Friday, March 14, 2008

Lancaster





The Barefoot Family spent last weekend in the heart of Amish country in Lancaster, Pennsylvannia. Well, it was not just us, but also some of our good friends and family too. It is a yearly tradition and I think this was the eighth year we made the pilgrimage to Lancaster. The Barefoot Princess has been four times including year one in my belly, and The Barefoot Baby has been twice including her belly year. While we are there for three days we first fill almost a whole hotel with our group, then we eat, attend an Amish auction, eat some more, shop, drive around, eat more, visit Amish friends, eat some more, and have lots of laughs! You cannot beat the down home cooking in this part of Pennsylvania. Don't even go there attempting to diet because one look at the homemade pies or whoopie pies and it is all over. The Barefoot Dad tried to propose to a young Amish girl when he bought and tasted a slice of chocolate cream pie!

This year the auction, which is called The Gordonville Mud Sales, was VERY MUDDY to put it mildly. I almost lost The Barefoot Princess in a mud puddle when we were looking at a playhouse in the field. If you are in the market for an Amish made quilt they normally have about 500 if them. If you need a new buggy, they have about 100 of them. If you should need a workhorse to plow your field or a trotter to pull the buggy, they have those too. There were two tents full of antiques and crafts and how could I forget the field full of farm equiptment. Apparently this was the year to buy... because the rain kept the big crowds away and you could get some really good deals.

We only spent a couple hours at the auction, the rain scared us away, I guess, and then we went to The Strasburg Railroad. At the railroad we took a train ride and went through the museum. The Barefoot Princess, who I have previously mentioned is a big Tommy (Thomas the Train) fan thought this was way cool!

After the railroad, in an attempt to get BP to take a nap, we drove to find an Amish man who makes playhouses. (Our friends spotted the playhouse earlier in the day and knew BP's Daddy was in the market for one.) We found the playhouse and the nicest young Amish man who made it and since BP was not sleeping we let her check it out. The playhouse was built better than most houses I have recently looked at with our realtor. It was adorable with a Dutch door, window boxes, shutters and even a little reading loft! We were sold and just have to let the man know what design and size we would like.

Then we were off to visit some Amish friends, Katie and Abie. After a very short visit (Katie's mom who was staying with them was not feeling well) we had a big pizza party back at the motel.

Above are some pictures from the weekend....

3 comments:

allison said...

I love this post. I love reading about your trip to Lancaster. The photos are wonderful! The food sounds delicious, too. I would have swooned over a good chocolate cream pie! I absolutely can barely contain my excitement about seeing the new playhouse! When is it coming? What color? Sounds like a wonderful trip and I think it's great you've kept the tradition going.

Buby + Bleu said...

This sounds amazing! Traditions, big groups, eating and more eating! I totally want to drive down there sometime and check it out. It's exactly the kind of weekend Buby's Daddy would enjoy, too. The chocolate cream pie has my belly growling right now! And I can't wait to see the playhouse. Those ones at Lawrence Farms are so awesome... I'd love one of those.

Julie said...

What a nice trip! And the house sounds amazing! My inlaws went there a few months ago and bought this 'apparatus' that is a high chair when you turn it upright, a rocking horse when you turn it down and a desk when you turn it over. It is amazing! Another place to check out is Penn Yan NY. A lot of mennonite people live there (as well as Chip's sister) and they have a lot of homemade and delicious things. What a different way of life! A fun trip to do there and then do Niagra falls.