Learn me Lancaster, Pa

So in a rather impulsive decision, we've decided we're honeymooning in Lancaster because we want to go to the Shady Maple Smorgasbord.

So other than eating, what is there to do?

Dana actually did this on face place and the post kinda blew up, but I know there's locals here that might know some secrets, and I trust the hive more than random Facebook people.

No kids on the trip, get in Sunday leave Wednesday in August. We'll be staying in Bird in Hand, about 20 minutes (it looks like) east from Lancaster, 5 minutes from Intercourse. Most likely being boring and taking the turnpike because it cuts off over an hour of travel time.

What are the better museums, tours, non outlet stores because we're hitting those, anything else we should know about or try to do?

I'm also keeping a close eye on the auctions cause we'll be awfully close to Mannheim for a pick up. 

We travel from MI through Lancaster to Kennet Square every year.  Avoid the turnpike. 1. Expensive. 2. Fun mountain highways. So what if it takes an hour or two longer?

As for what to do, Stroudsburg Railroad museum is cool. We may take our daughter on it this year now that she can appreciate it. Longwood Gardens is about 30 min away.  Lots of historical stuff about 45min away in Northern DE (Hagley Museum, Winterthur Museum). Lots of Amish stuff in Lancaster as well. 

Enjoy the Honeymoon!

If you can't get any Intercourse (PA) you get Blue Ball (PA) and end up in Bird in Hand (PA).

I love being a 50year old 12 year old...

I also grew up in State College and Pittsburgh, but no help in Amish Country.

The Strasburg Railroad and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania are just outside of town.  Absolutely worth checking out if steam engines and trains are interesting you.

Gettysburg isn't far away if you've never been. I found it a very interesting place and I'm not even American. Dirt track racing at Williams Grove if you're into that sort of thing. Eastern Museum of Motor Racing .

I'm subscribing.  I live 40 minutes away in Harrisburg and with the exception of knowing a couple of the breweries and a nice restaurant or two, I'm kinda Lancaster clueless.

See what American Music Theater is playing.  They have some good acts in there from time to time.  Not sure where you are on the religion scale, but Sight and Sound puts on Christian musicals that are just amazing.  I'm not Christian and I enjoy seeing them.  They're flipping amazeballs.

Dutch Apple Dinner Theater is down there as well.  I find their productions to be good.  Not superb.  The real draw there is that dinner theaters are a dying breed which I find to be a crying shame.

czerka said:

The Strasburg Railroad and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania are just outside of town.  Absolutely worth checking out if steam engines and trains are interesting you.

This.  Strasburg Railroad is magical.  Something about seeing steam engines chugging across fields being plowed by draft animals transports you back to a century ago.  Take the steam excursion from the Strasburg shops to Paradise and enjoy a nice box lunch along the way. 

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm subscribing.  I live 40 minutes away in Harrisburg and with the exception of knowing a couple of the breweries and a nice restaurant or two, I'm kinda Lancaster clueless.

See what American Music Theater is playing.  They have some good acts in there from time to time.  Not sure where you are on the religion scale, but Sight and Sound puts on Christian musicals that are just amazing.  I'm not Christian and I enjoy seeing them.  They're flipping amazeballs.

Dutch Apple Dinner Theater is down there as well.  I find their productions to be good.  Not superb.  The real draw there is that dinner theaters are a dying breed which I find to be a crying shame.

I'm not quite the militant atheist I was as a teenager, but really not into the whole organized religion thing. 

Having said that, I see the biblical tabernacle recreation, and I think an Amish bible museum mentioned on some web sites, and I think they'd be an interesting way to spend a couple hours. I feel like taking in things from the Amish perspective would more fit my personal style. Definitely want to try to see some of the several hundred year old churches in the area to take in the architecture though. I'm a sucker for old time craftsmanship,  and they put their all into the churches because they were so important to the community. 

