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Published: November 8th 2007
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I love Intercourse
The hat doesn't lie....... I bet the heading of this blog entry got your attention! This will be explained a little bit later on.....Fi and I recently visited Washington DC for 'Navy Week'. Each year the embassy pays for members posted to the US to visit the embassy to be informed of changes happening in the Defence Force and to receive those mandatory riveting briefs like 'Equity and Diversity' and 'Occupational Health and Safety', needless to say I had a heap of Uni to do so unfortunately was unavailable to attend these briefs.
We flew into DC a couple of days early so we could do a little tourism and watch the Rugby World Cup with a couple of other Australians. We were very unimpressed out how selfish the Wallabies were by getting knocked out and wrecking our plans - selfish bastards. Jacko was working quite hard on a submission for his PhD, so we decided to take Jenn with us up to Lancaster the home of the Amish People.
Lancaster is about two hours drive north of Washington DC in the state of Pennsylvania (which a nameless person thought was the home of Dracula). I was absolutely delighted that Jacko owned a
Pennsylvania
No Fiona, this isn't where Dracula lives.... Dodge Drongo (see the entry named 'Jacko and Jenn's wedding' for my thoughts on these cars), so after spending 5 mins trying to work out how to turn the lights on we hit the road for Amish country. After a rather unpleasant drive through the rain we arrived in Lancaster to find that the centre of Amish country was actually a quaint little town called 'Intercourse' (I shit you not). So being the gentleman I am, I had no choice but to take Fiona and Jenn to intercourse (I've got plenty more of these bad jokes). Much to our amusement we also visited a small town called 'Paradise' straight after intercourse which of course I told the girls always happens when I take someone to intercourse. They thought that it would have been nice if I had taken them to a little town called 'Foreplay' first, but buggered if I could find that on the map. Anyway, Jenn said that Jacko could go to Intercourse if he wanted to, but he'd had to go by himself.......I didn't get that one.....
Anyway, we arrived at Intercourse in the middles of some heavy rain which got me wondering if it was
The Dutch Bakery
Shoo-Fly pie.....Mmmmmmm always wet at intercourse...(that's the last one I promise). The rain didn't deter the Amish though - they were out and about in their characteristic homemade dark clothing and beards and getting around in their horse and buggies. The town itself was quite old, so it was almost like stepping back in time except for the thousand of tourists like us in their cars!
We were a bit peckish so we decided to stop at a Danish Bakery for some (apparently) famous 'Shoo-Fly Pie' which is an Amish recipe. Fiona had managed to misread the sign, so it was now called 'Spoofly Pie', and it was really quite tasty. It is made without milk to keeps for ages - 2 weeks without refrigeration and 4 weeks if you bung it in the fridge. Just so Jacko wouldn't miss out we bought a Shoo-Fly pie to take home for him to try........It was a 'taste of Intercourse' that we could take home with us (I know I promised but I couldn't resist that one....get it?....'taste of intercourse'......sorry about that one).
We then decided to have a drive around the country side and check things out. It really is a
Horse and Buggy
The Amish chose to use Horse and Buggy for transport rather than motorised vehicles. These things were everywhere throughout the county. beautiful area of the world, the soil is fertile so the crops are very green and the rolling hills just give it a classic look. It is now Autumn or Fall as the Americans call it, so the deciduous trees are changing colour to the rich reds, oranges, yellows and browns and just look magnificent. This combined with the covered bridges and horse and buggies give the place a classic and timeless charm.
Whilst we were in Intercourse (we were there for hours and hours, longer than either of the girls had ever been to intercourse for....man I just can't stop) we decided to visit the 'Amish and Mennonite Cultural Centre' to learn more about these fascinating people. They originate from primarily from Germany, but also Holland and migrated to various places in the world (but primarily the US) to escape religious persecution. The Mennonites have only very slightly different beliefs to the Amish, but embrace modern technology to a greater extent. They will generally use motor vehicles and dress in modern clothes while the Amish will not. I must say that the more I learned about these people the more I couldn't help but wonder if they have
Amish Farm
This is a farm that we drove past. All the corn is feed for the animals that are used to work the farm. The old horse drawn equipment is a give-away for an Amish run farm. it right. They value family and religion above all else and have no interest in materialistic things. They seem to be a very happy and content people, and it was with a newfound respect that we left Intercourse (see no jokes here).
The day after our visit to Intercourse we all needed a sleep in (except for Chris of course) and headed to one of the local Irish pubs (which just happens to be owned by an Australian) to watch the World Cup. A couple of other guys we knew from ADFA met up with us and although the Aussies had choked yet again and weren't playing, it was with great pleasure that we watched South Africa hand England their backsides. The whining and wingeing from the Pommy supporters was music to our ears.....just fantastic to hear.
After the World Cup Fiona and I left Jacko and Jenn to head into the city to the hotel where we were accomodated for the 'Navy Week'. Fiona endured the mind numbing briefs for two days with the light at the end of the tunnel being the cocktail party at the completion of the week. This turned out to be an
Amish water powered Mill
This is a water powered Mill used by the Amish people. It was very rustic and picturesque. international affair with Naval Officers from all the various embassies in DC (seemed more like a Mardi Gras to me....). It was a great catch up for Fiona though and she had a blast meeting new people and catching up with old friends. Needless to say we were a little worse for wear the next day when we had to get up early to attend the tour of the Library of Congress.
The Library of Congress is a the biggest Library in the world and serves a place of research for the US congress. It is an absolutely remarkable place to visit as it holds over 130 million references, but it an amazingly elaborate building which has just been completely restored to its former glory. There is not a single space in the building not decorated in one way or another, and all the decorations have a theme or reason for being there. One of the pieces on display is 'The Gutenberg Bible', which was the first book printed and worth somewhere in the vicinity of $5.5 Million USD. Pretty amazing stuff. This place is definately worth a visit if you ever get the chance to visit Washington DC.
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anonymous
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Did you buy any "Amish Stuff" from the "Amish Stuff" shop?