Day 23 - Gettysburg, PA to Lancaster, PA

Up with the alarm at 6:45, which turned out to be just a tad early. Barb thought we had signed on for breakfast at 8:00, when it was really 8:30. No problem, a little coffee and the Gettysburg Times and before we knew it our hosts called us into the dining room.

Breakfast was an improvement over yesterday. Fruit cup, Crème Brulee French Toast, sausage, juice and coffee. All of it made even better by a bonus group of fellow diners. No more talk of muscle cars and the days of youth long past. As for the B & B, it was ok. Is that meaningful for you?

On the road at 9:15, one stop for gas and then we were heading north on highway 15 to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I missed a couple of turns on the way to the Capitol City Mall in Camp Hill for a Starbucks, but we were soon crossing the Susquehanna River into Harrisburg. It came as a surprise to me that Harrisburg is the state capitol; I would have thought Philadelphia or Pittsburg. A short drive east on highway 283 brought us to Lancaster and our motel, which surprisingly had our room ready.

After checking out a few maps we headed east into farm country. Actually Amish farm country and it was by far the most beautiful farm country we have ever seen. You see pictures of this country and form an image in your mind of what it will look like. The image for me wasn’t even close. Rolling hills and white houses. Silos and barns. Corn fields and dairy cows. Horse drawn buggies and straw hats. Photos will never do it justice, but I now have photos in my mind.

Today is Saturday in Amish country, and I’m guessing its laundry day, for there are pants and shirts flying like flags in the wind from unbelievably long clothes lines. There are so many houses with buggies and no power lines. We watched a corn field being cleared by a horse drawn harvester and earth being turned by a horse drawn plow.

Lunch was at the Revere Tavern in Paradise, Pennsylvania, which began providing travelers with lodging, food and spirits in 1740. In 1841, the tavern became the residence of Reverend Edward Buchanan and in 1854 it was purchased by the Reverend’s brother, James Buchanan, the Fifteenth President of the United States. Adding further to the tavern’s history, composer Stephen Foster penned many of his songs while a guest of his sister Eliza, who was the wife of the Reverend Buchanan.

We spent some time searching for some of the 30 odd covered bridges in Lancaster County and came up empty. Back at the motel I began writing up some notes for the blog, while Barb made use of the guest laundry. Tomorrow we will head south to Manassas, Virginia, stopping along the way to explore the Antietam Battlefield in Maryland. Up to 5,419 miles and almost to the halfway point. 158 miles today.

Amish farmland