Lancaster County and Philly

 
After our winter hiatus, spring has sprung and it's once again time to get on the road. First stop Pennsylvania!

In mid-April, our first opportunity was at the invitation of my mother-in-law, Maria, who had been invited to give a talk in the town of Lancaster to an area conference of her Shaklee nutrition company, and was kind enough to invite us along for the ride.

The plan was to tack on some exploring in Lancaster County and the major southern PA city of Philadelphia (Philly) to the end of the trip.

Maria gave an inspirational talk on her personal and professional journey during her time with the company. If you want to hear her story and hear about Shaklee, take a look at this video:

Maria’s Shaklee story

The Lancaster County area is very rich farming country, with beautiful lush green pasture and small rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Take a quick iron to it, and it would remind me very much of my flat home county of North Lincolnshire!

It is also famous for the Pennsylvania Dutch or Amish people, who are descendants of 17th and 18th century German immigrants who fled religious persecution by the Roman Catholic church for their reformist ideas. They are known for their conservative style of dress and for a reluctance to adopt modern technology. As such, you can see them sowing seed by hand, using a horse-drawn plough, and driving a horse and "buggy" (a little covered carriage) along local roads.


A couple of interesting facts about Lancaster County:
--> It contains a town by the improbable name of Intercourse
--> The adjacent county, across the beautiful Susquehanna River, is York County - I guess old rivalries die hard!

Next was Philadelphia, made famous the world over by the Rocky movies. In that spirit, the first thing we did on arriving was make a beeline to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the two non-stick-in-the-muds in the party proceeded to pump it up those famous steps and then jump up and down at the top like a couple of loons! Oh well, you only live once, right?!

After that exertion, we had worked up a bit of an appetite, so we headed straight for Reading Terminal Market, a 19th century railway station which has seen a rebirth as an extensive market, with a hundred stallholders selling cuisine of every kind. These are just the sorts of irreplaceable gems we should all be supporting, rather than the N^th Subway or McDonalds. We decided to piece together a meal from lots of different stalls - delish!

In the afternoon, we went to investigate the historic sights of this fascinating city, known above all as the birthplace of the USA; for it was here in 1776 that 56 men representing the 13 American colonies declared the independence of this nation from Great Britain. The building is now known as Independence Hall (originally the State Capitol of Pennsylvania), and it was fascinating to come face to face with the site of these famous events.

Before heading back home, there was one more food pilgrimage which couldn't be neglected: Philly Cheesesteak!! For the uninitiated, this is a sandwich of thin-sliced grilled beef, cheese and onions in a long roll. For the venue, what better place than Pat's King of Steaks, the reputed inventor of the sandwich in the 1930s? We even shared a second from arch-rival Geno's Steaks, across the road (just for scientific research, you understand?!).

Well, what can I say? I think Geno's may just have have snatched it. If I can be controversial though, now that I am 150 miles away, I'm not totally sure what all the fuss is all about. I wasn't overly impressed by the ingredients or the flavour of either! :-0

It's amazing just how many fun experiences you can pack into a long weekend, and it's made me excited to make more memories this summer.

Mark & Karen xx