Not gonna lie, I was kinda hoping you'd come in with a page of random local ish knowledge. 

The week we're going to be there looks like an between shows period for a lot of the groups. A lot end the beginning of August then start again in September, we'll be there the 15-18th. If the Dutch apple dinner theater is doing a show we may have to try to check it out. 

Lots of jesus stuff and horse E36 M3 in the road. Ditto on Strasburg and the train museum. Aaca museum in Hershey isn't too far away. 
 

Simone sports car museum and Mutter in Phila are about 100x more interesting 

Rough & Tumble Museum near Paradise can be amazing. Check their schedule., they do some live steam events and have a lot of 19th century/early 20th running stationary machinery.

Troegs brewery tour and Hershey factory tour. Not sure if they are doing tours but there is a Harley factory near York. If you need boots or hardware stuff, Good's is hard to beat.

https://smokehousebbqandbrews.com/ This is a really good bbq place in Bird in Hand. Eaten there and highly recommended!

1988RedT2 said:

czerka said:

The Strasburg Railroad and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania are just outside of town.  Absolutely worth checking out if steam engines and trains are interesting you.

This.  Strasburg Railroad is magical.  Something about seeing steam engines chugging across fields being plowed by draft animals transports you back to a century ago.  Take the steam excursion from the Strasburg shops to Paradise and enjoy a nice box lunch along the way. 

Another vote for Strasburg. They have N&W #611, the so-called Queen of Steam on lease this summer, which is worth seeing, but make sure that you have an advance reservation though, because the days they are operating her pretty much sell out. I know Strasburg was requiring advance reservation for any ride and wasn't offering the shop tour due to Covid, but I'm not sure if that has changed due to the relaxing of restrictions. 

There is a Harley factory in York PA and the tour is worth it even if you are not a motorcycle guy. It is a great example of Lean / Just in Time manufacturing and their plug-n-play production cells are cool.  Looks like they are closed at the moment, but maybe will be re-open by the time you are going?

The Strasburg train ride is short enough it won't bore those who don't dig trains. Not air conditioned, though, so if it's really hot you'll experience an authentic, sweaty travel back in time. If you Google "Caboose Motel" there is a nice place to watch it go by/take photos.

The train museum is a really good one. It only has heat or a/c (not both, so I can't recall which). Again, weather dependent on how pleasant it may be.

There is also a toy train museum that is interesting. Really old stuff and some running layouts.

Route 30 is the tourist corridor. Traffic sucks. If you stray off it and use either of the parallel roads to the north or south you will see much more unspoiled country and a crap ton more Amish. Most have roadside stands to sell food items or crafted wares. Yes, they speak English. Generally nice folks but may be a bit stand-offish. DO NOT take photos of them if they are facing you. Their religion does not permit it.

Lancaster city has some good eateries but as a city it's just 'meh'. If Central Market is open that may be worth a visit. There is also Roots' Market outside of Manheim, only runs on Tuesdays. Kind of a combination farmer's market and flea market.

Being as I live here none of the tourist trap stuff interests me. Shady Maple is mostly just...big. It's not bad, but it's not so great I want to rub elbows with a bunch of rude New York tourists.

The Turnpike sucks and is way overpriced.

Manheim auction is dealers only.

I grew up in Manheim. There's nothing to see there.

Lititz gets a lot of hype as a cute, New England style town with a lot of shops within walking distance. It's okay. I avoid it because 501 traffic usually sucks donkey balls.

Well, I was going to chime in, but others have covered it pretty well.  I must say I'm astounded and amazed at making the Shady Maple your honeymoon destination.  After you've gorged yourself silly, don't forget to go downstairs to the equally-gigantic gift shop and bask in all the cheesy Americana you can imagine, let alone take in.

You should definitely go to Dutch Wonderland which is a small amusement park on the main drag outside Lancaster.  It's fairly tatty at this point but it's got a lot of heart. 

