I returned from Pennsylvania last night, exhausted from a week of touring my hometown and still suffering from the effects of gorging myself on high fat, high carb German food. It’s kind of pathetic that many people have to leave an area to truly appreciate it, but I count myself among those unfortunate legions. I guess some of us have to stray to find out that there are assholes everywhere, just not in our birthplace, and that maybe your provincial little town with its narrowminded, pigheaded meat-and-potatoes types isn’t so bad after all. It might even be a real gem, but you know how the grass is always greener.
Rieko and Kazu arrived late friday night thanks to an 8 hour delay in Chicago brought about by mechanical trouble on the airplane, a fitting welcome to the American airline industry. She was just coming off a busy tax season (an accountant by trade) and Kazu had been very busy at work in the previous weeks, so she asked me not to make too many plans because their intent was to relax. I was a little worried that we wouldn’t have enough to do, but that wasn’t a problem in the least.
We woke up late Saturday and went to Central Market in downtown Lancaster which has been in business since sometime in the 1730s and holds the title of the nation’s oldest publicly-owned, continuously-operating farmers market. I didn’t know that…which was a running theme throughout my whole trip. The building it’s housed in was built in 1889 and is one of the most attractive in the city. Next door is the Lancaster Heritage Museum and we checked that out while in the area. They had an old printing demonstration on the third floor which was pretty cool. I didn’t know that old-style printing was so labor intensive. Rieko and Kazu said that Lancaster reminds them more of Europe than the US. I take that as a compliment.
After lunch at one of the many Greek-owned restaurants in town, we drove north to Landis Valley Museum. Gene grew up 1 mile from this place, me about 7 miles, and neither of us had ever visited.
Landis Valley Museum, a living history village and farm, collects, preserves and interprets the history and material culture of the Pennsylvania German rural community from 1740 to 1940 and enhances understanding of their successful practices, interactions with others, and the impact on the state and nation for citizens of and visitors to the Commonwealth.
Landis Valley Museum’s richly layered story is the history of an early Pennsylvania German settlement, an unusual farm family, and the ongoing creation and exploration of a wonderfully diverse collection of artifacts. When brothers Henry Kinzer Landis (1865-1955) and George Diller Landis (1867 – 1954) opened the museum in 1925 at their Landis Valley residence, the area had been a small Pennsylvania German settlement since the mid 1800s. Expanded to its current size, we now invite visitors to experience 18th and 19th century village and farm life in Lancaster County, Pa, all in one visit. With over 100 acres and many historic buildings to explore throughout the four seasons, there’s always something to see at Landis Valley Museum.
I didn’t know that either. I never went because it certainly didn’t look like anything special to me on the hundreds of occasions that I drove by – just like everything else around home, only with a split-rail fence around it. We and many others lived in houses exactly like were on the property, so why visit? It turns out that this place is an excellent example of Lancaster County in a nutshell and was a walk down memory lane for me. Of course, my favorite thing about it was the collection of exceedingly well-tended and happy farm animals, the chickens in particular.
My mom has a friend named Jane. Her parents own an abandoned farm in southern York County and my mom thought this might be a good outing for our guests. I just like digging around old places looking at junk. Jane gave us a tour of rural York and an hour or so of poking around the farm which was a photographer’s dream. I really regret not taking a better camera lens but I guess I can always go back. By that time the place should be in an advanced state of disrepair which might make the photos even better.
Kazu is really into trains and engines, so after the farm visit we went to Strasburg Railroad. I didn’t have high hopes for it because it always seemed to me that it was one of those touristy spots that locals never visit. I was pleasantly surprised to find it very interesting. They have a very well done museum and an operating steam locomotive that pulls a dining car through the surrounding farmland so visitors can eat and tour at the same time. I could never understand why anyone would want to do that but on this particular trip I found myself wishing we’d have made reservations. Just one more of those things you don’t get until you leave and return.
