The Amish and Sexual Innuendo

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Gettysburg, although a very important part of our American history, has become very touristy.  For example, I noticed ads for 2 or 3 petting zoos, all attempting to “out-thrill” each other to get the kid business.  One of them has pulled out all the stops.  On their billboard, they advertise “Parakeet Feedings!”  Forget petting the llama or turtle.  Seeing the parakeets at feeding time must be awesome.  I don’t know how you could stand the excitement.  Someone could lose a finger.

We left Gettysburg today and headed towards Amish Country.  Not far outside of Gettysburg we passed a building with a sign out front that read “S and M Lodge.”  Turns out it was a hunting lodge.  At least that’s what they say on their website.

This afternoon we parked in a very nice RV park in the middle of Lancaster County Pennsylvania’s Amish country.  It was slow going the last 20 miles or so because of all the buggy traffic.  It seemed like most of the young Amish were out cruising in Dad’s buggy on a Sunday afternoon. 

Lancaster County is home to the oldest Amish settlement in the country.  The Amish people immigrated from Germany and Switzerland in the 17th and 18th centuries.  They have always spoken German, in addition to English.  The word for “German” in the German language is “deutsche.”  It is pronounced DOY – chuh (DOY as in BOY and chuh as in chug minus the g).  Apparently this word was mistaken by the locals who pronounced it as “Dutch” and since then, the Amish have been known as the Pennsylvania Dutch.  There is even a town named New Holland in Lancaster County.

Speaking of towns in Lancaster County, there are five that seem to catch everyone’s attention and cause a lot of childish snickering.  They are Intercourse, Blue Ball, Bird-in-Hand, Mount Joy, and Paradise.  Can you use all five of the towns' names in one sentence?  I have managed to put one together:

“You have to go all the way through Blue Ball when you’re going to Mount Joy and then on to Intercourse before arriving in Paradise, or, you could just go straight to Bird-in-Hand.”

While in Amish Country I will be reporting on the Amish way of like and what they do for fun. The second part may be very short.

We will be here 4 nights before leaving on Thursday for Stamford, CT to say hello to one of our nieces who moved there a few months ago with her husband and child.