After my disappointment at Hershey, I wanted to avoid the artificial and get back to the real world, so I turned east and drove into Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch country.  It’s beautiful, green, and peaceful here, with horse drawn buggies on the roads and lovely farmland all around.

I hesitate to say too much about the Amish residents here, as I know very little about their community and can only repeat what I’ve heard, but they are an interesting subculture in the US, so I would encourage you to research them further if they interest you.  I do know that they’re descended from German settlers that came here for the religious freedom offered by William Penn in the 18th and 19th centuries.  The term Pennsylvania Dutch refers to the form of German, or Deutsch, that they still speak, and they have no association with the Netherlands.  To them, those of us not belonging to their community are “English,” from whom they have chosen to keep separate.

Because I wasn’t thinking, I ended up arriving in Lancaster, PA on Sunday, which, being a day of rest, meant that none of the truly Amish run businesses were open.  I wanted to see and learn about some of the local area though, so I stopped at Ed’s Buggy Rides in Ronks for a tour.  They decided to put me in with a family group that was arriving shortly, so in the mean time I sat down to chat with a couple of ladies there, one of whom was Meisa, who would be our driver.

Meisa describes herself as an artist and a horse lover.  Because of her unusual name, I found it quite easy to find her web site, and since she claims to have aspirations of becoming an internet sensation, I hope she won’t mind me sharing it here!  Check her out at http://www.meisachase.com/.  She had been leading mule treks in the Grand Canyon, but found the off-season life there difficult and expensive, so decided to come back east.  We talked about politics, horses, Australia, and life in general until the expected group arrived, and we all climbed in the wagon, with Meisa and I sitting up front.  As we drove along she told us all about the farms and crops around us, the history of the Amish community, and some of their customs.

 

The horses seemed to be a good steady team of Standardbreds, except that Charlie (left) kept trying to bite Randy (right), and they got up a nice canter to get us up a hill.  Meisa told me she was sorry that she wasn’t allowed to let me take a turn at driving, because she could see that I would have loved to take the reins again, but honestly I haven’t driven a team in years, so it’s probably just as well!

 

Among other things, on the tour I learned that not all of the Amish in the area are going into farming, as new land has gotten very expensive, so some of the new generation are going into trades.  They receive education to the eighth grade level, but are also taught practical skills around the home and on the farm from a young age.  When they’re young adults, and before they’re baptised into the Amish faith, they’re given the opportunity to try life in the English world in what they call rumspringa, which means “running around,” when they can live in the modern world, own smart phones, and see how the outside world lives.  I’m told that, at the moment, about 80% of them chose to return to the community and be baptised into the Amish faith, although that number fluctuates, and has sometimes been as low as 60%.  Also, as I understand it, they do use technology, but adopt it slowly, and only as it will truly benefit them and not cause harm.  For example, they still use horse drawn farm equipment, but also use gas powered weed trimmers instead of a sickle.  I won’t try to repeat to you all of the details that Meisa told us about the Amish and the area, because I’m sure that I would get many of them wrong, but it was a very interesting and enjoyable trip, so I can recommend taking a tour with Ed’s Buggy Rides!  The slow conveyance was a lovely and relaxing way to see the countryside around us too.

 

I camped early for the night, about half way between the towns of Intercourse and Fertility (alas, I camped alone…), and enjoyed the sight and sound of Amish buggies passing on the road, taking people to and from services and visiting.  All of a sudden a man and his small son rode into my camp site, and they seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see them!  The man and I both laughed and said hello to each other, and they rode on.  It’s not generally polite to take pictures of the locals, but these two were so picturesque, and the little boy on his pony was so cute, that I admit that I snuck just one picture as they rode away.

I had always thought that the Amish didn’t acknowledge we English much, but everywhere I came across them, whether on the buggy ride, in my own car, or with the man on the horse, they were happy to exchange a nod and a wave, leaving me with a general sense of them as a warm and welcoming community.

The next morning I rose early, and actually found an excellent cappuccino in an artisan bakery nearby, then spent the morning visiting shops that sold Amish crafts, including some traditional bed quilts, home made jams, and breads.  Rather unfortunately, I thought, there were also a number of shops run by non-Amish that capitalized on the local culture — but luckily these were in the minority.

 

In the early afternoon I got on the road again, spending much of the afternoon following the Susquehanna River north through the hills of Pennsylvania and into New York State.  The abundance of dairy cows, corn, and rolling hills were enough to tell me that I was approaching my native territory, and over the next few days I hope to explore the area where I spent my early life, but perhaps now with a new perspective.