Lancaster & Valley Forge 11.9

Day 8 - Lancaster & Valley Forge - Sunny Near 70

So we started our day in Lancaster County, PA. It was a beautiful sunny day and we ventured into Amish Country. We began with a horse and buggy ride through the country and stopped at a local Amish Farm. (While interesting, I do not reccommend this as it was more expensive than we anticpated and not quite worth it). Once we finished the tour, we took a beautiful car ride through the sprawling fields of farm land. It is amazing to see homes that have no power lines attached to them, where homes have clothes lines full of laundry, and where children play outside. I am jealous of their lifestyle in so many ways and then of course realize the luxuries I have and would not want to be without.

A few notes about the Amish.
1. There are two variations. Amish and Mennonite.
2. The Amish use no electricity, the Mennonite do.
3. The Amish drive gray buggies, the Mennonite black buggies.
4. The Amish have church in their homes, the Mennonite congregate a churches.
5. There are Amish and Mennonite who drive cars.

We finished our time in Amish Country with lunch at the Squireside Cafe. It was nothing special but good nonetheless.

Once we left Lancaster County we headed toward Philadelphia. I took a brief nap and awoke to Ben pulling off to visit Valley Forge National Park. He saw the sign and decided to stop. It turned out to be a great stop!

Valley Forge became famous during the Revolutionary War as the winter encampment for George Washington and the Continental Army. No battles were ever fought here but it was a turning point in the war without fighting. We were able to tour George Washington's home as he lived in it when he came here as Commander in Chief and the General of the Army. It was really special to know that as we walked up the stairs to the bedrooms we were touching the same banister (the exact same one) as George and Martha Washington, Benedict Arnold, and most likely Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and a host of other important historical fixtures. After our guided tour we headed out to tour the entire encampment. It wasn't a long trip but the mounds built for protection during the Revolutionary War are still there. *Side Note: There are an incredible number of deer. We probably saw 35 deer in the hour that we drove around the park.** After driving around we went to Washington's Church. The church is still in service today and has a congregation. As you can see in the pictures the pews have army men carved into them and Washington's name carved into his pew!

The church was our last top in Valley Forge and we actually used the parking lot as our repacking station. We got things organized so that when we got into Philadelphia we would be good to go. We arrived at the Latham Hotel (thanks to Joyce and Ashley). We made sandwiches in the room and watched a little t.v. before hitting the hay!

Enjoy the pictures!