Monday, November 29, 2010

A Pennsylvania Dutch Holiday

This year for Thanksgiving we traveled back home to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to spend the holiday with family.



Otis and Riley love a road trip so they were in their glory sitting right up front where they could see everything.



Traveling up Interstate 95 we passed the beautiful clock tower in Richmond, Virginia (below).




We noticed the farther north we got the trees were more bare and the fall color was gone (colder too!).




We had Thanksgiving dinner with hubby's (Galen) family. The table was set for 15 and we enjoyed a Lancaster County feast of pig stomach (a Pennsylvania German meal) and all the trimmings right down to the delicious pumpkin pie.




On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we took a drive to the Amish country and Intercourse where Galen grew up.



I always enjoy seeing the clothes lines full of wash. Evidently this was wash day ~ and a good one too, because it was very windy that day.









Zimmerman's Hardware store where Galen helped with the Saturday auctions behind the store.



Below is the home where Galen lived until graduation. It's now a Bed and Breakfast.




This is the one room school house where Galen attended third and fourth grade.




There happened to be an Amish school that just left out when we were passing by, and below you can see the children walking home, pulling a wagon filled with their lunch boxes and books.



We stopped by an Amish broom shop and I bought a hand made broom. I like the Amish brooms (I think they sweep better) :)



We passed by the Red Caboose Motel (which looks like a fun place to spend the night) ~I've always wanted to but we never did,



and as we waited at the railroad tracks, we saw the Strasburg train filled with tourists and visitors that were at the Strasburg Railroad Museum.



On the way home that day passing through Ronks, this covered bridge looked beautiful as the sun was setting.




We had a great Thanksgiving holiday with family in Pennsylvania, but it's always nice to get home.

10 comments:

La Vie Quotidienne said...

What a nice holiday you had. I have never visited that area...the closest I have been is the Brandywine Valley. It looks so atmospheric and interesting.(-:

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

It looks like a wonderful Thanksgiving! This post brought back memories, Donna. We often visited the Pennsylvania Dutch area when our children were young. They liked to see the farms and the railroad and a little further on Hershey Park.

Sherri said...

Donna, looks like everyone had a great visit to Lancaster and the surrounding area! I have been to that area many times. I have ridden on the Strasburg train and I have been to that hardware store before!

Zuzana said...

Beautiful images, I love that table setting and train.;))
Glad you had a nice trip and a lovely Thanksgiving with your family.
xoxo

Ruth Welter said...

Hi Donna, how beautiful your travel photos are....glad you had a lovely time with your family.

Ruth

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

I love that area of Pennsylvania. Your pictures are wonderful. We spent Thanksgiving with family in Naples, Fl...we headed south on I95.
Hugs,
Penny

Anonymous said...

Looks like a beautiful way to spend Thanksgiving. So glad your holiday was special!

Pat said...

Been there(years ago) but never saw all that you have shown.
I guess Galen knows much about the Amish traditions since he grew up there.
Thanks for the road trip...it was fun.

Sue said...

Hi Donna....what great pictures of your trip back to Amish country..I used to love to visit there when we lived in Jersey and my daughter who lives in Princeton goes often...I did laugh the last time she took pictures while driving through...there were Amish men up ontop of a roof fixing it and in the picture was a big old yellow DeWalt power tool....

jenn said...

wow...looks like such a fun trip, like a trip back in time (amish, seeing where hubby grew up)! but i think i would have had to skip the pig stomach....