Sept. 16 - Lititz, PA

“Don't let someone ruin your peace just because they can't find theirs.” -Unknown

We like going places for Stan’s birthday. It's a great time of year. Not too hot, not too cold and a lot less crowded after Labor Day. We had a nice time in Lancaster and actually went to some nice restaurants to celebrate yesterday. Today we continued the celebration by exploring another town in Lancaster county. Lititz is just eight miles north of Lancaster and filled with a lot of history and charm. It’s known for its rich Moravian heritage, unique shops and sweet chocolate aroma. It was founded by the Moravian Church in 1756.

Lititz was the first community in Pennsylvania to establish a historic district, so many of the buildings in town date back to 1700-1800s. Other notable things about this cute little town: home to the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in America founded in 1861, Wilbur Chocolate founded in 1894 and the oldest all-girls boarding school, Linden Hall, founded in 1746. The town is beautiful...the perfect spot for a little getaway.

Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery

Wilbur Chocolate

Linden Hall

Just a few of the old buildings on Main Street. Several of these were built in 1730.

We stayed at The Lititz Springs Inn. The inn has operated continuously since 1764 and claims the distinction of being one of the oldest continuously operating inns in Pennsylvania. We ate at the inn's restaurant. We actually ate lunch and dinner there. It was such a nice day we wanted to sit outside and it was the best place we could find. For dinner we ate in one of their historic dining rooms.

The patio at the Inn.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal. Stan had the wild crimson snapper with butter bean, summer squash & sweet corn succotash, basmati rice. I had sea scallops with bacon jam, saffron-cauliflower puree, melted leeks and wilted garlic spinach.

The Bulls Head Pub is also in the inn. It's an authentic English pub.

We started our visit in Lititz at the Lititz Springs Park. This pretty little park was created in 1741 by the Moravian settlers. Natural springs bubble up through the limestone foundation and feed a stream that meanders through the park and under charming stone bridges. The town hosts all kinds of events here during the year. I think we could have spent the whole day just relaxing in the park, but there were other places to explore so we moved on. We spent most of the day enjoying the weather, looking at the old buildings and wandering through little shops.

There were so many cute shops full of all kinds of things.

Sept. 15 - Lancaster, PA

"Be an encourager. The world has plenty of critics already." -Dave Willis

We're trying to take advantage of the nice weather to do a little more exploring in our area. There's so much to see and do. We've spent a few days in the Lancaster area back in 2019, mostly learning about the Amish, but we didn't spend any time in the city of Lancaster. So today we thought we'd see what we missed and celebrate Stan's birthday.

Lancaster was settled in the 1720's and is one of the oldest inland towns in the United States. It's best known for its Amish population, having the largest and oldest settlement of Amish in the U.S. It also was the home of James Buchanan, our 15th president, and is the 8th largest city in Pennsylvania.  

Lancaster Central Market. Founded in 1730 as part of the town’s original design, the market is the longest continuously operating public market in the country. Its 60-some vendors offer a little bit of the old – from fresh local produce, homemade canned and dried goods, and family-owned meat, seafood, and poultry options – to the new, including Puerto Rican, Thai, and West African foods.  

The Central Market

We had a small lunch at C'est La Vie outside the market. It was one of the only outside places to eat that we could find. The day was so pretty we just couldn't sit inside.

Downtown Lancaster

Penn Square in downtown Lancaster.

We went to The Exchange for happy hour. It's located on the top of the Marriott. What a great view of the city.

The views...

From the highest spot we could eat to the lowest. We had dinner at Proof. It's owned by the son of some friends of ours. The food was wonderful, but there was definitely no view in this cave-like restaurant. Stan had the haddock stuffed with crab and I had the cavatelli. 

Aug. 19 - Trough Creek State Park

“Life is meant for spectacular adventures. Let your feet wander, your eyes marvel and your soul ignite.” –Author Unknown

On our way home from Ohiopyle we stopped at Trough State Park. It’s a pretty park on Lake Raystown west of Harrisburg. We hiked the Balanced Rock Trail. It was a short but steep out and back trail that took us over a suspension bridge and by Rainbow Falls before arriving at the balanced rock. 

The best known and impressive feature of Trough Creek State Park is Balanced Rock. The rock hangs off the ledge and looks like it could fall at any moment. It has been sitting in its position long before the area began keeping recorded history.

A view from the park road and a view from the rock looking back at the spot the first photo was taken.

The suspension bridge provides a scenic way to get across Great Trough Creek and is fun to traverse, because it moves as you walk along. This bridge is definitely one of the most unique features of park.

Trough Creek from the suspension bridge.

Trough Creek

Rainbow Falls

The little bridge over Abbot Run just below Rainbow Falls.

The short steep hike to the top of the cliff.

The Trough Creek Balanced Rock

The surrounding area around the balanced rock.

As you descend the steps into the park's Ice Mine it feels like winter during the summer. It's more of a rock cave than mine, frigid air is trapped by the cave and surrounding rocks along the slope of the mountain. The cave and rock do not warm above 50˚ even in August. The mine was discovered when a railroad line was being built. It was developed into a tourist attraction in the 1930's.

Our nice little lunch spot.

Our lunch view.