Lancaster County, PA - May 29, 2009

Friday 5/29
We got up and had a quick breakfast and we were off for yet another new state to me...Pennsylvania. Aunt Cindy had the day off and so she joined us. We headed out towards Lancaster County. We made good time, but then we hit a construction snarl and were waiting in line for what felt like 45 minutes and was probably pretty close to that to go maybe a mile. Once we cleared that construction it was pretty smooth sailing on into the Lancaster area. By the time we got into the main touristy area, it was time for lunch, we headed away from the bulk of the shops and had lunch at Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant on the outskirts of Intercourse, PA. The grounds were beautiful and the food was outstanding.

Like the sign says...Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant, Lancaster Co., PA. (What the sign doesn't say, but should...mmm mmm, good food).

Flower and bird nest at Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant, Lancaster Co., PA.

Flowers at Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant, Lancaster Co., PA.

Flowers at Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant, Lancaster Co., PA.

We got the family style meal and everything I ate was good, but the star of the show was the fried chicken; I don't generally get too excited about chicken that I've got to pick off the bone, but this chicken was so good I picked both of the pieces I had down to the bone and had there not been other good stuff on the table I probably would've been content to just eat a plate full of that fried poultry goodness. Bonnie and I finished our meal out with Shoo-Fly pie and vanilla ice cream...stellar!

After lunch we drove around a bit and then hit one of the shopping areas out that way. We walked around for a bit and then the clouds broke loose and just poured all over the area. Luckily we had a pretty good sense of what was getting ready to happen so when the rain went from light to coming in small buckets we were already to the car, which was a good thing because before long it was raining barrels. We sat in the parking lot and waited for the rain to slow a bit and then we headed over to Morgantown, PA to have dinner with Bonnie's cousin Keith and his family at the Pizza Hut there (this wouldn't have been my choice for dinner, but it was centrally located and easy to find, not to mention being located off 2 main highways, so it was convenient). We had a nice visit and dinner. After we'd eaten and gone outside we continued our chat. Keith mentioned that they had plenty of room at their place and we were welcome to stay with them anytime we were in the area...this came in handy later in our trip and made for a nice change of plans (more on that in a future note). We got back to Frederick [Maryland] fairly late and pretty much called it an evening upon arrival...besides we needed sleep for a big day to follow.