Strasburg, PA

10-7-09 Strasburg PA Strasburg is in Lancaster county, home of the 2nd largest Amish population in the US. Since its Columbus Day weekend, its mobbed here. We got our feet wet by doing some shopping in downtown Intercourse, PA. There are tons of little shops, with handmade items. Lucky for us we have no where to put anything. We drove around the countryside a little bit, and found a bakery, Bird in Hand Bakery, in Bird in Hand, PA. The food was delicious. One of the favorite pies around here is Shoofly Pie, so we bought one to try it. Its molasses based- very good. Different from anything we have had before. We sat outside on a glider that has a table between 2 benches, and the table glides with the benches. After that stop, we went to a Mennonite Visitors Center to learn more about the Amish and Mennonites. Once upon a time they were of very similar religious beliefs, but they split a long time ago- one of their differences is that Mennonites use modern conveniences, like electricity and cars, and the Amish don’t. Mennonites interact with outsiders (the “English”) and the Amish don’t, at least not very much. A lot of my preconceived ideas of the Amish were changed this weekend. I always thought they didn’t use things like cars because it is “against their religion”, but that isn’t really it. They don’t use modern conveniences if they think it will take away from the quality of the time they spend with their family and community and God, but they use car batteries to run sewing machines because it makes practical sense to do it. We learned a lot about them, and there is obviously so much more we don’t know. . We made it an early day but when we got back there was a “Live Jam session” scheduled in the campground store. Turns out there is a room, like a large living room, off to the side where about 8-12 men were jamming with their guitars, fiddles, bass, etc. What a great time we had! So much fun to hear them play! I am going to try to post a short video. Most places are closed on Sunday around here, so it was off to Hershey for us!!! I admit that I went to Hershey with only one thing in mind. Chocolate. I came away with a much better understanding about who Milton Hershey was (and also, a lot of chocolate!). We did the usual "factory tour" which in this case was more like an amusement park ride at your local travelling carnival- not the same quality as a Disney ride, for sure. It doesn't go through the factory, just a cartoonish version of the factory, but it was short, so thats ok. The real deal here was the trolley tour, and I am so glad we decided to do it.... our tour guide was fabulous, obviously passionate about Milton Hershey and what he has done. The short version is that Milton Hershey started his company at the turn of the 20th century, right around the time Henry Ford started his. The similarities are striking. Both men went bankrupt several times, both were innovators, both ended up making their fortune by creating a way to mass produce their product. Milton and his wife could not have children and decided to help orphans instead. They started the Milton Hershey School to educate those children who had no one looking out for them. Today the school has 1800 students, Kindergarten through high school. Its a boarding school for kids whose parents are either deceased, not available, or who are otherwise incapable of caring for their kids financially and otherwise. All of the children who are successful at the high school level, are awarded an $80,000 grant to attend college.The school is run by a Trust, and the Trust owns over 80% of the Hershey Co. stock, ensuring its longevity. In fact, before his death, Milton Hershey turned over his entire fortune to the trust. Part of the reason our tour guide is so passionate is that he was an administrator at the school for over 30 years before he retired. He gives the tours in his leisure time because he enjoys it so much. Today we went to explore a restored Amish farmhouse. We were going to take a bus tour around the countryside, but decided it wasn’t worth the price and the 2 hours it would take. The farmhouse was interesting, and again, we learned a lot. Our tour guide loves this area and it shows. He is a taxi driver for the Amish, since they can’t drive cars but they can ride in them. Because the Amish population is growing so fast, doubling every 10 years or so, there aren’t enough farms available for them to farm, so some of them have taken jobs as carpenters, plumbers etc. and need rides to get to work, since its too far to travel by horse. We ate dinner tonight at the “Plain and Fancy” restaurant, which is typical Amish food, served family style, to a table of 10 people. So, obviously we sat with people we don’t know, and had great conversations with all of them. One guy is doing something similar to us. He is single and quit his job to go tenting around the country. Turns out the last 3 places where he stopped were places we were at too. Tomorrow we drive. We aren’t sure where we will stop but we are headed towards Muncie (Yay!).