Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Keeping Time In A Place That Goes From Salty To Sweet In Less Than A Mile


Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Lititz, Pennsylvania - a town located in Lancaster County, commonly referred to as "Pennsylvania Dutch Country". It's a sweet little town, with shops, cafes, and historic buildings sprinkled throughout the tiny borough.
There's a chocolate factory where they make a little chocolate bud that pre-dates the Hershey Kiss; a Rolex funded watch technicum (which is the Soviet term for an institute of vocational education), where they teach the art of Swiss watchmaking; an all-girls boarding school, which is the oldest in the country; and the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the United States, which turns out hand-twisted sourdough pretzels made with a recipe derived from French monasteries. I can personally vouch for the chocolate and the pretzels - both were reaallly delicious.
While walking down Main Street (yes, we parked our rig right on the main drag!), the display in this shop window caught my eye. The poster for TokyoMilk not only had a Marie Antoinette-esque image, but the company sells products with French designs on the labels; in fact, many of the products even have French names, like La Petit, La Vie La Mort, and Tour Eiffel.
We love little towns like this but don't always find them easy to visit because they rarely have truck parking. We're probably a little bolder than most drivers, mainly because I will beg and plead with Ed to take routes and turn onto streets that make him say, like he did yesterday, "No trucker in his right mind would be driving down this alley." Yes, I'm convinced he loves me.
To experience the real zest of this little community, you'll just have to visit. Taking time to drive through small towns and villages is a great way to see the places that make our country so fabulous. If you want to learn more about this town, where only Moravians were permitted to live for the first century of its existence, visit the town's website.

And if you do go, make sure the following places are on your list of things to see: Heavenly Soaps & Scents, where you'll find candles, soaps and Tokyo Milk products; the pretzel bakery and the chocolate factory for your salty and sweet cravings; the watch technicum to understand a bit about the people who help keep time; and the boarding school for girls, founded by the Moravians in 1746.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2011:
Pride Of The United States Air Force
2010: The Dinosaur Rears Its Ugly Head
2009: Kidnapping Is Obviously Not Their Forte
2008: Eddie Friday On Ice
2007: Having Influence Where It Matters
2006: MacGyver To The Rescue
2005: The Weekend

5 comments:

ELH said...

Ok, now how come Eds not wearing those crazy colored shoes you got him in chgo!! Penn Dutch is also a fave for furniture in the wealthier areas of Chicago area..people boast about their handcrafted. Made to order furnishings..

all things bradbury said...

i spent a few days in this little town several years ago...loved it and all of the amish farms and markets surrounding....i'd love to go back...good to know that you can get a parking spot close in!

june in florida said...

Your are a tour guide for the whole country, i am sure these places are seeing an increase in their revenue due to your posts and exposure.

Ed said...

The neon shoes are my running shoes. In this picture I am eating a pretzel so I am wearing my pretzel eating shoes.

Belledog said...

Loved this post.

Will email you again soon; my email's out of commission and I've got to switch to iCloud shortly anyhow. A genius bar session is in my immediate future.

Cheers.