The recent Labor Day weekend gave us an opportunity to take a short trip with family to Lancaster in Pennsylvania.
What is the first thing you think of when you hear Lancaster , PA? Amish? Horses and buggies? Buffets? Maybe you aren’t familiar with the area at all. We had visited a few years ago when the littlest Jones was younger and thought it would make the perfect spot for a weekend vacation with family. Come along on our travels to Lancaster!
A little about Lancaster …
Lancaster is a county in eastern Pennsylvania. Inside the county you will find the city of Lancaster with a historic district, Central Market– the countries oldest continuously operated farmer’s market, and all the other amenities you would expect in a city setting. Outside of the city, Lancaster county is sprinkled with lots of small towns, like Lititz or Bird in Hand, that are home to many small Amish and Mennonite businesses.
In the small towns, you will find a lot of stores with handmade crafts and homemade food. Farm stands sell fresh produce. It is important to know that many of the restaurants that are run by Amish or Mennonite families close earlier (like 5 or 6 o’clock) than big chain restaurants. They are not open on Sundays either.
Yes! You can pass the horse drawn buggies on the road. Just make sure that the opposite lane is clear of traffic and use your turn signals.
Road Tripping with the Jones
We picked up the littlest Jones from school on Thursday and headed off for the road trip to Lancaster. Unfortunately, many other people had the same great idea as us, so the drive was a little longer than anticipated. Traffic, no surprise here, was heavy in northern Virginia and around York, PA. We were thankful to pull up to our home rental for the weekend.
It was a spacious split level home with plenty of room for ourselves, my parents, and my sister’s family. I would link it here, but it is currently in the process of being sold. Hopefully the new owners keep it as a rental because we would return. We enjoyed that it was a short drive to many of the things we wanted to do. The kids loved the outdoor playground and the air hockey table.
On Friday, we spent part of the day exploring the local area. In the morning, we went to Bird in Hand Bake Shop to pick up some pies for a birthday celebration later in the evening. Driving through the countryside on the backroads was very picturesque. Everywhere you look are rolling hills with beautiful kept farms, roads surrounded by tall corn fields, and cows and horses in fields. We took a trip to Barry’s Car Barn to see a collection of antique cars from the 50s-70s. Then we went over to the Kitchen Kettle Village to shop at the small stores there. The littlest Jones caught a stomach bug (ahhh…the beginning of the school year) which kept us in the rest of the day, but here are some other places we were planning on exploring.
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
Thankfully, having the fast and strong immune system of a kid means that by Saturday morning the littlest Jones was fully recovered and ready to have some fun! For breakfast we enjoyed some warm apple fritters that our host brought over to the house. Then we headed to Dutch Wonderland.
Dutch Wonderland is an amusement park in Lancaster perfect for children ten and under. It’s all kids rides here, but there are several that adults can enjoy too. Our first stop was Duke’s Lagoon which is a giant splash pad that the kids explored for several hours. The littlest Jones also particularly enjoyed riding a water tube ride with her cousin. After lunch at Merlin’s Pizza buffet (one of the best deals for amusement park food in the park), we tried out some roller coasters and other rides. Merlin’s Mayhem and Kingdom Coaster were winners.
The Twister was the favorite ride of the day. It was such a kid favorite that the parents found a bench to relax on while the kids rode it over and over again. Afterwards, we headed back to the house for a meal of leftovers while we caught up with my parents who had spent the day at antique stores.
I realized afterwards that I didn’t take many pictures that day. I think I was busy having fun!
On Sunday, it was time to pack up our things and head out. The littlest Jones was sad that our trip was done and was already asking when we could return. Thankfully, the traffic was non-existent (or as non-existent as you can be on I-95), so it only took us three and a half hours to get home.
Do you have any Lancaster favorites that we should know about for our next trip? Let me know in the comments?
