Young Amish Couple

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Outside Jakey’s Amish Barbeque restaurant, it was an open field in which some farm houses can be seen in far distance. We decided to take a walk in the field after dinner. Before we entered the field, we saw a young Amish couple was closing their small produce stand at the mouth of the field. I started chatting with them. It was strange they had a foreign accent even though they grew up in Pennsylvania. They lived in a community with Amish people and regular American folks. When I asked if the outsiders ever bother them, they smiled and said people are respectful to them. I found out that they lived a very simple life. They don’t vote for the presidents. They don’t go to public schools or churches. They smiled at us the whole time during our conversation. It was so cool to talk to them. They just looked like they stepped out from paintings in 1800s. What was even more interesting that they remained the old fashioned and simplistic way of life -no electricity and contact with the outside world. In contrast, their next door neighbors had SUVs parked on the driveway and lights throughout the house. In the field, an Amish man was plowing the soil with a five horse draw wagon. The sun almost disappeared in the horizon. The air was much cooler than the daytime. I could feel a gentle breeze on my face too. The man patiently plowed the earth one narrow line at the time. We were surrounded by thousands of fire flies glowing in the dark. It was so beautiful to be there seeing the farm house, the man working in the field and twinkling fireflies. If you ever come to the Dutch country, make sure to stop by the young Amish couple’s stand and get yourself some home grown and fresh produce, have a chat with them and watch the fire flies glowing in the dark. It feels magical!

Amish Community Drive
We really wanted to see Amish community and how they live on this trip. Several locals suggested going to Rout 896 S right off Rout 30. In the beginning of Rt. 896 S, it was quite commercial. There were a log of Amish gift shops and furniture stores on the way to Strasburg. There was even an Amish Village set up for tourists. I wondered why do people pay to visit a place that’s a set-up and see actors and actress who pretend to be Amish when the real Amish people drive right by them in buggies. I say if you are visiting the area, you should be aware of tourist traps, but be adventurous. We looked for real local gems. We continued on Rt. 896 S towards to Quarryville. The commercial stuff slowly disappeared instead we saw more farm land, produce stands on the side of roads, Amish buggies, Amish children and Amish families. Again, the neighborhood appeared to be mixed with Amish families and regular American families. It was not hard to identify Amish people. They often passed us by in their buggies and horse-drawn wagons. The men all grew big beard and wore straw hat. The women usually wore long cotton dresses and wore bonnet. Sometimes, we saw children playing and biking on the street just like children anywhere in America.

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