A Weekend in Amish Country, 7/7/17

One of the joys of living where we do is being able to drive 300 miles in any direction and you are somewhere totally different.  On Friday, July 7, 2017, we headed north to Lancaster County, PA - Amish Country.  We returned to one of our favorite B and B's, Harvest Moon in New Holland.   

Our first stay here was over 15 years ago.  The preschooler we met on our first trip just graduated from high school and we are happy to report he is doing great. 

Here are some shots of the lovely home and grounds.

The home is located on Main Street between the funeral home and the office and home of an accountant - no worries about rowdy parties at the neighbors - and the other guests are seeking the same thing we want - a quiet and relaxing get-away.

This is a lovely spot for sharing a bottle of wine and appitizers while listening to the horses coming down the street - more about that later.

What's a B and B without a house cat?  He guarded the backyard very well - we didn't see a single rodent all weekend  - and he was willing to stop for a good petting whenever I needed a kitty fix.

For more information on this B and B do a copy and paste of http://www.harvestmoonbandb.com

Friends introduced us to the Chautaugau Institute facility in Lancaster County several years ago.  This trip we had tickets to the opening night of this summer's music festival to hear Apollo's Fire.  This year is the 25th anniversary of this baroque musical group, using 18th century instruments or exact replicas.  The oldest instrument being played was made in 1750. Four European tours and 24 CD releases later, Apollo’s Fire has played to sold-out crowds in New York, Boston, Washington, San Francisco, Madrid, Bordeaux, the Tanglewood Festival and the BBC Proms in London.  We hope to hear them again when they perform at Carnegie Hall in NYC next March.

The theater, which is built at the base of Mt. Gretna with gorgeous Victorian homes looking down from the mountain side, is similar to Wolf Trap, meaning there is a stage, auditorium seating, and roof but no walls.  During the explanation of what we would be hearing during the playing of Vervaldi's Four Seasons a finch just outside the theater charmingly joined in just as the birds of spring were to sing but the neighbor's dog who joined in during the sounds of a fox hunt caused a lot of laughter.

For more about Apollo's Fire you can see them on You Tube just copy and paste the address:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slARY3q3IFU

Saturday was spent just driving around and enjoying the country side and doing some quilt shopping.  We passed through the small towns of Intercourse and Blue Ball which led to gross speculation as to what their high school mascots must be . . . but I digress.

Our first stop was in White Horse because we were told we might be able to watch Amish women making quilts.  We found only one woman working on a gorgeous quilt.

After lunch we returned to my favorite quilt shop in Goodville.  Each time we go back we are expecting to find a burned out shell.   How does the Fire Marshall allow this?

There are 30 women working at home who make the quilts found inside.  On the outside Obie's Country Store doesn't look all that different from the many others on these country roads but here's what makes the place unique.

This is what's on the front porch.

This is what greets you just inside the door.  Note the stairs going up to a balcony that wraps around the 2nd floor.

Looking down at the clerk from the balcony.

Note the quilts stacked on the railings and hung on the cross beams and the handmade baskets.

 Even the aisles are getting covered in materials.

After doing some digging, I ended up purchasing these two.

Besides quilts, this is a great place for antique shopping and going to farmers markets.

There are other sights you will see in Amish country.

The local shopping mall has a covered hitching post.

This is the "Cadillac" of buggies.

The reflective triangle is the only modern touch mandated by the state to end all the car wrecks.

About the only traffic jam you may encounter is when cars backup behind a buggy.  In town they take up a full lane but we were happy to see that many of the country roads have added buggy lanes between the standard lanes and the shoulders.  This is a shot of Main Street in New Holland and the B and B just further down the road.  Just sitting on the front porch you really could hear the buggies going by on a regular basis.  Charming actually.

Sign in front of the local bank.

We knew we had crossed into the neighboring county when we saw a sign for an Episcopal church and a winery just down the road.

We hope to be able to return many more times to Lancaster County.

Lake O'Woods to Visit Linda Gantt

On Friday, June 23rd, we left the Mild Bunch (our 4 cats) in the good care of Renee O'Brien and headed to the hollers of West Virginia to visit Linda Gantt.  She lives on a private lake with 42 lots but only 7 are occupied year round.  I always thought I'd love to live there but during a medical emergency the only way to get to the nearest hospital is by helicopter and there is terrible wifi and TV service.  It's a nice place to visit but ...

To get there you get off I-68 and drive through Bruceton Mills (easy to do - there's only 1 main road) to a country road finally given a name - Hileman Road.  This part of the trip is only a little over 6 miles, but it seems much longer.  Here's what it looks like:

In theory, this is a 2 lane road.  Still, you do not want to encounter a fast going logging truck coming in the opposite direction.  Note the lack of shoulders - on the right a deep ditch, on the left a steep slope that goes way down the mountain side.  This shot does not show any of the really huge pot holes - VW bugs could disappear in one.  (See my previous post about visiting the lake - August 2015, "Road Trip..." for more photos and commentary).

There's a mile-long stretch of this road that used to have an entire family, grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, lots of cousins, etc., living on both sides of the road.  On a bright sunny June Monday, Linda's secretary called to say she couldn't come to work because the sherrif had closed the road.  Now this did not make any sense - usually the road is closed a lot in the winter, but not on a lovely summer day.  Turns out this family had partied rather hard over the weekend and were still shooting at each other across the road.  The sherrif decided it would be best to just let them get tired and go to sleep.  Then he'd open the road.  We don't know if anyone was hurt during this shoot out, but we do know no one was arrested.  WV justice, or at least logic, in action.

Finally we arrived and it was as lovely as ever.

The original owners were from Pittsburg seeking a summer retreat.

Playing with my panorama setting from Linda's dock.

Speaking of docks, Linda's place is called "Pair O'Docs" because she and her husband, who died a couple of years ago, have doctorate degrees:  his in psychiatry, hers in art therapy.   The sign was down this trip because it needs some repairs.  There are so many happy memories of Lou from our previous visits and their shared whimsical view of life is evident all over the property.

Also, the grounds are lovely year round.

How lovely to see these flowers growing out of a dead tree stump.

Detail of one of the wrought iron fences.

An overly pixilated photo of a visitor, a lovely blue heron.

So lush and green.  Could I live in a desert landscape?  Maybe.  Stay tuned.

Good news - no motor boats on the lake.  Now if they could just keep the trucks and motorcycles from racing up and down the main road.  That's the only thing that interrupts the peace and quiet.

Such a lovely setting for dinner by the lake.

On Saturday, we went into Morgantown to see The University of West Virginia's Art Museum.

Although photography was not allowed inside, there was a lovely sculpture garden with a natural landscape garden.

The artist is Laxon Karisi but I couldn't find any information about him on the internet.  If anyone does find something, please let me know.  Reminds me of Henry Moore.

Sunday we took the traditional walk around the lake, modified for old folk - meaning, we stuck to the level half but it also happens to be the more scenic half.  Here are shots taken on the walk.

We almost stepped on this baby turtle but instead we moved it off the road and hoped its mommy found it.

Clouds on the mountain, not smoke.

One of the few new homes on the lake with stunning landscaping.

This dock is across the lake from the only home on the lake for sale and the home with the red roof on the left is Linda's.

It was another lovely weekend with Linda at the lake.  Back to a totally different reality living on the 14 th floor.