Day 105: A Sweet Ending

What do the Amish of Lancaster County and Hershey's chocolate have in common, besides the state of Pennsylvania? They both have roots in the Mennonite tradition: Milton Hershey was a Mennonite, and the Amish are a sect that split off from the Mennonites in an effort to adhere to stricter practices.

Following church with Nancy (a great service!), we drove to Lancaster county, the recognized heart of the Amish community, and enjoyed lunch at a "farm-to-table" restaurant in a town called Bird-in-Hand. Other memorable names of nearby towns are Paradise, Virginville and Intercourse. Not kidding! A film next door to the restaurant gave us a good overview of the Amish story, providing the group's history of persecution in Europe and explaining the choice required of young adults to choose whether to join the church. We were somewhat surprised to learn that of the young adults born into Amish families, 95% of them do choose to join the church and live separately from the secular world.

On our way back to Carlisle, we stopped by Hershey's World of Chocolate to learn about our favorite candy bar. The free tour was much more elaborate than we'd anticipated...a bit like a Disneyland ride, with singing animatronics and colorful displays viewed from a train of Hershey-bar cars. We loved it...especially as it ended with a free sample of the new Hershey kiss, called Air Delight. Yum.

Riding in the chocolate tour car