Things To Do in Lancaster County

Lancaster

While Lancaster (pronounced "lank-uh-stir") is still the most important city in the region, it hit its peak in the Colonial era and as an early-20th-century urban beehive; this is reflected in the architecture and attractions. The basic street grid layout, copied from Philadelphia's, centers at Penn Square: the intersection of King (east-west) and Queen (north-south) streets. You won't see too many Plain People venturing into town anymore, since they can buy provisions and equipment more easily at regional stores, but they still sell at the bustling Central Market. Erected just off Penn Square in 1889 but operating since the 1730s, this is the nation's oldest continuously operated farmers' market, with more than 80 stalls. You can savor and purchase regional produce and foods, from sweet bologna and scrapple to breads, cheeses, egg noodles, shoofly pie (a concoction of molasses and sweet dough), and schnitzel or dried apple. The market is open Tuesday and Friday from 6am to 4pm and Saturday from 6am to 2pm.

Beside the market is the Heritage Center Museum in the old City Hall, with a collection of Lancaster County crafts and historical artifacts. Its new self-guided Family Walking Tour puts an entertaining spin on local history. The museum is free (donations are encouraged) and open Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4pm, Saturday 9am to 3pm, and Sunday 10am to 3pm. The nearby Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum, a colorful collection housed in a magnificent 1912 Beaux Arts bank building, has recently expanded and is open Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, 9am to 4pm, Wednesday and Thursday 10am to 4pm, and is closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students, and free for ages 17 and under. The Heritage Center of Lancaster County (tel. 717/299-6440; www.lancasterheritage.com) operates both museums. Less than 2 miles west is Wheatland, 1120 Marietta Ave., Route 23 (tel. 717/392-8721; www.lancasterhistory.org), the gracious Federal mansion and gardens of the 15th U.S. president, James Buchanan. It features costumed guides and is open April through October, Monday through Saturday 10am to 3pm; open select days in November and December (call for hours). Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, $6 for students, and $3 for children 6 to 11.

Four miles south of town near Willow Street rests the 1719 Hans Herr House, 1849 Hans Herr Dr., off Route 222 (tel. 717/464-4438; www.hansherr.org), the oldest building in the county, restored and furnished to illustrate early Mennonite life, with a historic orchard and outdoor exhibit of agricultural tools. You can visit from April to November, Monday through Saturday from 9am to 4pm; admission, including a tour, is $5 for adults and $2 for children 7 to 12.

The eastern side of town explodes with a commercialized welter of faux Amish attractions and amusements like Dutch Wonderland and Running Pump Mini-Golf, fast-food restaurants, and outlet stores on Route 30. The Amish Farm and House, 2395 Lincoln Hwy. (tel. 717/394-6185; www.amishfarmandhouse.com), offers guided tours of a historical 10-room Amish house, a new one-room schoolhouse, farm buildings with live animals, and exhibits including a water wheel outside. It's open daily January through March, 10am to 4pm; April to May and September to October, 9am to 5pm; June to August, 8:30am to 6pm, and November to December 9am to 4pm. Admission is $8.25 for adults, $7.50 for seniors, and $5.25 for children 5 to 11. Don't be put off by its odd location, sandwiched between a Target and a strip mall: This worthwhile attraction epitomizes the survival of old ways amid rampant development.

Intercourse

Intercourse's suggestive name refers to the intersection of two old highways, the King's Highway (now Rte. 340 or Old Philadelphia Pike) and Newport Road (now Rte. 772). The Conestoga wagons invented a few miles south -- unusually broad and deep wagons that became famous for transporting homesteaders all the way west to the Pacific Coast -- were used on the King's Highway.

