Pennsylvania

For my birthday in July, Robert and I took a quick trip to Pennsylvania.  We flew into Philadelphia, rented a car and drove to the bottom of the Poconos.  Maybe it's because we didn't have time to drive very far into the area, but we weren't all that impressed.  We actually had to go for a long drive to find somewhere to take the pretty picture below.  I think we needed to be able to spend more time there, but we got there Friday evening and left Saturday afternoon, so we just didn't have a lot of time to explore. We did find some fun shops, so it all turned out good!

Late Saturday afternoon we drove to Amish Country.  We went out to dinner for my birthday and then made our way to downtown Lancaster for some yummy ice cream.

Our plan was to go explore the Amish shops on Sunday, but wouldn't you know it, their shops were all closed!  Darn those Amish for keeping the Sabbath Day holy!  We did find a place that recreated an Amish home and other buildings. It was interesting to see the clothes they wear and learn that different clothes mean different relationship statuses.

They had a covered bridge on their grounds.  I really love covered bridges.  I don't know why, I just find them intriguing.

After leaving the Amish village, we drove to the area where a lot of Amish shops are.  As I said, they were all closed, but we did see a lot of Amish horse and buggies.  Robert and I were impressed with how beautiful and well cared for their horses were.

Sunday afternoon we drove back to Philadelphia.  We took a short tour of Independence Hall and then went to see the Liberty Bell.  I have always wanted to see the Liberty Bell, so now I can check that off my list!

We took a nice carriage ride with a great driver who not only showed us the sights, but told us of a great place to get dinner.

The next day we wandered around and saw some more of the sights.  We went to Christ Church Cemetery and saw Benjamin Franklin's gravesite.

It had been restored, but sadly, many of the headstones looked like the ones below.  You could not see any words on them.  I hope they have a good record of who is buried in this cemetery, otherwise there is no way to know.

We flew back home to Houston that evening.  It was a fun trip and nice to get away with Robert.  But I think next time we're just going to rent a cabin and not try to fit so much into one trip!