Thursday

I will suspend the disecting of my recent Hawaiian trip because my family and I had a very good time and I just have to write about it.

Foe a while my wife wanted to go and see the Amish in their natural habitats but we just never got to it.  Last night at the spur of the moment we decided that today we would drive to Amish country and see them.

Up early and drive a little more than three hours and we were in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The places we were at were Bird in the Hand and Intercourse. Yes, Intercourse, PA.

For us the area is just out of a storybook. Rolling, rich farmlands, calm environment. Amish people moving around on horse drawn buggies of different sizes, people working in the fields with horses and mules and many more things.

We took a one hour buggy ride that included visiting an Amish working farm that we enjoyed immensely.

After the buggy ride we went to an Amish restaurant where we had an Amish farm lunch. This was family style serving. Six people sat at a table ad handed the food to each other. The food was great and enormous portions were served up.

After eating we visited a few stores and bought fresh fruits and local wine. Unfortunately all the stores closed at six pm and we were not able to find a nice antique store because of the lateness of the hour. Maybe next time.

These Amish are funny people. They supposed to shun the creations of civilization but when one looks deeper they are all over the place.

Young Amish girls congregated on a corner all drinking Starbuck lattes. On the farm they were milking the cows with milking machines and not by hand even though on the field they are tilling the earth by using horses. On the farm we visited at east one of the farm houses had solar panel on the roof and I am sure there was an air conditioner behind the bushes somewhere.

On the other hand they don't drive except tractors. Still they seem to be very nice people and we had a great time.