Traveling around Lancaster, PA

As I mentioned in the last blog, after a wild wet and windy ride Tuesday we arrived at Circle M campground in Lancaster, PA. It was great to get here and Wednesday was a day of rest to recover from the trip. This is a great campground especially for kids. There are 2 pools, a water park, and all kinds of activities. As the weekend approaches the campers filled with kids started to arrive. I have to admit that all the kids have been in control and the camp fire parties in the evening have not been bad. At quiet time everyone settled down and we had a very nice quiet night.

Bev and I have been traveling around the Lancaster, PA area checking out the sights. Lancaster County    is in the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch country with many Amish and Mennonite farms.

Thursday 9/20 Bev and I headed to the little town of East Earl to have some Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord. Shady Maple is a local family tradition and is the largest smorgasbord in Lancaster County. It is not as large as the great buffets in the Las Vegas Casinos but they had so much food we didn't know where to start.

As usual in a large buffet we stuffed ourselves and most of the food was great. A couple of things Bev and I had we were not crazy about but there was so much we grabbed more of the things we did like. Then there was the dessert bar and OMG they had everything pies, cakes, cookies, cobblers, puddings chocolate waterfall, and a make-your-own sundae with fresh whipped cream. I guess I wont be thin in the foreseeable future.

We were so full we could hardly walk out but we weren't through. Along with the smorgasbord they have a large gift store, a large farm market, grocery store, furniture store, and even sell RVs.

Friday 9/21 we toured again. We went to President James Buchanan's Wheatland. (He called his house that because of the many wheat fields in the area.) James Buchanan, Jr was the 15th President of the United States (1857 - 1861) and the only president from Pennsylvania. He was the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and was the last president born in the 18th century.

He represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives and later the Senate and served as Minister to Russia under President Andrew Jackson.

When he left office, popular opinion had turned against him, and the Democratic Party had split in two. Buchanan had once aspired to a presidency that would rank in history with that of George Washington, However, his inability to impose peace on sharply divided partisans on the brink of the Civil War has led to his consistent ranking by historians as one of the worst Presidents.

James Buchanan was born in a log cabin in Cove Gap (now Buchanan's Birthplace State Park), Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on April 23, 1791.

Our tour guide in period costume

James Buchanan's Office

View from the back yard 

View from the front yard

It is a grand old house and we enjoyed the tour very much. The tour guide was very informative and we learned a great deal about that period of time.

Wheatland is located at 1020 Marietta Avenue, Lancaster, Pa. Tours offered hourly Monday through Saturday between 10 am and 3 pm.

After we left Wheatland we headed for The Bead Corner. Bev loves working with beads making jewelry so of course she had to check out this place. It is located in downtown Lancaster which has very narrow one way streets with only paid parking. I didn't want to pay for parking so I dropped her off and cruised around until it was time to pick her up. She had fun while I fought the traffic.

Monument downtown Lancaster

Next we headed for the Turkey Hill factory where they make ice cream and flavored teas. Bev always loved Turkey Hill tea so we had to check it out. We toured the place and consumed our share of free ice cream and tea samples. We sure have been doing our share of eating lately.

Turkey Hill started out as a dairy and kept adding products for it customers. Dairy is the economic driver for Pennsylvania agriculture, the number one industry in the state.

Pennsylvania is home to more than 7,400 dairy farms - the second most of any state in the U.S. - and 540,000 dairy cows. These cows produce more than 1.2 billion gallons of milk annually - enough to supply everyone in the five largest U.S. cities with all their dairy needs. The milk produced in Pennsylvania generates $2 billion in on-farm income and $5 billion in economic revenue. Every nine dairy cows create one job.

After that we headed back to the campground where we propped up our feet and relaxed the rest of the day. The weather has been sunny and nice so far this week although tonight we suppose to get some rain.