In my family we always called it "Dutch Disneyland" because in its prime it always seemed to be a tiny, weird, 20-years-behind, Pennsylvania Dutch copy of Disneyland.

There is a ton of shopping in the area, both generic 'factory outlet' malls and smaller, more handcrafted vendor village type things.

Ohh snap someone mentioned Dutch wonderland. 
 

go to Hershey park as well. They have some good coasters and animal park. Also there is a nice car museum nearby. 

I live east of Lancaster and as mentioned most have been covered but three I'll add if it is in your wheelhouse - Lancaster Archery Supply. I went there with my kids and had a blast on their range. Secondly, hot air balloon ride. My in-laws went a few years ago and had a great time. I think there are a few places that launch outside of town over the farms. Lastly, there are a few tubing places around and in Chester Co. Nothing too exciting but definitely a good 'float and chill' type of streams. 

I'll echo the previous idea of Longwood Gardens as well. Lancaster Brewing has some good stuff, with a spot in town and one in the crazy outlet/tourist/Dutch Wonderland area. And yeah, Shady Maple, I'll be interested what you think... I'm in the Duke camp, you go once, get stuffed, and check it off the list. But, I know others though that go regularly and love it.     

Subscribing, my Brother in law, lives in Lancaster. He does a lot fishing,which does not interest me. I know they have one of the oldest established Farmers Market and of course Amish country, but I really know nothing else.

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

There is a Harley factory in York PA and the tour is worth it even if you are not a motorcycle guy. It is a great example of Lean / Just in Time manufacturing and their plug-n-play production cells are cool.  Looks like they are closed at the moment, but maybe will be re-open by the time you are going?

Ooooh, I forgot about that one. I did that with my dad as a kid. We're not Harley guys but that plant tour was still eye-opening

In reply to Duke :

Our entire relationship is pretty astounding really.

We weren't going to do anything but enjoy a week at home without work or kids when we caught an "episode"of Strictly Dumpling at "the largest Amish buffet in the America". We're both fat kids, and being under 4 hours away it seemed like a good fit.

IIt's funny, the states website says the bimonthly auto auction at Mannheim is open to the public, but every single civilian says it's dealer only. Regardless, they aren't the only auction company and we're not car shopping. PCI auctions has their regional auction house there for restaurant/business cleanouts. I'm trying to score a deli slicer and some better quality kitchenware, but they won't have auctions with pickup dates in August listed till August. 

I'm trying to talk her into going to Dutch Wonderland. I'm not winning, but I'm trying. We aren't big on the amusement parks, and won't have the kids, but I like old stuff like that and it has to cheaper without children.

If the Herrs plant is doing tours again we might try to get there too.

It's weird. 3 nights 4 days seemed like a long time, but the amounts of little places and things being suggested make it sound like not enough time.

Now if I could find some Amish weed or whiskey I'd be a really happy boy. When I looked, briefly, for distilleries in the area there was one in Lancaster proper, and they don't have whiskey on their list of spirits, just gin rum and vodka. I'm going to continue looking, but that's mildly disappointing. And it's just clicking now that it might be a religion thing.

In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :

I'm not a bike guy and I did this tour. It was really good 

RevRico said:

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm subscribing.  I live 40 minutes away in Harrisburg and with the exception of knowing a couple of the breweries and a nice restaurant or two, I'm kinda Lancaster clueless.

See what American Music Theater is playing.  They have some good acts in there from time to time.  Not sure where you are on the religion scale, but Sight and Sound puts on Christian musicals that are just amazing.  I'm not Christian and I enjoy seeing them.  They're flipping amazeballs.

Dutch Apple Dinner Theater is down there as well.  I find their productions to be good.  Not superb.  The real draw there is that dinner theaters are a dying breed which I find to be a crying shame.

Not gonna lie, I was kinda hoping you'd come in with a page of random local ish knowledge. 

