PA Dutch Country

28 July 2014--Got here to Mannheim, PA late Wednesday afternoon, the 23rd.  Staying at the Outdoor World Park called Pennsylvania Dutch Country. A pretty park, but as you can see very "woodsy"!



Lots of Amish and Mennonites here.  At both the grocery store and at Costco we saw these stalls for horses and buggies...I don't remember seeing them when we were in this area in 2012.  But  Ellen, do you remember that we went to this market in the town of Bird-in-Hand?  They were advertising it here in the park.



Driving the countryside as we checked out a couple towns...it is so green and so pretty here.  And I love the farms with the silos.  I feel like I have done puzzles that looked like these pictures.  haha



There wasn't much to see in Mannheim, but the next town over was sort of cute.  Definitely a tourist town, with some really old buildings dating back to the 1760s.  A lot of this area reminds me very much of Boston.

 

Some cards and other items in a few of the shops.  Hallie, I figured you would love these picnic baskets!

 

Talked quite a bit with this store owner who had a picture of the place from way back that I took a picture of...still the same!  Loved the postcards on display!



I am a sucker for candy shops...got some candy, of course, and a couple good pics.






There was an area called Church Square that stretched the better part of a city block, and it was all owned by the Moravian Church.  I can't remember ever hearing about a Moravian religion, but it dates back to the Czech Republic in the 1400s and is supposed to be the 1st world-wide Protestant denomination. (?)  This red building is actually a chapel on the grounds and wasn't built till 1883, while the white one is the main church and was started in the 1740s.  The school is on the grounds  here but you can't really get a picture of it...too many separate buildings.




So we are headed into Boston today, hopefully...got a long drive ahead of us, but we are hoping to make it.  If not, definitely tomorrow.  So we'll see some of you pretty soon!