Lancaster County & Amish Folk

We have two days in Lancaster and two primary goals. First is to see the Harley Davidson factory in York. Because today is Sunday, that is not possible. The other is to see some Amish people as there is a large population in the area. Sunday is church day. Might we be out of luck?

We started by sleeping in and left the hotel around 10am. Very lazy but we still are not over the jet lag and yesterday's drive was tiring. We start with some clothes shopping at nearby outlet malls, then decide to grab lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. By the time that's over with it's already 1pm.

I had planned a driving route which people on Trip Advisor said "if you drive this route, you are pretty much guaranteed to see Amish people". The route is only supposed to take about an hour to drive. For us, it took nearly three hours. Why? So many Amish people!

Only minutes out of town, we get our first encounter. A horse drawn buggy on the road. We had to slow down and wait to pass. All roads in this area are somewhat narrow and double-yellow no passing lanes which makes it interesting. A perfect excuse to sit behind them and admire their buggy.

Then we see more. And more. Sometimes 3 or 4 horse drawn buggies within eyesight at once. All seem to be going in different directions and some taking different side roads.

It is disrespectful to take photos of them, especially if their faces are able to be identified in the photos, so we were very discrete and usually photographed from behind or side.

The horses, buggies and gear are all immaculate and most impressive. The people themselves are just as you expect them to be. Many will wave as they pass you as long as it's clear you aren't taking photos. The buggies are very small and often have a number of people jammed into them. One we saw had little girls looking out the back window with their bonnets on, very cute!

The rolling countryside is beautiful, like driving through a postcard, with large silos on almost every farm. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

We also spent some time at Intercourse, PA, where Helen spent most of her time looking through the windows of quilt shops and watching the numerous buggies roll by. It was a great spot to watch buggies come and go.  Here is a video of a drive through the main town.


Tomorrow we are off to Harley Davidson. Should be interesting.