9/7/2018 Lancaster PA

Friday, 9/7/2018

Mom has a rehearsal this morning with a choral group she is in, so Greg and I opt to go visit the Lancaster Central Market, about a half hour away.

The market is in a huge brick building and has been going on since 1730!  Once an enclave for the mostly German and other European immigrants who settled here, the area has become quite diverse.

 Still, most of the vendors offer fresh produce and meats, incredible baked goods, and preserves, pickles and pretzels.

 We saw a few farms that offered cut-it-yourself fresh flowers too.  Would have done it if we weren't planning to leave in a few days.

 Above is Stoltzfus Baked Goods.  The Stoltzfus family must have been very prolific, as you will find everything from hardware stores to bakeries to auto repair shops to beauty parlors with the name Stoltzfus attached!

 A few offer quilts and other home-made products.  Lots of things I remember from my childhood since I grew up about an hour from here, with Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors.

I think if I lived here, I'd be WAY overweight!  So many tempting baked goods, from apple pies, to cakes, whoopee pies and these crazy huge sticky buns and cinnamon rolls.

We go up some stairs to a kind of loft area which overlooks the market, and I can't help but compare it to a market we went to in ChiangMai, Thailand where we had a similar overview.  Flowers, meat, vegetables and wonderful people in both places!  I love markets.

Lancaster

ChiangMai


We buy a few goodies, and go to some nearby outdoor tables to share a piece of decadent chocolate cake with peanut butter icing.  Yum!  Highlighting the current diversity of the area, we watch a one-man-band guy playing old time music and a few yards away, a pair of break-dancers with boom boxes!

Watching the entertainment are a variety of folks including this young Amish man, business folks,

families with children, old farts like us, and people wearing anything from high heels to cowboy boots to work boots to tennis shoes.  What a country!

There are some statues in town, mostly depicting Civil War folks, but dedicated to all those who lost their lives serving their country in our various conflicts.  Some nice old architecture too.

We mosey back to Mom's, taking some smaller back roads.  Today must be laundry day as we pass many farmhouses with clothes a-flyin'.

Tobacco Drying in a Barn











We enjoy the afternoon with Mom, talking with other family members and watching some sports on TV.  Wimbledon finals! Serena W.  plays well but has a melt down over a call, which brings the whole level of the match down.

Mom treats us to another nice dinner downstairs.  So nice to sit and chat and share....