Lancaster, PA

(July 20, 21, 2009).  The Amish country seemed like a good place to meet Marti and Ed on their way home from Pittsburgh to Asheville, N.C.  so we met at the Swiss Woods Bed and Breakfast  in Lititiz, a few miles north of Lancaster itself. We recommend this B&B as a great, relaxing place to stay. Rooms are comfortable; the grounds, designed and maintained like you would want to surround your own country house; and your hosts, Debby and Werner, are friendly and full of good insights into the area. (http://www.swisswoods.com)

   Make sure you leave a little room after lunch for their teas, coffee, and cookies.

   Before dinner we just relaxed in their beautifully landscaped grounds and then headed to nearby Ephrata for dinner at Lily's where we had a very nice meal with a view from the second story windows out over this little town.

   It is probably one of the most stylish restaurants in the area, and the food is professionally prepared and presented, if not creative.

   Next morning, after fresh fruit, quiche and muffins at Swiss Woods, we sat with Debby and mapped out a scenic route for our day's drive. We combined this with some of Joan Boben's Amish Driving Tour and wound up with a perfect day.

   Highlights included the covered bridge on Hunsecker Road, Lapp Valley Farm's ice cream stand (worth the trip on its own) and the market in Lancaster, the oldest continuously operating indoor market in the US. The stalls were overflowing with beautiful produce and prepared foods.

Afterwards, we stocked up on Gary's childhood favorites--scrapple and pudding at S. Clyde Weaver. There are a half dozen of their stores in the area, and we defy you to stop without buying some of their offerings which you may see only in this area. Thankfully, they have an on-line store which offers a reasonable selection of their goodies (www.sclydeweaver.com).

   The area's countryside is particularly lovely. The farmers have planted their fields on the gently rolling hills in almost perfectly symmetrical squares, interspersed with squares of grass. Not only is much attention paid to their crops, but to their landscaping.

   Virtually every farmhouse had flowers arranged beautifully around the house and grounds.

   Dinner at Effie Ophelia in Lancaster was a real treat. They take no reservations but you can call as you get in the car and put your name on the waiting list.

   We were truly in luck arriving at 7:30 when only a few of the 30 seats were full. At 8:00 the place was packed.  The four of us split two appetizers--grilled shrimp pomodoro ($14) and bulgogi with a black bean purée($12) both of which were delicious as well as creative.

   Marti's main course was a perfectly cooked mirin-glazed salmon and glass noodles,bok choy and a spicy Thai green curry ($24).

   Ed's was pan seared trout ($26) with a market vegetable piccalilli and feta. Gary, no surprise here, chose the sugar barbecued pork loin ($24) with a robust sauce of Gorgonzola vinaigrette and a side of sweet onions and Swiss chard.

  Varian loved her lime ginger roasted chicken ($23). Desserts were key lime pie and a pot de creme which we all shared. There is no liquor license so we brought our own wine. The one server was friendly and efficient and amazingly attentive even when the place filled up later on.