Pennsylvania — Lancaster County and Pittsburgh

We picked up our hire car in Manhattan. As I had driven in America many times before I volunteered to tackle the streets of New York, which seemed a good idea in the safety of Bradley Stoke but once actually there it was a bit daunting. However within a few minutes my London driving training proved useful, and I won my first battle for lane choice at the traffic lights and was soon honking my horn when the lights changed like a true native!
In fact it wasn't that bad, and we soon negotiated our way out of the city and made our way towards the tranquillity of the Pennsylvania countryside.

We were staying in the rural area of Lancaster County, famous for its Amish population. The Amish are a religious community known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, and they live by strict rules which govern every facet of their lives, from clothing to schooling to travel to home life. Inevitably they have become a tourist attraction, and while they shun the outside world, the outside world comes to gawp at them and treat them like a living museum. Sometimes it's difficult to remember these are real people in a living working community, and not actors recreating a historical lifestyle. Although you feel a bit guilty joining the hordes, it is a fascinating way of life - although not a comfortable one!

The first thing you notice is cars are gradually replaced by grey horse drawn carriages. The Amish are not allowed to have cars - they live in small communities and the pace of life is much slower. The “English”  are forced to slow down to the same pace—quite nice after New York!

The ban on machinery doesn’t stop at cars. This agricultural community can’t use tractors and have to make do with teams of mules

One of the most distinctive features of the Amish which sets them apart are their clothes. They are also known as "Plain Folk" and this is reflected in what they wear. The  women wear plain dark coloured dresses under a black apron. Buttons are considered fancy and therefore not allowed so the aprons are actually pinned on with hundreds of dressmakers pins. Their hair always has to be covered although in the summer just a thin linen cap is allowed. The women never have their hair cut throughout their lives and all wear it tied back in exactly the same way. I don't believe hairdressing is a common Amish  occupation! The men all wear dark plain coloured shirts  and black suits - the trousers held up with black braces because when you aren't allowed to use buttons keeping them up is difficult! They also wear distinctive round wide brimmed hats, straw in the summer and black in the winter,

and married men all have beards (but not moustaches because they are deemed too "military").

The men are mostly farmers and women's work revolves around the house. We couldn't live without our modern conveniences - fridges, freezers, microwaves, washing machines, tumble driers, irons, dishwashers, TV's, radios, central heating, air conditioning ...well the Amish don't even have electricity!
This cuts their potential for labour saving devices down to a minimum although they are allowed to use gas therefore you will see gas powered fridges, and even gas powered irons and food processors! They spend a lot of time preserving food from their gardens making such delicacies as
apple butter (yummy) and tomato jam (dubious) and pickled vegetables.

It would seem that if a device is useful they are allowed to use it (although each item is debated for years by the  religious council as to its suitability to their way of life). The major objection to using electricity is that sooner or  later television, radio and computers will intrude into their lives with an evil  and corrupting influence. They've probably got a point actually!

We stayed in The Red Caboose Motel, so called because the rooms are actually a collection of railway carriages known as cabooses in America. It's certainly different and as far from the opulence of The Royalton as you can get. But we preferred the Red Caboose!

We visited a Pennsylvania village museum too, and it would seem that the lives of the Pennsylvania "English" were almost as restricted as the Amish and Mennonites. The teachers' rules from 1872 were particularly interesting:

There was a village shop with almost intact stock from over 100 years ago. The most amazing corset was on display - surely women were never that small? Where on earth did they put their internal organs??

We visited a Pennsylvania family restaurant. Instead of having separate tables you are put on a communal table. There's no menu, you get given a selection of dishes which you pass up and down the table, just as you would having a family meal at home. The food was superb (fried chicken and mashed potato was my favourite) and once the

ice was broken with our fellow diners we had a brilliant time. We were the youngest there which is unusual! However the people we met were really nice and although it wasn't a normal night  out for us (no alcohol was served!) the  evening flew past.

After three days in Lancaster County we were all Amished out so we headed west to Pittsburgh to visit an old friend of Zane’s. Yet another contrast—Pittsburgh is an industrial city but actually very attractive and Bob made us very welcome. It’s always nice to visit somewhere and have a local (well, Bob’s English but he’s lived there long enough to count as a local) to show you round.

In the Strip District

All too soon it was time to leave Pennsylvania and make our way south. The morning we began our journey was fine but as we went further south the skies opened so we decided to press on until the  rain stopped.

600 miles later it finally did and we ended up in Charleston, South Carolina.