Pennsylvania

On our way to Delaware from New York, we eagerly explored several parts of Pennsylvania. We really enjoyed the many factory tours available in this state, and it was so hard choosing which ones to visit. We could have stayed in Pennsylvania for days- there is so much to explore! 

We enjoyed stopping at one of the many pretzel factories and learning how to make our own soft pretzels.

We really loved visiting more Amish towns in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and enjoyed stopping by several local shops to explore the goods. 

I was so determined to purchase some high-quality kitchenwares, but most of the shops I could find were actually just tourist shops that had nothing to do with Amish living, such as Pampered Chef stores. I explored for some time and couldn't find any shops where the locals would actually shop, so I stopped a woman and asked for information. It turns out the local shop didn't have any signs and was hidden in the basement under a fabric store. Away I went and had SUCH a delightful time perusing the goods. The place was devoid of any tourists (except myself) and the local women/girls doing their shopping were so helpful. I have a personal rule that I prefer souvineirs to be something useful rather than just clutter to add on a shelf, so I was looking for metal kitchen goods to take home. I found my treasures and came away with sturdy metal mixing bowls, beautiful metal serving spoons, and an iron dinner bell. I think of our delightful trip every time I use these things. 

One of our favorite Amish shops was a preserves place, packed with jams, jellies, pickled items, and relishes. The store was scattered with samples everywhere, and we really enjoyed tasting so many new recipes. We bought a few jars to share with our relatives and savored every lick of a particular dessert topping we purchased....it tasted like peanut butter mixed with caramel sauce. Oh heavens, was it delicious!

Here the boys peruse the town map to choose the stops they'd like to make....there were so many choices!

We really enjoyed stopping by the Crayola Museum and playing for several hours. There were so many fun hands-on projects to create here. They really loved melting crayons and creating spun art with the melted wax. There were dozen of neat art stations where kids could use crayons in unconventional ways. Another favorite station was one where they could melt crayons and pour the wax into a fun mold to create a sculpture they could color with.

Joseph really loved painting with melted wax...he made dozens of little butterflies at this station.

Another fun factory tour was a visit to a guitar factory. We enjoyed watching the steps for creating acoustic guitars. It was so fascinating and we all enjoyed learning the story behind one of our favorite instruments.