This will be a short road trip – promise!
We took a mini-vacation and went to Lancaster, PA this past weekend. In the spring we took a trip to Florida and had a wonderful time but we needed to have some family time and time away from work and home. So we packed up the truck and headed south to Pennsylvania. The weather was sunny and hot. The trip was quick. We checked in to our hotel and went to Lititz as we wanted to visit the Wilbur Chocolate Company and the Julius Sturgis Pretzel factory.
On our way, we travelled over back roads and drove through a covered bridge. We turned around and drove through it again because it was beautiful. Cheap thrills! Beautiful country. Lititz is a nice town. It had a distinct smelled too as we parked to go to the chocolate factory. I’m not a chocolate person, but the aroma around the factory was delightful! Our visit to the chocolate factory was quick. It is a small area that housed a small museum, gift shop and a small work area that we could view through a glass wall. We watched 4 women work – dipping home-made marshmallows in chocolate and filling molds. After walking through and buying some chocolate, we decided to walk to the pretzel factory. As we walked, we ventured into the various stores that lined the street. This was relaxing and fun. We saw interesting sculptures, beautifully made furniture, lots of ornaments and home accessories. The kids spotted many things that struck their fancy.
Next stop the Julius Sturgis Pretzel bakery. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in America. During the tour, our little ones learned how to make a pretzel and left with a diploma! (scrapbook items). We toured the actual bakery (no longer in use as of a few years ago), saw the brick ovens, large wooden utensils and the drying racks.
Did you know… pretzels were invented by monks, used for the teaching of religion, to feed the poor and to symbolize the marriage bond?
Side track here: The monks used the inter-connected sections of the “pretiola” (literally, “little prayers”) to help the children understand the Christian Trinity of “Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” Their success with the re-shaped crusts spread to monasteries far and wide, and soon the pretzel became an important symbol in church life. It wasn’t long before pretzels were introduced into the wedding ceremony: the couple wished upon and broke a pretzel like a wishbone, then ate it to signify their oneness.
On our way out, we bought some soft pretzels to enjoy outside before our next adventure.
We drove to The Shaker Shoppe (www.shakershoppe.com). This was a shop that I could spend lots of money in. Every piece was beautiful. I mentioned that my guy makes furniture for our home, so he and the little man went on a workshop tour. After our visit with the nice people at this store, we drove to Smoketown to dine at the Good 'N Plenty Restaurant. This is a family style dining experience and the food is wonderful. We enjoyed fish, roast beef, chicken, corn, potatoes, chow-chow, stewed tomatoes, cottage cheese, whipped butter and home-made bread, and desserts. We did not walk away hungry!
Saturday morning started with a buggy ride! Aaron was our driver and he liked to talk. The ladies sat up front with Aaron, our daughter sat on a stool with her back to the open door, and the guys sat in the back with two other ladies. We were there early so we had the first tour. It was a nice ride and we learned a lot about the area. Our travels took us through some nice farm country and an Amish farm. We stopped at the barn as they were selling items. Their farm was immaculate and we saw children doing their chores. After our ride, we went to the Farmers’ Market and then on to other stores.
We spent the evening with family and celebrated a birthday! The next morning, on our way home, we stopped in Reading to go to the VF Outlets. We bought jeans, shirts and sneakers for school at great prices! Our trip home was long as we had construction delays but the scenery was enjoyable!
