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Published: April 25th 2018
Amish country
The old traditional horse and buggy transport.According to the travel plans, next stop scheduled is Lancaster PA. A two block walk away from our NYC hotel was Penn Station where an Amtrak train was scheduled to leave station at 10h50 bound for Lancaster. For us South Africans from the quiet backwaters of the Eastern Cape, Penn station was a maelstrom of movement and semi chaos. People, trains, schedules and just a hint of panic as we anxiously studied the train departures and platforms. In the midst of all this we were requested to "evacuate" our seating area while the local feds searched a suspect looking bag. Also approached by a few homeless people as we stood gazing at the departures board. All hustling for a hand out and somewhat of a surprise as we had seen many on the sidewalks during our time in NYC.
Safely seated on the correct train, we headed out of NYC on a three hour journey to the next destination on this American sojourn. An observation as we
Spring?
Apple orchards and trees lusting for Spring warmth. sped through the countryside was that there are few railroad systems anywhere that traverse smart looking upmarket areas adjacent to cities. Somehow the buildings , both industrial and residential, that run alongside most railway lines all have that drab, grey and often broken down appearance.
The reason for a four day stop off in Lancaster was to spend time with Sue's cousin, Jeanette Biebuyck and her husband, Julien. Julien is one of the USA's most highly qualified and regarded Anesthesiologists after orginally graduating from UCT's medical faculty. He was an Oxford Rhodes Scholar where he also did his PhD. The Biebuyck's left SA many years ago and raised their three children in the USA. They are a retired couple living in Willow Valley Community, a superb haven for older folk who live by the community motto " Living Life forward". We were shown around this incredible facility and I doubt whether there is anything like it anywhere in the World. For those who are curious by nature, take time and look at www.willowvalleycommunities.org.
Needless to say, the Biebuyck's had arranged an active itinerary for our stay and we traversed this corner of PA which is fairly densely populated
The Beehive
Hotel Hive with a fellow camper on the bridge alongside. with one town and city feeding into the next. Magnificent countryside boasting the best agricultural land in America with fantastic soil and no sign of irrigation systems as this region receives abundant rainfall. It is also home to a 35000 strong Amish community and Jeanette had arranged a tour to one of the areas including a visit to a small school. Fascinating to say the least. This school had about 24 scholars spanning Grades 1 to 8 (Std 6). A single female teacher looking after all these scholars and grades. The Amish are known for simple living which includes not adopting many conveniences of modern technology. So no electric supply to any dwelling, no TV or computers or modern conveniences. Plain dress which means most clothing is uniform and hand made. Education ends in Grade 8 and the philosophy is about building a family (6 to 8 children) and committing to a rural life, labour and humility. Transport is still by way of the traditional horse drawn buggy. These 40 to 50 family Amish communities live in harmony alongside normal US families. All difficicult to assimilate given our modern, frenetic lifestyles and we both had more questions than answers swirling
Trump's Pad
The White House in the background. in our minds after our fascinating Amish experience.
A real topic of conversation since our arrival in the USA has been the late to non arrival of Spring. It should have sprung but hadn't and one can sense a deep longing among many folk for some real warmth and confirmation that the long winter cold is over. Lancaster was no different and many plants and trees which should have been proudly displaying their Spring colours were still in winter mode. This was in evidence as we travelled to Boyertown for a lunch gathering with the Biebuyck's son, Gavin, and his family. Plenty of forested areas on the roadside with no sign of green leafy growth. Gavin is a fanatical cyclist and in June will go across to Oregon for a 1200 mile marathon cycle. Wow!
No travel plans are cast in stone and ours took a neat little twist whilst in Lancaster largely due to their being no direct flight from the regional aiport to Toronto (our next stop). Washington is down the road so after a wonderful stay in Lancaster, we duly picked up a rental car in Harrisburg and set the Google Maps GPS accordingly. Driving
Majestic!
That is Capitol Hill looking onto Sue. on the "wrong" side of the road had kept me awake the previous night but driving in the USA is a doddle. Great road signs, warnings etc., and then the unerring accuracy of a GPS device which delivered us three hours later to our hastily booked hotel in Foggy Bottom, Washington. Interesting name and this is the definition: " A nickname for the US Dept of State, whose offices were built in a formerly swampy area of Washington D.C. , known as Foggy Bottom because of vapours arising from the swamp." It is an area adjacent to Constitution Avenue so is ideal for launching a one day sight seeing blitz on this hugely impressive city.