The town, in the midst of the wedge of country east of Lancaster, is a center of Amish life in the county. There are about as many commercial attractions, which range from the schlocky to good quality, as there are places of genuine interest along Route 340. Of the commercial sites, try Kitchen Kettle Village, on Old Philadelphia Pike, Route 340 (tel. 800/732-3538 or 717/768-8261; www.kitchenkettle.com), with more than 40 stores selling quilts, crafts, and homemade edibles, grouped around Pat and Bob Burnley's 1954 jam and relish kitchen. Their Lapp Valley Farms ice-cream store, with 16 all-natural flavors, is much more convenient than the original farm stand near New Holland. Buggy rides are available and festivals are held throughout the year. Comfortable rooms and suites are scattered in different buildings around the village.

Ephrata

Ephrata, near exit 21 off I-76 northeast of Lancaster, combines a historic 18th-century Moravian religious site with a pleasant country landscape and the area's largest farmers' market and auction center. Ephrata Cloister, 632 W. Main St. (tel. 717/733-6600; www.ephratacloister.org), near the junction of Route 272 and Route 322, housed one of America's earliest communal societies, which was known for its fraktur -- an ornate, medieval German lettering you'll see on inscribed pottery and official documents. Nine austere wooden 18th-century buildings (put together without nails) remain in a grassy park setting. The cloister is open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm May through October; March, April, November, and December, Wednesday through Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday noon to 5pm. Admission is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $6 for children 3 to 11.

The main street of Ephrata is pleasant for strolling and features an old rail car on the place where the train line used to run. On North State Street, 4 miles north of town, is the wonderful Green Dragon Market & Auction (tel. 717/738-1117; www.greendragonmarket.com), open Friday from 9am to 9pm (except Fri in Jan and Feb, 9am-8pm). Walk through seven market buildings, with over 400 local growers, merchants, and artisans; there's even an auction house on-site for hay, household goods, and small animals. A flea market and arcade have sprung up outdoors, with plenty of cotton candy, clams on the half shell, and fresh corn.

Lititz 

Founded in 1756, this town, 6 miles north of Lancaster on Route 501, is one of the state's most charming. The cottage facades (now packed with wonderful shops and cafes) along East Main Street (Rte. 772) haven't changed much in the past 2 centuries. One interesting sight is the Linden Hall Academy, founded in 1794 as the first school for girls in the United States. There are several Revolutionary War-era churches and buildings on the grounds of the school. Across the street is the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, 219 E. Main St. (tel. 717/626-4354; www.juliussturgis.com). Founded in 1861, the oldest such bakery in the country launched Lititz's reputation as "the Pretzel Town." An entertaining 20-minute guided tour lets you try your hand at rolling and twisting dough, and see the original ovens and bake shop. Tours, $3 for adults, $2 for ages 4 to 12, are offered Monday through Saturday, 9:30am to 4:30pm (reduced hours Jan to mid-Mar). Stock up on assorted goodies in the gift shop. Down the street, the Lititz Museum at 145 E. Main St. (tel. 717/627-4636; www.lititzhistoricalfoundation.com) has permanent collections tracing the history of the town, and currently features an amazing exhibition of vintage toys. Hours are 10am to 4pm Monday through Saturday, Memorial Day through October; and select weekends in May, November, and December. Donations are accepted. Even if you don't have time for a meal, at least make a quick stop at the terrific, organic-focused Café Chocolate at 40 E. Main St. (tel. 717/626-0123; www.chocolatelititz.com) for a decadent dessert or a "Turbo" (classic hot chocolate plus a shot of espresso) to go.

At the junction of Route 501 and Main Street is Wilbur Chocolate Company's Candy Americana Museum & Store, 48 N. Broad St. (tel. 888/294-5287 or 717/626-3249; www.wilburbuds.com). Famous for its "Wilbur buds" (bite-size chocolates that preceded the foil-wrapped Hershey Kiss), the factory provides a delightful nostalgic peek at the process and history of chocolate making, with samples, plus a store selling cooking or gift chocolate in a turn-of-the-20th-century atmosphere. Next door is the Lititz Springs Park, with a lovely duck-filled brook flowing from the 1756 spring, and the historic General Sutter Inn.

