the ‘English’ (the Amish
term for non-Amish,
whether English or not),
but some are more openly
personal than others.
Kitchen Kettle Village,
essentially an open-air
mall for tourists with
stores selling smoked
meats, jams, pretzels
and tchotchkes, feels
like a Disneyfied version
of the Bird-in-Hand
Farmers Market. It offers
the commercialized
‘PA Dutch Country
experience’ which means
your perception of it will
depend on your attitude
toward a parking lot
jammed with tour buses.
The Quilt Museum at
the Old Country Store
(www.ocsquiltmuseum.com;
3510 Old Philadelphia Pike;
h9am-5pm, closed Sun)^displays museum-quality
artisan quilts and the
Intercourse Canning
Company (13 Center St;
h9:30am-5pm Mon-Sat)
shows that almost
anything can be pickled
and put in a mason jar.5 p155
The Drive » Head north on Rte
722 and make your first right
onto Centerville Rd, a country
lane that takes you to Rte 23.
Turn right here and it’s a few
miles to Blue Ball – which has a
restaurant and country store or
two – and then left on the busier
Rte 322 all the way to Ephrata.7 Ephrata
One of the country’s
earliest religious
communities was founded
in 1732 by Conrad Beissel,
an émigré escaping
religious persecution
in his native Germany.
Beissel, like others
throughout human history
dissatisfied with worldlyways and distractions
(difficult to imagine what
these were in his pre-pre-
pre digital age), sought
a mystical, personal
relationship with God. At
its peak there were close
to 300 members including
two celibate orders of
brothers and sisters,
known collectively as ‘the
Solitary,’ who patterned
their dress after Roman
Catholic monks (the last
of these passed away in
1813), as well as married
‘households’ who were
less all-in, if you will.
Today, the collection of
austere, almost medieval-
style buildings of the
Ephrata Cloister (%717-733-
6600; http://www.ephratacloister.org;
632 W Main St; adult/child $10/6;
h9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon
Sun) have been preserved
and are open to visitors;
guided tours are offered or
take an audio cell phone
tour on your own. There’s
a small museum and a
short film in the visitorTHE AMISH
The Amish (ah-mish), Mennonite and Brethren religious communities are
collectively known as the ‘Plain People.’ All are Anabaptist sects (only those who
choose the faith are baptized) who were persecuted in their native Switzerland, and
from the early 1700s settled in tolerant Pennsylvania. Speaking German dialects,
they became known as ‘Dutch’ (from ‘Deutsch’). Most Pennsylvania Dutch live on
farms and their beliefs vary from sect to sect. Many do not use electricity, and most
opt for horse-drawn buggies – a delightful sight in the area. The strictest believers,
the Old Order Amish who make up nearly 90% of Lancaster County’s Amish, wear
dark, plain clothing (no zippers, only buttons, snaps and safety pins) and live a
simple, Bible-centered life – but have, ironically, become a major tourist attraction,
thus bringing busloads of gawkers and the requisite strip malls, chain restaurants
and hotels that lend this entire area an oxymoronic quality. Because there is so
much commercial development – fast-food restaurants, mini-malls, big-box chain
stores, tract housing – continually encroaching on multigenerational family farms,
it takes some doing to appreciate the unique nature of the area.NEW.JERSEY.&.PENNSYLVANIA.TRIPS12
(^) PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH COUNTRY