In last week’s post about Intercourse, PA (yep, there really is a town called Intercourse), I talked about how Matt and I took a day trip out to Amish country because we’ve been wanting to go ever since I moved to Philadelphia. I absolutely loved going there, and I want to go back when everything is in bloom for spring! You can read about what we did in Intercourse, PA on my post here, and this post is about what to see in Lancaster. There are a lot of outlet stores and an amusement park called Dutch Wonderland (I definitely want to go there when I go back!), but we mostly just walked around downtown Lancaster to see the historic Victorian buildings.
We also went to the farmer’s market in town, and it’s like a smaller version of Reading Terminal Market but it isn’t open daily like Reading Terminal is. We got some wine and Christmas presents in Intercourse, PA, and we picked up some amazing pumpkin butter, apple butter, and black raspberry preserves from a very friendly and outgoing Amish man at the farmer’s market! Like I said in my last post, the next time I go back to Amish country, I want to bring a cooler so I can load up on all the great meat and cheese all the markets were selling.
While we were in Lancaster, we actually went to President Buchanan’s home, Wheatland. If you’ve read my About Me page, you will have seen that I’ve been to quite a few presidential homes (and I’ve been to multiple homes for some presidents). Why? My family has a very nerdy competition with one of my uncles over who can go to the most presidential homes. Yep, true story. And fun fact, I share the same exact name as Ulysses S. Grant’s wife! (Apparently, I was just destined to be a history nerd). I’m actually the only one who’s been to Buchanan’s home now, and I really enjoyed the tour! Buchanan is the only president who was a bachelor, but on the tour, we learned about how he basically adopted a lot of his nieces and nephews after the death of their parents so he did always have companions. One of his nieces served as the First Lady when he was the president. Another thing I really loved about the tour was that almost all of the furniture in the house was owned by Buchanan, which is pretty rare in the older presidential homes. If you’re ever in the Lancaster area, I definitely recommend taking the tour of Buchanan’s home and learning some interesting history!
I love the stained glass windows of this building!
The building that houses the market is very ornate and pretty
The man we bought all the butters and preserves from had an amazing variety in his selection, and there was also a lot of honey
I loved all the bright colors on the buildings!
Historic St. Mary’s Catholic Church has been active since the 1700s!
I was surprised how many Victorian style buildings were around Lancaster, and they were all beautiful and colorful!
Buchanan’s home, Wheatland
This is actually the fancy outhouse!
I really enjoyed going to Intercourse and Lancaster, and I definitely want to go back! It’s an easy day trip from Philadelphia, and there’s so much to see and do. If anyone has any recommendations, I would love to hear them! 🙂
Lancaster is such an interesting place, blending Amish culture with modern society. I love driving through it and stopping to take pictures whenever I see something interesting!
Yes it’s such an interesting place to drive through!
Your photos are gorgeous.
My family spent a few New Year’s Eve’s in Lancaster.
Thank you! That sounds like fun!
I’m surprised at how green the foilage in Lancaster still is this late in October. I love the red bricks of the buildings – it’s like autumn colors without the leaves. I really want to go to ab Amish market. I bet everything just tastes better that fresh.
Alyse (J.X.L.) ▲ Lumière & Lens
Yes I really enjoyed the market! A lot of trees have been changing, but there are still a lot that are bright green. I’ve been wanting to photograph Rittenhouse Square, but there’s only one tree that’s even started to change so far!
Good to know, Julie. I’m going to give it a try one of these days then. 🙂
Great! 🙂
That sounds like it was a very fun day. Have you tried the pumpkin butter yet? Was it good? It sure sounds delicious.
I loved all of the pictures you took of the farmer’s market. They were gorgeous.
Thank you! Yes it was great!
The building in that first phot is gorgeous! Actually, all these building are neat looking!
Yes, I was surprised how many beautiful old buildings there are in Lancaster!