#Laterpost: Amish Country, PA

These are pictures from the first leg of our trip. We left Boston on March 28 and took about a week to travel down the east coast to Virginia. This picks up where my last Laterpost, about Philadelphia, ends. To read that post, click here.

After we left the Philadelphia KOA, we took a drive through Amish country.  "Amish Country" is kind of a catch-all term that applies to Lancaster County, PA, and the surrounding farmlands, which are home to a high percentage of the US Amish population.  It's a beautiful area filled with rolling hills, modest homes, farms, and the perpetual aroma of fresh manure lingering softly in the air.

I can smell the poop just looking at this picture.

The Bird-in-Hand Bakery

There are also some super cute small businesses that sell delicious baked goods, and/or little trinkets the Jewish side of my family would refer to as tchotchkes.

Josh admiring some tchotchkes

Christmas tchotchkes

Halloween tchotchkes

Pretty tchotchkes

Josh bought me these cupcake tchotchkes for baking.

We were on a tight schedule, so we unfortunately only got to spend an hour milling about the shops. My favorite part about this stop was seeing how the Amish people live. I loved seeing horse-drawn carriages, modest houses, and full clotheslines. The farmlands were beautiful and the horizons unmarred by tall buildings. I had no previous experience with Amish people, besides having watched a couple episodes of Breaking Amish when it first came out (and I have a tiny hunch that the show was not an entirely accurate representation of what the Amish are all about). It was a cool insight into what life is like for these people that I knew nothing about beforehand.

#Laterpost: Tilly in Philly

Hi, guys!  These are pictures from the first leg of our trip.  We left Boston on March 28th and took about a week to travel down the east coast to Virginia.  One of the stops I was most excited about was Philly!  Unfortunately, stopping and finding parking in a large city is kind of difficult when you have a giant RV and a car (who knew?) so we spent half of our time finding a parking spot for Tilly and the other half trying to find a parking spot for the Ivory Chariot (my car, which will stay at my parents' until we get settled in California).  Neither of us had been to Philly before, and we didn't know our way around, so we got lost in a couple not-so-great neighborhoods in the process.  I wanted more than anything to see the Liberty Bell, but there was no parking within a reasonable distance, so I settled for a quick dinner at a Belgian restaurant called Eulogy Tavern, and then on to the next stop.  That actually ended up being the best meal I've had on the trip so far.  So screw you, Libery Bell.

The cute street where we finally found a spot for my car.

Josh got this cool Scottish beer that he really enjoyed.

A tuna sandwich that was the size of my face.  I dream about this sandwich periodically.  I will have it again someday.

After we left Philly, we spent 2 nights glamping at the Philadelphia KOA.  We stayed in the RV section (of course) and we were the youngest people there by about 30 years.  Ol' Tilly looked a little haggard next to all of the shiny new campers that were manufactured in the current millenium, but we still love her.  I took a few pictures of our campsite on my phone, but soon after, my phone crashed and I lost them.  We spent our time there relaxing, drinking local beers, and rearranging Tilly's interior.  Then, we roasted veggie hot dogs over a campfire and ate them by candlelight.

You can still be romantic in the woods surrounded by RVs that are nicer than yours.

Hope you are all having a happy Friday!