Strasburg

This little town, named by French Huguenots, is southeast of Lancaster on Route 896 and is a paradise for rail buffs. Until the invention of the auto, railroads were the major mode of fast transport, and Pennsylvania was a leader in building and servicing thousands of engines. The Strasburg Rail Road (tel. 717/687-7522; www.strasburgrailroad.com) winds over 9 miles of preserved track from Strasburg to Paradise and back, as it has since 1832; wooden coaches and a Victorian parlor car are pulled by an iron steam locomotive. The railroad head is on Route 741 east of town and is open daily from mid-March to November, weekends in December, December 26 to December 31, and on weekends starting in mid-February to mid-March. Fares for 2011 start at $14 for adults, $7.50 children ages 3 to 11, and free for children under age 3; prices vary for the numerous special events and tours. Other attractions include the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (tel. 717/687-8628; www.rrmuseumpa.org), displaying dozens of stationary engines right across from the Strasburg Rail Road; the National Toy Train Museum (tel. 717/687-8976; www.nttmuseum.org) on Paradise Lane off Route 741, one of the world's largest and most prestigious such collections, featuring five huge push-button operating layouts; and Choo Choo Barn-Traintown USA (tel. 717/687-7911; www.choochoobarn.com), a 1,700-square-foot miniature Amish Country landscape filled with animated trains and figures, which enact activities such as parades and circuses; an authorized Thomas Trackside Station store is a bonus. If you eat and sleep trains, then the Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant (tel. 888/687-5005; www.redcaboosemotel.com), with its refurbished 25-ton caboose rooms and 80-ton P-70 coach dining car, offers lodgings that are right on track.

The Bridges of Lancaster County

Pennsylvania is the birthplace of the covered bridge, with some 1,500 built between the 1820s and 1900. Today, 217 bridges remain, mostly on small country roads, and you can actually drive (slowly!) through most of them. Lancaster County has the largest concentration, with 29, including one on the way to Paradise, a village east of Lancaster city. Bridges were covered to protect the trusses from the weather. Does kissing inside one bring good luck? The only way to find out is to try: Their one-lane width allows for a certain amount of privacy. The Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau map indicates all covered bridge locations. Five driving tours are listed on their website; call tel. 800/PA-DUTCH (723-8824) or visit www.padutchcountry.com for more information. The following bridges are interesting and easy to find:

• Hunsecker's Mill Bridge: This is the largest covered bridge in the county, built in 1975 to replace the original, which was washed away in Hurricane Agnes. From Lancaster, drive 5 miles north on Route 272. After you pass Landis Valley Farm Museum, turn right on Hunsecker Road and drive 2 miles.

• Eshleman's Mill/Paradise Bridge: This bridge is in the midst of Amish cornfields and farms. An oversize truck put it out of commission in the 1980s, but it has been restored. Drive north 1 mile on Belmont Road from Route 30, just east of the center of Paradise.

• Kauffman's Distillery Bridge: Drive west on Route 772 from Manheim, and make a left onto West Sunhill Road. The bridge will be in front of you, along with horses grazing nearby.

There are many reasons to keep your credit card handy in Lancaster County. Quilts and other craft products unique to the area are sold in dozens of small stores and out of individual farms, but keep cash or checks on hand for some Amish merchants. The thrifty Pennsylvania Dutch have saved old furniture and objects in their barns and attics for 300 years, so antiquing is plentiful here. Fine pieces tend to migrate toward New Hope and Bucks County for resale, where you compete directly with dealers at the many fairs and shows. If antiques aren't your bag, numerous outlet centers provide name-brand items at discounts of 30% to 70% along Route 30 east of Lancaster and in Reading.

Shopping Like the Amish

For an authentic Amish shopping experience that provides remarkable insights into everyday lives, stop by Fisher's Houseware & Fabric, on Route 372 near Georgetown (tel. 717/786-8121). You'll park next to the buggies of locals buying essentials like fabrics, toys, books, snacks, clothespins, and glassware "fancies" in this wonderful general store (no credit cards accepted). Prices are extremely reasonable and the dishware and cookware selections are great.

