Pennsylvania Dutch - Amish Country

Pennsylvania Dutch Amish Country is located in the heart of Pennsylvania outside Lancaster. There are so many things to see and do, and buy, buy, buy.  From Hand Stitch Quilts to Hex Signs to fresh grown Vegetables, the Amish Country has a lot to offer.  Unfortunately, the Amish Country has gotten commercialized a lot since I used to visit as a kid in the 1960s & 1970s, but if you look carefully at the products and ask questions, you still can find genuine Pennsylvania Dutch Amish Crafted goods.  I made a visit to the Bird-In-Hand Farmers Market recently and was surprised to see so much stuff that was "Made in China", but there are still things there that are made locally too.

The Amish Country is very large and it is impossible to see everything in a day or two.  I had a short visit there over this past Thanksgiving weekend and I have provided a few Reviews on a some of the places that I visited.  In Bird-In-Hand you must check out the Bird-In-Hand Farmers Market.  There are plenty of Shops and Farm Fresh Meats and Vegetables.  They also have the Bird-In-Hand Soft Pretzel Company, and many other gift Shops.  A little further down the road is Intercourse, PA.  Down both sides of the street are old houses that have been converted to Shops.  We browsed through several of these old Shops and found them to be very cramped with trinkets galore.  Some of the things are made locally and most are not.  These converted houses are basically junk Shops in my opinion.  A little further down the street is Kitchen Kettle Village - a charming little Dutch Village of Shops where you can buy Homemade Jams & Jellies, Homemade Fudge, Soft Pretzels, Kettle Corn, and several other specialty Shops located throughout the Village.  You can even get a tour by a horse drawn Amish buggy.

If you go to the Amish Country, make sure you eat at one of the Family Style Restaurants.  This is a treat indeed.  Most people mistakenly call this Amish Dining, but it isn't.  Basically they sit you down at a large table with other people and they start bringing food out in large bowls and platters and you pass the food around the table.  We ate at Good 'N Plenty Restaurant in Bird-In-Hand, but there are other Family Style Dining places as well.  Family Style Dining isn't cheap, but you can usually find a coupon in one of the local news magazines like the Amish Country News.  You can pick this up anywhere in Amish Country.

I couldn't possibly see everything on this one day trip, but please note there is Strasburg Rail Road and Dinner Train which is an old train that kids love located over in Strasburg, PA.  Over towards Lancaster is Dutch Wonderland which is a small amusement park.  These are just a few of the things that you can do in Pennsylvania Dutch Amish Country.