 Yeah.  Kinda weird, huh.  I can tell you more about New Orleans or L.A. than I can a town 30 miles away.

If you head east on Rt 30 I do know there are a ton of neat shops, amish stores, and unique things to see.  Only downside is that they're kind of equally spaced over a 20 mile stretch between Lancaster and Gap.

Downtown is lovely.  I recall eating at the Belvedere a few times and it is pricey but so amazingly good.  Fulton Theater sometimes has musical acts but I don't see anything coming up until Sept.

My wife lived there for a few years, it looks like the touristy stuff is well covered.  I will say if you're into aquariums as a hobby, you owe it to yourself to go over to That Fish Place, it's amazing.  Grab a sandwich at Isaac's next door for lunch.

I've been going to the Bird In Hand farmers market since I was born. It's changed some over the years, but many of the vendors have been there 30+ years. It's nothing spectacular... just a small Amish market, but they have a good lunch counter, and good chocolates. There is an old time hardware store directly across the street which is pretty cool too. Unfortunately that only kills about an hour of your time though, lol. So much is changed since I started going there... the outlets and everything took over, but there are still some older attractions. 
 

There used to be a cool car museum (Gast) directly across from the Living Waters place. Went all the time as a little kid... it was big news when they bought a Tucker for their display in the late 80s. They had a nice little museum, and a really cool gift shop where I bought countless Johan models over the years! I really hoped the increased traffic from the amphitheater would save the place.... but it did not. When the museum closed in the mid/late 90s my dad and I stopped our trips up there for the most part. Some really good memories though! 

RevRico said:

Now if I could find some Amish weed or whiskey I'd be a really happy boy. When I looked, briefly, for distilleries in the area there was one in Lancaster proper, and they don't have whiskey on their list of spirits, just gin rum and vodka. I'm going to continue looking, but that's mildly disappointing. And it's just clicking now that it might be a religion thing.

I think local distilleries are still too new.  PA just started allowing them within the last handful of years.  One of my acquaintances works for Midstate Distillery here in Harrisburg.  They have tons of moonshine (un-aged whiskey) offerings, but it's hard to offer a palatable whiskey without that ever-important aging.  What he has done is to age super-small batches in 3 gallon charred barrels to try and speed up the process, but without the time for the chemistry it's hard.  He does have some in big barrels, but he said they are still crap at this point.

Concerning the weed... I think you might be in more luck than you think.  Several of the older, more conservative sects still use it medicinally.  It was introduced to them by indigenous tribes who brought it back from Mexico and it was great medicine.  Some of the more progressive sects kinda got on the "weed is the debbil" bandwagon. Don't expect a high from it, though.  Very low THC content.

Amish in general don't drink.  The kids sometimes do.  Every once in a while you'll see a report of dead Amish kids, or a picture of a buggy with no horse.  It's not common, but the kids will have keggers.  The nice thing is, the horse knows the way home so they can get wasted and just pass out.  Problem is, horses can't read stop signs or railroad crossings.  Not too long ago there was a picture in the paper of a stopped train with a buggy right beside it.  The horse was a pile of glue and guts about a half mile down the track.  Kid got drunk and let the horse take him home and the horse didn't stop for the train.

The town itself isn't particularly religious.  Just a normal PA town.  The Amish are primarily rural and many of them don't interact with us fancy people other than commerce.  There are also thousands of sects, each one with its own rules and religious beliefs.  They remain isolated enough that their primary group of family and community, led by one pastor, kinda sets the tone of each group in the area.

You'll also notice different color buggies.  In the lancaster church district, Amish buggies are almost always gray, not black.  Conservative Mennonites typically drive the black buggies.  Different regions of Amish have their own colors for various reasons.  In Lancaster, the popular theory is that gray was the only color less-fancy than black.  Black lacquer could be polished shiny and be too flashy for the more conservative sects.  In Nebraska they are often white-top.  In Ohio and Illinois they can be yellow or brown.