Antiques

Two miles east of exit 286 off I-76, Route 272, is Adamstown, self-proclaimed "Antiques Capital U.S.A." (www.antiquescapital.com). It's the undisputed local center of Sunday fairs, with numerous competitors within 5 miles. The largest are Stoudt's Black Angus Antique Mall and Renninger's Antique and Collectors Market, both with more than 300 indoor dealers and hundreds more outdoors; seasonal Shupp's Grove is smaller and mostly outdoors.

Farmers' Markets

Most farmers' markets in Lancaster County today are shedlike buildings with stalls at which local farmers, butchers, and bakers vend their produce, eggs, cheese, baked goods, and meat products like sausage and scrapple. Since farmers can only afford to get away once or twice a week (to sell at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal, for example), more commercial markets supplement the local goods with stalls selling everything from deerskin to souvenirs. The low-ceilinged, air-conditioned commercial markets lack the flavor of, say, Central Market in Lancaster, with its swirling fans and 1860 tiles, or Friday at Green Dragon Market & Auction, on North State Street in Ephrata.

A notable contemporary market is the Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market on Route 340 (tel. 717/393-9674; www.birdinhandfarmersmarket.com). It's open from 8:30am to 5:30pm Friday and Saturday year-round, plus Wednesday and Thursday in season. Root's Country Market and Auction, just south of Manheim on Route 72 (tel. 717/898-7811; www.rootsmarket.com), is a very complete market on Tuesday, open April to October 9am to 9pm and November to March 9am to 8pm. The historic riverside Columbia Market at 308 Locust St. in Columbia (tel. 717/684-5767) operates on Thursday from 9am to 7pm and Friday from 9am to 6pm.

Among the treats at the dozens of roadside stands that you'll pass, try the homemade root beer, ice cream, whoopee pies, and other local delicacies at Countryside Road-Stand at 2966 Stumptown Rd. near Ronks (tel. 717/656-9206), open 8am to 8pm Monday through Saturday. Take a right turn from Route 772 heading west out of Intercourse and follow Stumptown for 1/2 mile. Fisher's Produce, on Route 741 in Paradise, between Strasburg and Gap (tel. 717/442-3078), sells delicious baked goods and wonderful seasonal produce.

Outlet Centers

With over 100 stores, Rockvale Outlets, Route 30 E. at the intersection with Route 896 (tel. 717/293-9595; www.rockvalesquareoutlets.com), is Lancaster's largest outlet mall, and includes a hotel, six restaurants, and courtesy shuttle service on its grounds. Brand names like Merrell, Bose, and Lenox are represented. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 9:30am to 9pm and Sunday from 11am to 5pm. The 60-plus store Tanger Outlet Center, 2200 Lincoln Hwy. E. (tel. 800/408-3477 or 717/392-7260; www.tangeroutlet.com), has shops like Coach, Fossil, and Kenneth Cole, and is slightly closer to Lancaster and more compact. Tanger is open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 9pm and Sunday from 10am to 6pm.

Home Furnishings Outlet, on Route 10 S. in Morgantown at the junction of exit 298 off the Pennsylvania Turnpike (tel. 610/286-2000), has 18 furniture stores, including Natuzzi Leather, and is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 9pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm. A Holiday Inn is attached to the property.

I have neither the space nor the adjectives to fully describe the original "Outlet Capital of the World" in Reading, housed mainly in former textile mills along the Schuylkill. Some three million shoppers are drawn here annually to over 100 separate outlet stores offering name brands like OshKosh, Liz Claiborne, and Reebok. It's 30 minutes from Lancaster or 75 from Philadelphia, via I-76 to I-176 north to Route 422. The largest destination is VF Outlet Center, 801 Hill Ave. (tel. 800/772-8336 or 610/378-0408; www.vffo.com), just west of the city.

