Bird-in-Hand, PA, was our destination today. Peggy had driving duty and I was directed into the navigator’s seat on the right side of Charlotte. I remembered a diesel station location on what I was convinced was the road to Bird-in-Hand so I sent Peg driving down the highway to the pumps. At my direction, we continued down the road after parting with many dollars to fill Charlotte’s tank only to discover that my recollection was entirely faulty so we soon arrived in Lancaster, PA. This was not my intended destination but I lied and indicated we were on the correct highway although it required we only drive some extra miles to reach our goal.
Ultimately we made it to Bird-in-Hand which is an Amish or Mennonite community that sells products to the curious, ignorant tourists. We started out at the Bird-in-Hand Farmer’s Market which is really a terrific place to buy food. They had tons of fudge, meat, pretzels, sweet rolls and other tasty stuff, some of which we bought in an attempt to clog our arteries. Despite the Pennsylvania Dutch reputation for a boring existence, the food they make is very yummy and we were required to leave the market before we bought everything they had for sale.
Peggy then had us visit a quilting store which, surprisingly, was even interesting to me. These folks must have a lot of time on their hands because they have time to make extremely intricate quilts that I found attractive. The designs are traditional but the variety and colors used in the individual quilts is pretty fascinating which I cannot believe I am writing because normally this kind of stuff is boring to me. Not in this case. Peggy demonstrated remarkable restraint by only buying $19 worth of quilt stuff in this place.
We drove home on a route we had not traveled before which is pretty easy around here considering the poor quality of the maps we have. Travel tip: Never rely on maps which you have acquired at tourist areas and instead use those provided by the state visitor information center because they are nearly accurate. It is interesting to note that we ended up passing by a long covered bridge today that we had not found in our search for them recently. Pennsylvania is a remarkable environment for coincidence.
Peggy’s baby dove is still alive but he has firmed up his new residence in the absent neighbor’s firepit. Mom and Dad Dove are dutifully feeding the little guy despite him being about the same size as his folks.