1792, is a typical representation of what Lititz, and early PA Dutch Country, was like during this time period. Your tour guide will give you a detailed account of each room, along with all of the objects in it and give you a very thorough understanding of the historical significance of each discussion point.  I must say that this tour was a pleasant surprise on our trip.

After this, one block down is the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery.  Here is where the first hard pretzel was invented.  For a small fee of $3, you can get a tour showing you how both soft and hard pretzels are made, see the ovens, and also their new automatic pretzel making machine.  You even get shown how to properly fold pretzel dough into the standard pretzel shape.  Definitely a fun experience for people of all ages!







To complete our trip to Lititz, we then made the short drive down to Broad Street to view the Wilbur Chocolate Factory.  As soon as you get near the front door, the chocolate aroma just hits you and draws you inside.  They have an extremely large assortment of chocolate related items for purchase.  However, the actual factory view is pretty much non-existent.  They have a "sample showcase" of what it would look like inside the factory, but not much else.  However, if you love chocolate, this is definitely a great place to pick up some for yourself or for presents for others.