Lancaster, Pennsylvania

The largest Amish community in the world is in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Until we visited Lancaster last weekend, I had only heard a few things about the Amish, and I wasn’t really certain about those things:

They make high-quality, solid, hardwood furniture. My mother has a bookshelf made by the Amish that is absolutely indestructible. It has made it through eight moves in three states over thirty years without a scratch.
They live an old-fashioned lifestyle, without modern conveniences such as electricity. I always thought this was fascinating and wondered how they made that work in their homes–to cook, do laundry, listen to the radio, etc. Not to mention no modern technology!
They dress in plain, simple, modest clothing. When I was growing up, I was part of a very strict religious community myself, and I often got asked if I was Amish because of the way I looked–long dresses, long hair, and no make-up or jewelry.

I was very curious to learn more about the Amish and get some of my questions answered, so I created an itinerary for Dan and I to see and do as much as possible within just one Saturday.

The Amish Village

The first thing on the agenda was a Premium Package Tour at The Amish Village, which included:

25-Minute Amish Farmhouse Tour
90-Minute Narrated Bus Tour
Self-Guided Tour of the Grounds, Schoolhouse, and Outbuildings

Overall, we spent nearly four hours on the total experience (11am-3pm), and we learned a ton! I actually am very curious now to research and take a more deep dive into the history of the Amish to learn even more.

When we entered The Amish Village, we saw this sign below representing some of the communities within Lancaster County. We made a note to visit some of them after our tour because well, we wanted to be able to say we’d been to Paradise for one, and for two, we were quite curious about Intercourse.

The setting is very quaint and picturesque, as you can see. I just love a good covered bridge!

Inside the bridge, there was this informative plaque below explaining why covered bridges are covered.

In case you are wondering, we did have a kiss and a wish inside the bridge. I believe in magic, and you just never know!

I know I was supposed to be focused on learning about the Amish, but I got distracted for a few minutes by this cute family of ducks running around the village grounds.

They were marching single file at times, and I thought it would be fun to join the parade and see where they were going. It also made me wonder if this is where the phrase about having all your ducks in a row comes from.

After just a little bit of coaxing and persuasion from me, they agreed to sit for a brief portrait session. Each took their proper place for a classic family pose. Although I used to be a professional portrait photographer, I must admit that this was my first time shooting a family of ducks. (Oh my, did I just say, “shoot the ducks?!”) It was a wonderful experience, however, and I would definitely do it again. 🙂

The green mallard seemed to be the one in charge, because he made a noise seemingly to say, “We’re all done here,” and the rest of the group followed suit. Quack you later, little friends!

Farming is a vital part of the Amish culture, and Amish use farm animals for production, labor, and transportation. It seemed the animals really loved it there, too, because many were wandering around without cages or restraints, and none seemed very interested in leaving. I think these are chickens below, right? They were too busy for me and my camera, so all I got was this bright, shadowy image–not my best photography, but very beautiful animals!

We learned that the Amish like to have a peacock on their farms, because they are very watchful and vigilant–and they make a wailing call that is louder than a watchdog if anything is awry. Look at the way this guy is staring me down! Relax, Mr. Peacock, I just want to take your picture!

Would you just look at those colorful, vibrant feathers–I may never understand how this is even real. If there is an afterlife in some kind of spirit realm somewhere, I would like to be assigned the job of painting the peacocks. Please and thank you.

Many Amish have goats on their farm, which are primarily useful for milk, meat, and skins. This guy below looked a little jealous of the chicken, who was able to roam freely, while he was fenced in.

Dan thought it would be fun to have a little stare-down with the goat. The goat seemed mildly amused–like he probably figured he had nothing better to do.

At some point, the goat realized that if he stayed still and waited patiently, he might be rewarded.

The goat’s patience paid off, and Dan gave him what he really wanted. Funny how some more friends showed up when there were treats.

The little guy ate his fill, and then wandered over his bridge to a green pasture for a little nap.

But there were more farm animals for me to see! E-I-E-I-O!

I was a little afraid of feeding the animals at first–I wondered if they’d bite me or slobber all over me. But, I was brave, and I held my hand out and waited. I am happy to say that I fed some horses and some goats and I survived! No bites, and just minimal slobbers. But, worth it!

I fell in love with this guy. Too bad there’s not enough room in the van.

The Amish do not drive automobiles because they believe they would be a detriment to their close-knit communities. Cars are just one of many “worldly pleasures” from which the Amish abstain. Others include television sets, radios, cell phones, and personal computers.

