Pennsylvania - Again?

You may have noticed I haven't posted lately. The weather has been so beautiful, and well -- we were travelling again. Our friends, Jeff and Jan, moved to the southern part of Pennsylvania when they retired two years ago and we are just getting around to visiting them in their beautiful new town home. Which, by the way, I forgot to take a picture of.

After a very eventful week, we drove down to Lancaster County last Sunday. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to travel. We arrived at lunch time and enjoyed a meal at a local restaurant. Riding in the car with the air conditioning on didn't prepare us for the 90 degree humid weather that greeted us upon our arrival. WOW!!!

The weather was much better on Monday when we drove out to see the sights in and around Lancaster.



Our first stop was a market in Intercourse, Pa. - Hence the picture of Jeff and Jan outside a tee shirt shop. Aren't Americans interesting? We find a way to make money from almost everything. Of course, I wasn't to be left out...



Jim was the only one of the group who showed any class at all. I did find a birthday present for Gretchen and a wedding gift for our friend, Kyle, so you see, not all was tomfoolery.

After our picnic near the market, we went on and did manage to see some of the local Amish going about their daily chores.



This buggy was hitched outside a local harness shop. The Amish prefer not to have their pictures taken so I waited until the man went inside the shop to snap the horse and buggy. We saw lots of buggies on the roads. I was just like a little kid, I was so pleased to see them. We also saw some men harvesting corn with their beautiful work horses. What they were doing was really hard, hard work.

We drove by house after house with laundry drying on the line. Monday really is wash day for them. It made me think I should go back to hanging my wash out.

We stopped at a wonderful bakery for Whoopee Pies and coffee. Of course, we also had to buy some home baked rolls. We had some with our dinner that night. Yum! Yum!

Tuesday, found us taking the train to Philadelphia. I lived in Philadelphia for a year in my erstwhile youth and wanted to show Jim where I had lived and worked. To be honest, I wasn't sure the buildings would even be standing after 40 years, but they were. Can you believe? Jim had never ridden a train.



Not only was my apartment building still there, we had lunch in a neighborhood pub that I was too young to frequent in the old days. Jim said he thought I needed to have a glass of wine to celebrate. I really felt bad telling him it wasn't the alcohol that drew me to that place; it was supposed to be a great place to meet guys! So, he bought me a glass of wine to celebrate that I hadn't met anyone.

We trekked on down through Jeweler's Row to Independance Square and the Liberty Bell.





Jim, a social studies teacher, had never seen the bell. We watched a really informative movie about its origins and history. I'm not really sure why, but Jim ended up carrying my purse. Doesn't he look fetching?

We ended our visit on Wednesday with a delightful breakfast prepared by Jan. By 10:30 we were on our way home by way of Messiah College where we met our friend, Jodie (That is Dr. Jodie) for lunch. It was good to see her and hear about her first teaching position.

We arrived home in time to unpack and fall into bed last night. Travel is fun, but home is where the heart (and our comfy bed) is.

`hippo hugs to all~