Dutch Country

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Longwood Garden
It is near a town called Kennett Square. Pierre du Pond a chemist, industrist bought the land to protect the trees on the land. Over course of life, he built massive gardens, the conservatory and several water fountains. The garden has 200 acres. It has 200 years of history. There are fine dining and gourmet café in the garden. The food although price, it is tasty and fresh. You can always have your own picnic and enjoy the beautiful trees and flowers. It is definitely a place to see.

Shopping in Dutch Country
We want to see the Amish country on the way to Gettysburg. A nice local lady recommended taking Rout 30 W to Lancaster and making stops along the way. We didn’t know we were stepping in not only Amish community, but also the traditional Dutch country. Rt. 30 turns into Lincoln Hwy with one lane on each side between Gap and Ronks. The stop-and-go traffic is perfect for visitors who like to appreciate the sceneries and shop at country stores, but it can be frustrating for people who don’t want to make stops. One of the first place drawn me in was the Jake’s Country Trading Post (2950 Lincoln Hwy East). This is a fantastic country store. It has tons of statuaries, windmills, lawn & garden decors and flags to make your yard or garden the most welcoming place and make your neighbors jealous. I really liked some of the yard decorations and regretted I didn’t buy them. The wooden bees are painted in bright colors with white wings spinning in the wind. A wooden Amish boy holds out a rose to an Amish girl with red cheeks. How adorable to stick such decorations in your front yard. Right next to the country store, a vendor sold fresh produce and fruits. As I picked out some cherries from the vendor, I chatted with her about where to find Amish villages and the distance to Gettysburg. She joked with me “are you going to visit the ghosts in Gettysburg?” And she insisted I would be able to see the ghosts if I take some digital pictures in Gettysburg. I was amused yet intrigued by her ideas. Why not examine my pictures and see if there are such things as Gettysburg’s ghosts? As we continued on Lincoln Hwy, we couldn’t resist the large windmill on the roof of Dutch Heaven (2857 -A Lincoln Hwy Ronks, PA). It is a bakery, gift shop and furniture store all in one. The store is filled with aroma of cakes and cookies. It is famous for its Dutch shoo-fly pie. The pie is so delicious, you have to shoo the flies away. We got to sample some shoo-fly pies at the store. It was quite tasty. It is mainly made of brown sugar and cinnamon. It definitely satisfies people who have sweet tooth. Behind Dutch Heaven, Jakey’s Amish Barbeque restaurant serves old fashioned Amish dishes and country style barbeque and fresh squeezed lemonade. We had dinner there because the price was reasonable ($10 - $15 entrée) and its country atmosphere. The food portion was big but the flavor was not impressive. It was corn season in August. So the sweet corn was very yummy.

Annual Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair
It is a major local attraction starting mid-August through October 31. It is located midway between Lancaster and Hershey on Route 72.
I heard Plain & Fancy is really a good place to get original Amish farm feast. It is located between Bird-in-hand & Intercourse on route 340. (3121 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand, PA 717-768-4400)

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