Day 9 - Allee

Today we got to sleep in a little bit because we had a “free” morning. After leaving the hotel at 8:30 we headed in to town and visited the Bird-in-Hand farmersmarket where there was everything from fabric to fudge. We explored around for about an hour and then a group of us decided we wanted to go on a buggy tour. After getting to the buggy place we loaded into a cart pulled by two horses named Shooter and Diesel. Our driver was an Amish man who took us on a wonderful tour and taught us all about how the Amish live. We learned about what their schooling is like and what their daily lives may look like. After the ride we went over to another farmers’ market type store and looked at all of the things they had to offer. They had a lot of jams and jellies as well as powdered soup mix which I found quite interesting.

Next, we loaded in the vans and headed to meet Kathleen, with Old Order Amish Tours, who was our tour guide for the rest of the afternoon. Out of respect for the Amish, we did not take any pictures at their farms. We were able to eat an authentic Amish meal that included everything from salad with homemade dressing to peach fruit cakes for dessert. It was delicious and very filling. During this meal we were able to ask a lot of questions to further our knowledge of the Amish life.

We were also able to visit a dairy farm where we were able to see the cows and the bulk tank, as well as the heifers and their working mules. At the end of the tour of the dairy farm we were surprised with 3-week old Rottweiler puppies which were absolutely adorable.

We then loaded back in the vans and headed to another Amish market where we were able to see a lot of beautiful quilts, pillows, hot mitts, etc. I was absolutely amazed at the intricate stitch work of each quilt.

Last but not least we loaded in the vans and started on our 3 ½ hour drive to Belle Vernon, PA to spend the night. During this drive we shared storied and laughed a lot. Overall today was a very interesting day and I really learned a lot. I am very excited for the last two days of this trip!

Here are some pictures of some things we saw as driving through beautiful Lancaster, PA.

A telephone booth that the Amish use for business use. 

Baling hay with mules.

Seeing a windmill is a sure sign of an Amish home.

A one room school house.

A view of the rolling hills.

The view from the buggy seat!

After the buggy ride!