Quilts

Quilts occupy a special place in Lancaster County life. Quilting can be a time for fun and socializing, but it also affords an opportunity for young girls to learn the values and expectations of Amish life from their elders. German immigrant women started the tradition of reworking strips of used fabric into an ever-expanding series of pleasant, folkloric designs. Popular patterns include Wedding Ring, with interlocking sets of four circles; the eight-pointed Lone Star radiating out with bursts of colors; Sunshine and Shadow, virtuoso displays of diamonded color; and herringbone Log Cabin, squares with multicolored strips. Contemporary quilters have added free-form designs to these traditional patterns.

Color palettes and designs of quilts created for retail sale have a different sensibility from Amish-intended quilts. Amish women select patterns using careful calculations, based on the availability of gem-toned fabrics in green, red, blue, and purple left over from dressmaking, usually with a border or background of black (which can result in a single, oddly mismatched patch when a certain material runs out). They would never dream of buying whole fabric simply to express creativity or to capture an artistic impression of a spider web or a sunset. Extravagant "English" custom orders may be accompanied by a brief lecture on Amish thriftiness, in hopes that these frugal Amish values might "rub off" a bit.

The quilting process is laborious and technically astounding -- involving choosing, cutting, and affixing thousands of pieces of fabric, then filling in the design with intricate needlework patterns on the white "ground" that holds the layers of the quilt together. Interestingly, though all quilts require a great deal of sewing by hand, the Amish have used sewing machines (usually treadle, though sometimes powered by air compressors) since their introduction in the 1800s for quilt backings. Within communities, a sort of "assembly line" often exists among farmhouses, in which one woman is skilled at cutting fabric, another at piecing, another at batting or backing the finished quilt top. Expect to pay at least $700 for a good-quality quilt and $25 and up for runners, bags, and throw pillows.

The Old Country Store (tel. 800/828-8218 or 717/768-7101; www.theoldcountrystore.com) in Intercourse has a knowledgeable sales staff and an excellent inventory of quilts, plus crafts, fabrics, and books. On the second floor, their dazzling People's Place Quilt Museum (www.ppquiltmuseum.com) provides an excellent overview of this art form, free of charge. The Quilt Shop at Miller's, located at the famed smorgasbord on Route 30 1 mile east of Route 896 (tel. 717/687-8439; www.millerssmorgasbord.com), has hundreds of handmade examples from local artisans, and is open daily. Demonstrations are offered from 2 to 4pm on weekends. Emma Witmer's mother was one of the first women to hang out a shingle to sell quilts 30 years ago, and she continues the business with more than 100 patterns at Witmer Quilt Shop, 1070 W. Main St. in New Holland (tel. 717/656-9526). The shop is open from 8am to 6pm Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday and from 8am to 8pm Monday and Friday.

The county's back roads are dotted with simple signs indicating places where quilts are sold; prices are slightly lower, though choices are more limited. Hannah Stoltzfoos Quilts & Handmades offers a good selection, plus custom work, at her home on 216 Witmer Rd. (tel. 717/392-4524), just south of Route 340 near Smoketown. Katie Stoltzfuz operates Country Lane Quilts at 221 S. Groffdale Rd. in Leola (tel. 717/656-8476).

Other Crafts

Amish and Mennonites have created their own baskets, dolls, furniture, pillows, toys, wall hangings, and hex designs for centuries, and tourism has led to a healthy growth in production. Much of this output is channeled into the stores lining Route 340 in Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand, such as the Amish-owned Quilt and Fabric Shack, 3137 Old Philadelphia Pike (tel. 717/768-0338). The Weathervane Shop at Landis Valley Museum has a fine collection of work from tin and pottery to caned chairs, produced by its own craftspeople. Find traditionally crafted salt-glazed stoneware and redware at Eldreth Pottery in Oxford (tel. 888/811-4313; www.eldrethpottery.com). On the contemporary side, the Pennsylvania Arts Experience (tel. 717/917-1630; www.paartsexperience.com) helps serious collectors connect with the many fine artists and artisans of the Susquehanna Valley Artist Trail.