Lancaster County, PA

For those of you who have traveled in this direction (or who watch the history channel) you know that Lancaster County is Amish and Memnonite country. After the hustle and bustle of NYC, this area is a breath of fresh air - literally.

Yesterday we took a trip to Hershey, PA over on the west side of the county.

I was surprised at how long kisses have been around.

They have a wonderful FREE exhibit that takes you "inside" the candy making process via animation and an amusement park type of ride. There were times when I felt like Willy Wonka!

When the ride was over, the serious shopping and tasting began. Yes, we now have Hershey chocolate bars in a storage cabinet - good thing we drank up the wine we were storing there before. Great Day!

Today the B's took a trip to Philadelphia and Mike and I decided to explore the countryside. We started by having breakfast in a local cafe; 2 eggs, homefried potatoes, toast and "scrapple" for $2.95. Scrapple is a local breakfast favorite and reminded both of us of "wurst" we had when

we were younger. I remember dad getting it at Nerstrand meat market and mom not liking it. Both of us remember it being in a casing but this was not. It was very good!

After breakfast we headed north and east on the backroads of Lancaster County to see what we could see. There was substantial production of tobacco and that surprised us. Yesterday we had seen it hanging in barns and today we saw a fellow involved in harvest. Who knew they made "shocks" of tobacco like they did with corn years ago before tractors.

Buggys are not quite as common as cars but you still see a fair number of them.

We stopped at one roadside stand and I spotted these wreaths. Since I don't have a stable door on which to hang one, I had to pass it up and just took a picture instead.

There are many covered bridges in the county and Mike and I discovered a few of them today. Several spanned the Conestoga River.

These are some of the hard working people we saw today.

Can you see what this gent was doing today?

We stopped and talked for abit with Benjamin Franklin, a man who turns 89 on Saturday who was helping out at the Amish/Mennonite information area. He lives just three miles from where the tragic school shooting took place 5 years ago. He shared with us that 4 of the 5 who were injured are making good recovery and that one young girl has severe brain damage. In addition to the 5 injured, there were 5 who died. In addition to this topic, we talked about faith and he was interested in knowing if we attended church when we were on the road. He was a fruit farmer for all his life until he retired a couple of years ago. We enjoyed our visit with him.

Tonight a mother and daughter came around the campers in the park selling baked goods. I bought a shoo fly pie because the area is known for them and we all sampled it and agreed it was very tasty albeit more like a cake than a pie. When we were out and about today, we stopped at an Amish grocery and bought bulk jello, homemade noodles and jam so we are going away with full cupboards.

Tomorrow we head to Atlantic City for the weekend.

P.S. Aren't you proud of me... I didn't even mention that we enjoyed Intercourse, or found Paradise disappointing or got lost by Blue Ball and I didn't say a word about Bird-in-Hand... yes, these are all names of towns in Lancaster County.

The Signs of New York City

Everywhere you go in NYC, there are signs of 9/11. Whether it be a memorial or rebuilding, there are signs. This sculpture sat outside the twin towers and is now a memorial in a park in lower Manhattan. There is an eternal flame that burns in front of it.

One of our tour guides told us that on September 11, 2001, people seeking to escape the World Trade Center area ran to the lower Manhattan area. Emergency calls went out to boats of all sizes to come and help transport. Over 500,000 people were transported away from the Manhattan Island in 6 hours. It was the largest evacuation of people in the history of the world.

This Wall of Tiles went up as a memorial shortly after the day of devastation. It has not been changed and is not "spotlighted" in any way - it just is.


In nearly every picture of the skyline, you see the building with the cranes on top of "One World Trade Center", the building that will be the highest of all the buildings being erected on the site of the twin towers. This building is now only half finished so you can imagine the size when it is completed. The need to rebuild and "make it big" is a sign that New York in no way feels defeated. Flags are everywhere - a continuing sign of strength.

This church is world famous. It is a true sign of God's love and caring for all his people. It received no damage during 9/11 and only one tree on the grounds was destroyed. It is only blocks from "ground zero".

You see the World Trade Center in the background.

During the days that followed the terrorist attack, this church was used as a respite for the rescue workers and clean up crews. And it was used by family members of those missing. Today, it is a religious stronghold in the neighborhood and it holds signs of those times 10 years ago.

This make shift altar is covered with pictures of people who died on 9/11.

The pipes of the organ is dwarfed by the flags and signs of support present in the church.

This site is close-by and it is filled with memorial signs. This one was made by an iron worker and shows the important parts of the old skyline. Moving away from the ground zero site, there are the signs you would expect from New York City.

The world's largest button in the fashion district.

A street corner band in Times Square.

The ball that drops at midnight looks much smaller from the backside.

It still is a pretty cool sign of the city.
The flags flying in front of the United Nations building is a sign that the group is in session.
You don't see sunset, but you know the day is drawing to a close when you see the reflections growing bigger in the neighboring skyscraper.
And it is a sure sign when the lights come on in the Chrysler building.
These two signs are from Ellis Island museum and they refer to the Immigration that was happening in the late 1890's... there are those that feel the same way today...


Then there are ... just plain signs...

First you see the sculpture in the picture below, but look again and see the water tank on top of the building behind - since the big fires in the 1800's, any building over 6 stories must have a water tower on the roof - really.

The best sign of the city and the one the world recognizes.

OK, enough about New York City. It is a great place to visit and I definitely would not want to live there!