Quick anecdotal story about accommodation bookings. A website www.Booking.com is incredible for locating a place to bed down and after entering Foggy Bottom, a choice of hotels popped up. Filter out the expensive pads and then interest peaks. Found one by name of Hotel Hive and at $136 for the night and following an obligatory check on TripAdvisor, the booking was made. This was a fascinating establishment defining itself as a "micro" hotel. It is built on a beehive concept so your choice of
Smithsonean
Don't believe everything you see and hear about the "glamour" of early day air travel. rooms is, in descending order of cost and size, Loft Wing, Hive Queen, Buzz Queen, Loft Bunk and Hive Bunk. Our choice, Buzz Queen, was spot on. Small, very clean and ideal for a short stay.
We then set off on foot and were soon in Constitution Ave. Incredible stuff as this avenue is flanked by all those hallmark Federal Govt buildings on one side and hugely impressive historic and art museums on the other. About 4 kms further on is Capitol Hill which stands majesticly and is a gentle reminder of the power of this nation. Just when you think you have seen it all, the roadway swings down into Independence Ave running parallel and also boasting Federal Agency buildings and historic museums. We did the Smithsonean Institute of Flight and Space visit. Exceptional. No point in name dropping all the landmarks seen, but anyone going to the USA simply has to include Washington in travel plans. The real stand outs were the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In the case of the latter, the emotion is one of depair as you look at the marble lined wall inscribed with the names of 50 odd thousand
Washington Monument
This is the long avenue where crowds gather for Presidential inaugorations. US military people who lost their lives. When will the human race realize the futility of war?
Enough of history for the moment and some Washington "observations" and perhaps a culinary comment (to delight one "critic" in particular!).
Architecture. This is not a city on skyline steroids like NYC. Generally buildings are no higher than 5-6 stories and the design and structures are simply magnificent. The historical monuments are beautifully sculpted and preserved. Why is that in South Africa we have this rabid hysteria about colonial history which has now lead to destroying monuments? After all colonialism shaped this great country and expunging the history that shaped it would serve no purpose. Go figure!
Spotless. Just more than 20 million people visit Washington annually (SA, as a country, attracts about 10 million). Despite this huge number which we can attest to based on the many people we saw, the city is spotlessly clean and tidy. The only blight on the radar is the number of homeless p (true,eople sleeping openly on the pavements. Some have small tents covering them whilst others are buried under layers of blankets. Sad to see and a little surprising that the Feds allow this.
A "bigish" problem. There are many signs of Trump's presence with the one stand out being all manner of regalia bearing his clarion call "Make America Great Again". Well, with the utmost respect to the good folk of America, there is one problem which needs to be confronted. Simply put, it's the the size of many people one comes across. Perhaps Trump needs to promote "Make Americans Leaner Again". Enough said! In fairness this is a global problem and SA would probably find themselves in the top end of the "big" league table.
After a 12 km walk ( true, as measured by Sue's Fitbit) taking in the splendours of Washington, one's attention turns to placating a raging thirst and belly aching hunger. Surprisingly not much in the way of culinary outlets close to the Beehive, but we did spot that "Happy Hour" applied until 6pm so with budgetary constraints in mind we rushed into the downstairs pub and eatery. Beer and wine at $6 each, I'm sure we tested their Happy Hour budget costings. After scrutinising the menu we settled for pizza (yet again), so for the "foodies" there is not much yet to describe and apply a Michellin star rating to.
The beer and wine was good, the pizza was top class and weary legs delivered us to the Buzz Queen room where we bunkered down drifting off into slumberland extremely thankful that we had slipped Washington DC into the itinerary.
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Graham Howard
non-member comment
Spring certainly hasn't sprung!
Hi Tim, Glad you and Sue are settling into the US of A and having fun. Great call to go to Washington, we keep missing it. Interesting to hear your comments, all so familiar - the homeless situation is serious and everywhere in the States. We are in our second week in Louisville now, and certainly looking forward for winter to disappear, pretty wet and cold here. We drove from Myrtle Beach to Louisville over two days and drove through light snow, and just missed a tornado. Stopped for lunch and while eating one of the servers quietly told us about the nearby tornado, and if it comes this way just hide in the toilet!! Loving being with the family and bonding with Valor and Oakley Lin, also attending some of Sean's classes - some great teaching. Enjoy the rest of the tour, enjoying the blog. cheers, Love from Graham and Vee.