Lots of good suggestions for OH and PA, would add that if your route takes you close to Cuyahoga National Park between Akron and Cleveland, it is well worth exploring - lakes, rocky cliffs, Erie Canal, old steam train, wildlife, waterfalls, historic villages and homes, rookery for herons and egrets.
rehess
Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
JimBart wrote:
My wife and I will be leaving Michigan on Sept 22 and heading to the Sight and Sounds theater in Lancaster. We will be travelling through Ohio and Pennsylvania before arriving in Lancaster. Can anyone provide me info on photo opportunities or things to see/do either in route or while in Lancaster County We will be on the road for approximately 10 days.
Thanks a bunch
If you have interest in Mennonite/Amish culture, Nappanee {Elkhart county Indiana} and Shipshewanna {LaGrange county Indiana} should be along almost any route from “Western Michigan”} to Pennsylvania.
I forgot: the Ephrata Cloister! In fact the town of Ephrata generally.
rehess
Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
dsmeltz wrote:
I forgot: the Ephrata Cloister! In fact the town of Ephrata generally.
Is Ephrata the place with the old {coal} company town?
While in the area, a must in my opinion, is a visit to Litiz PA. Wilbur’s Chocolate is the best ever and Tom Sturgis Pretzel factory has the best tasting pretzels I have tasted. The town itself has lots of interesting little stores. Large Amish community and stop in at the visitor center in Lancaster and pick up the map showing all the many covered bridges in the area (most are still drive able). Lots of photo opportunities while driving the area.
rehess wrote:
Is Ephrata the place with the old {coal} company town?
No. I know of nothing coal mining related in or around Ephrata PA.
You may be thinking of a small town near Hazelton PA, the town of Eckley, where the movie The Molly Maguires was filmed. I use to have a friend that grew up in Eckley and he lived there when the movie was made. He said the only prep the production company had to do to the town was remove all the TV antennas and bury the power lines. If you watch the movie closely you will notice they actually missed a few TV antennas.
The reason the Amish resent having their photos taken is they believe it is a graven image. Although this is a misinterpretation of a graven image, usually used for idol worship, that is what they believe. The farms that have been turned into tourist attractions are owned by reformed Amish. They don't mind photographs. It is very rude to take photos of those that do not approve of it. It is always best to ask permission.
Rayart wrote:
The reason the Amish resent having their photos taken is they believe it is a graven image. Although this is a misinterpretation of a graven image, usually used for idol worship, that is what they believe. The farms that have been turned into tourist attractions are owned by reformed Amish. They don't mind photographs. It is very rude to take photos of those that do not approve of it. It is always best to ask permission.
You are correct about their misinterpretation of a single line in the Bible. Oh well, jokes on them.
The farms you are referring to are more than likely not Amish at all. They are probably owned by Mennonite families. Although there are different degrees or sects to the Amish, especially in Lancaster County PA, there are was more levels of Mennonites, and most of them do not shun modernization and modern technology.
rehess
Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
rmorrison1116 wrote:
You are correct about their misinterpretation of a single line in the Bible. Oh well, jokes on them.
The farms you are referring to are more than likely not Amish at all. They are probably owned by Mennonite families. Although there are different degrees or sects to the Amish, especially in Lancaster County PA, there are was more levels of Mennonites, and most of them do not shun modernization and modern technology.
You would have to observe them to know. In the Indiana "Amish counties" we have some of each; the Amish are the ones who are the cause of highway signs warning of horse-drawn carriages, and occasion story on local TV stations of some careless driver who missed the signs but not the carriage full of unfortunate people.
rehess wrote:
You would have to observe them to know. In the Indiana "Amish counties" we have some of each; the Amish are the ones who are the cause of highway signs warning of horse-drawn carriages, and occasion story on local TV stations of some careless driver who missed the signs but not the carriage full of unfortunate people.
Lancaster County PA Amish communities are the oldest in the USA. Among them are some of the most progressive in the USA. But, there are more Mennonites in the Lancaster, Berks and Chester county area, far more Mennonites.
Horse and buggies are quite common in certain areas of Lancaster and Chester counties, more common in Lancaster County PA. There are occasional incidents between horse & buggy and automobiles, but not as often as one would think. I'm quite use to them and have been stuck behind a slow moving buggy or cart numerous times, on 4 wheels and 2. But then I've been stuck behind plenty of slow moving farm equipment also; it's not a big deal. Accidents happen when people are impatient and stupid. Frankly, I'm never in that big of a hurry.
One thing I do find a little annoying about the plain people is, they aren't real big on certain types of personal hygiene. You can always tell when a group of them go shopping at the local Walmart after a hard day of working on the farm.
There are maybe 2 or 3 actual outlet stores at Tanger on RT 30 east of Lancaster. The rest are just regular retail stores pretending to be outlet stores. There are more actual outlet stores at Tanger Hershey, but like the Tanger on RT 30, the actual outlet stores are outnumbered by the regular retail stores.
If you are a beer afficienado, follow RT 61 north from Reading PA to Pottsville PA, the home of Yuengling brewery, which is not only the oldest brewery in the USA, it's the largest American owned brewery in the USA, and, they grew some darn good beer there.
The Hershey chocolate factory tour is ok. Not as good as it use to be when they took tour groups through the actual factory, but it's still quite interesting.
rehess
Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
rmorrison1116 wrote:
The Hershey chocolate factory tour is ok. Not as good as it use to be when they took tour groups through the actual factory, but it's still quite interesting.
Real photo opportunities at Hershey’s are limited; it is a lot more fun when when you take young people with you - our {then} pre-teen daughters really enjoyed it and talked about it for days afterwards.
Oh! Almost forgot. You could always drop by Three Mile Island before it shuts down.
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.