Lancaster, PA & the Amish

Monday, April 30, 2007

Today we woke up in Lancaster, PA. It’s a beautiful place; the weather is great at 65-70 degrees, some clouds, scenic farmland, horse drawn carriages and plows. This is a place where I can relax and unwind. Live here moves at a slower pace, but it is not standing still, except for the Old Order Amish. Their technology clock stopped around 1901.

We stayed at the Silverstone Inn, an awesome bed and breakfast farmhouse owned by Toni and Lorin Wortel (http://www.silverstoneinn.com 877-290-6987). It was a completely run down 10.5 acre farm built around 1750. The Wortel’s absolutely and completely remodeled it with beautiful materials and attention to detail. It has private baths, hairdryers, Jacuzzi’s, fireplaces, individual A/C, TV, DVD, phone with data port and free Wireless internet access. It is luxury in the middle of farmland and even the toilet roll holders were upscale design fixtures.

The cost of remodeling was obviously more than they paid for the farm, and they are still close to the city, right off Highway 30. Dianne and I walked to dinner and the nearby Target store the previous night. This morning our master chef, Toni, made some sort of crepes for our breakfast.

This is the second B&B for Toni and Lorin after retiring from regular business occupations. Lorin is from the Lancaster area and met Toni when he was working as an engineer on a cruise ship. I don’t usually enjoy engineers; you know the type – you ask what time it is and they tell you how the watch was made, but you never find out what time it is. Toni was not only our chef, but a very knowledgeable and personable host as well. I wouldn’t think of staying anywhere else if I were within 100 miles of the Silverstone Inn.

While touring the area I learned there are over 22 different Amish sects from the Plain to the Mennonites. The Old Order Amish do not permit electricity or phones in their homes and also speak a Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. I was told the Mennonites use electricity. Toni gave us great suggestions on where to go to see the real Amish life, not some tourist re-creation.

We went to a general store run by an Amish family and where the Amish shop. I found it fascinating and purchased all sorts of little sewing items I needed. I probably could have purchased them at any fabric store, but I didn’t realize I needed them until I saw them there. All the supplies for the Amish were here from lantern wicks to plain dishware and spiritual books. God comes first and everything else comes after that. That is one of the reasons for the simple, plain life. They believe the worldly things can prevent them from being close to God.

I also purchased some toys I had not seen since I was a child; black and white Scottie dogs with magnets on the bottom. They dogs will attract and repel each other, or follow each other around when separated by a piece of glass or paper. These will be gifts for my children until my grandchildren can play with them without eating them.

Our next stop was an antique shop that was unlike anything I’ve seen before. It had all sorts of farm implements and items that might be 100 years old, but still in use today by the Amish. (Strasburg Antique Market, 717-687-5624)

We continue our tour through the Amish farmland, visit an Amish farm and check on one of the tourist traps. The easy way to tell if the Amish are willing to have tourists is to see if they have a sign out on the road like: “Homemade root beer. Turn here.” Well, we did that and got some other treats as well.

By now it’s 3 pm and we’re ready for lunch. The crepes for breakfast held us for 6 hours before we got hungry again. Toni suggested we try Dienner’s for real Amish food. It was plain, hearty food; chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, very well steamed vegetables and plain tasting. I loved it and Dianne hated it. We both agreed the variety of deserts were plentiful and great tasting.

Rennie