Ye Olde Amish

On Saturday, we hopped in the car and drove an hour and twenty minutes out to the country...Amish Country!

We looked up a few things to do, but in the end we just decided to drive out and explore a little. In my opinion, that's the right way to do Amish country.

Our apartment in the borough in feels like it's in the middle of a forest, which isn't bad, except you almost never know exactly where you are. But once you hit the country side, everything opens up and you have a gorgeous view of all the rolling hills and sprawling farmland. 

Amish country isn't just one little town, like I thought. It's a vast area with several different towns, and in each town there is a mix of Amish and everyday citizens. For some reason, I thought the Amish would live in tiny little log cabins like the pioneers, but their homes were really pretty modern. Some of them were gorgeous, and all of their yards were immaculate and well cared for. Most had a main house, and then a large separate structure, a mixture of a garage and a barn. It must have been laundry day, because almost every home had a wash line strung up with old fashioned clothes and sheets blowing lightly in the breeze.

We arrived in a small town and picked up some lunch. We turned up a side street and stopped at an intersection, and there at the other stop sign was a horse and buggy! Just driving in the road normal as you please. We saw several throughout the day, driving in the road, parked in parking lots and driveways.  It was really neat, actually. They just live so differently. Although I have to say..a buggy seems like a lot of trouble. It's small, and bumpy, and you have to hitch it up, etc. If I were Amish, I think I'd ditch the buggy and just ride the horse. 

There were little kids in Amish outfits and reflector vests riding scooters on the side of the road completely alone. There were handmade signs on the side of the road and at the ends of driveways advertising fresh flowers, homemade root beer floats, puppies, ice cream. It was all just really quiet and quaint. 

At the tiny town of Bird-In-Hand (which is located right next to the town of Intercourse...heh heh), we stopped at an archery store so Colt could have a look around. Then we went to an indoor farmer's market just down the road, where the Amish sell their crafts and goods. We bought a loaf of homemade bread, a jar of handmade blackberry jam, and some really delicious peanut butter-chocolate fudge. I think I could live happily off of that bread and jam for the rest of my life. We also stopped at an Amish furniture store to look at their handmade rocking chairs, tables, toys, dressers, etc. I think Colt wants to be a wood worker now. 

We didn't take any pictures, we just kind of enjoyed the day. But if you're in the area, we highly recommend going to Amish country. I'm taking my mom and sister out when they visit in a couple of weeks. We share a love of kitschy farmer stores, homemade treats, and fresh jam, so I know they'll appreciate it as much as we did.  

I think our visit out to Amish country is my favorite thing we've done since moving out east. The area was so quiet and spacious and seriously beautiful. Colt and I were reminded of how much we would love to live in a little quiet country town. Not Amish country, and not one where you're completely isolated and two hours away from the nearest hospital. But an area where you have some space. I would love to live somewhere where I feel safe letting our little boy ride his bike by himself through our neighborhood without having to tether him to my fanny pack. One with enough property that Colt could make a dirtbike track in the backyard and teach our kids how to ride, where we could have a garden, and a big porch. And where we can't see and hear everything that's going on at our neighbor's house, but we are still close enough to wave hello. 

Doesn't all that sound nice? 

Dreamers gonna dream.