Below is a picture I took of an Amish Carriage (also called a buggy), which would be pulled by a horse or horses. This is how the Amish get around town, between 5 and 20 mph.

It felt very old fashioned to be in a buggy, and I kept having to remind myself that this is modern transportation for the Amish and not something from the 1700’s.

We toured a one-room Amish schoolhouse in the village. We learned that the Amish only provide formal education through the eighth grade, and schools are taught by a teacher with an eighth grade education. The Amish are exempt from state compulsory attendance rules based on religious principles. After formal education, Amish youth typically start doing a trade or vocational work.

Again, you would think this is an old-fashioned recreation of a bygone time, but it is in fact a replication of a modern Amish schoolhouse.

The next images are of an Amish phone shanty. I mentioned earlier that the Amish don’t have cell phones, but I learned that they also do not have landline phones in their homes. They believe a phone is a source of distraction from family life. So, for emergencies and accessibility purposes, the Amish have an outbuilding at the far end of their property for their telephone. My question that I have now is, where do they purchase those rotary phones from the 1970’s? Antique malls, perhaps? I’m pretty sure I had this olive green phone in my childhood home!

We toured this Amish home in the village, and it was very interesting to see how they were able to make improvisations of modern-day-appliances in order to uphold their standard of “no-electricity.” Some examples were taking gasoline-powered lawn mower moters, and attaching them to indoor appliances in place of electricity. They use propane for stoves and lamps, and good-old fashioned fireplace for heating. Air conditioning is not a thing.

The narrator explained that one way to tell an Amish home from the outside is that (1) There are no electrical lines going to the house, and (2)There is usually a clothes line full of clothes drying outside. In Lancaster, the Amish live alongside the “English” (as they call everyone that is not Amish), so you can easily use these two hints to know which homes are Amish.

Below is a typical Amish bedroom. Would you look at the amazing handmade quilt?! We learned that a quilt like this could represent up to 800 labor hours–which explains the high price tag ($795). The Amish typically do not decorate their homes (simplicity is a key value), so having a colorful and vibrant quilt like this really does a lot to make a house feel like home.

The coat in the photo below would be worn only by an Amish minister–and he must wear it year-round. Yes, even in the heat of the summer-time. In the winter-time it is nice, though, because he is the only one allowed to wear a coat. Everyone else must wear a shawl to keep warm, similar to the one shown here.

The Amish do not take pictures of themselves because they believe it violates the second of the ten commandments about “graven images.” This is why I blurred the face of the farmer in this photo, who we passed while driving. Notice the steel wheels on the front of the tractor. The Amish want to avoid the allure of the automobile, so they often have steel wheels on their tractors and carriages.

For our main meal of the day (which we decided to have at 3pm because it was so hard to get a reservation), we chose Miller’s Smorgasbord. While there are several smorgasbords in Lancaster, I was intrigued because this one is ranked one of the best buffets in the country by USA today. And, honestly, it is hands-down the best buffet I have EVER had!

In my past experience, buffets are for variety and quantity, not quality. And, I can never seem to eat enough to get my money’s worth. (I would consider myself more of a “gourmet” versus “buffet.” How about you?) Well, this is not the case at Miller’s. Miller’s has it ALL! And, everything is mouth-wateringly delicious!

In typical Joanna fashion, I started my meal with a plate of shrimp.

Then, I got some fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn casserole, stuffing, and mixed greens. It’s all made-from-scratch in house, and you can taste the homemade goodness in every bite. Yum!

And, of course, I had to try the chicken and waffles, since this is Miller’s specialty. And, I had never had it quite like this–you just put your waffle on the plate and pour the chicken and gravy mixture on top. It was sort of like a pot pie. Again, yum!

For dessert, I chose a chocolate mousse cheesecake. I think I moaned in pleasure with every bite. It was literal heaven.

And, I didn’t even have room for the delicious looking pies and cakes. Maybe next time. I feel like this is the sort of place you need to train for–to expand your stomach for a day or something!

We had plans to go to an Amish theatre performance in the evening, and I was really excited. It was fun to see all the horse and buggies on the road! It really felt like being transported back in time. The only strange part was that there were cars (and even cyber trucks) driving alongside the horse-drawn carriages. Its like two different time periods collided to create this very unique place.

The theater performance we saw was called, “The Christmas Candy Caper.” It was a very funny Christmas comedy, starring some Amish and some English actors and actresses. It was very entertaining, and my favorite parts were the Christmas carols, because their voices and harmonies were exceptionally good. They had a dinner option, but we were so full from the buffet–maybe next time.