Covered Bridges, Chocolate & Pretzels

With my mom visiting for a few days, we wanted to do something different. Mommy wanted to see a bit of the Amish country so we took a drive through Lititz and Lancaster.

The first part of our drive took us through a few covered bridges. I'm not sure what it is about covered bridges, but everyone I know thinks they are cool. Even Reagan at not quite five years old was excited about seeing them. You can follow our drive at http://www.padutchcountry.com/towns-and-heritage/covered-bridges/lititz-covered-bridges.asp. I won't go into a lot of detail about the bridges as you can read about them if you're so inclined.

The first bridge we came to was Hunsecker's Mill Covered Bridge, built in 1848. It allowed us to cross the Conestoga River.

Overlooking the river was this beautiful home.

From there we continued our drive to Pinetown Covered Bridge, build in 1867.

And then on to Zook's Mill Covered Bridge which was built in 1849.

Our last covered bridge was Erb's Mill and it was also built in 1849.

I know you all are thinking I took pictures of the same bridge, but from different angles, but I promise – these were all different bridges!! Many of these bridges have been rebuilt due to damage from Hurricane Agnes. Only Zook's Mill had a watermark sign indicating how high the water came up in it.

All this bridge crossing made us hungry, so we were off to the town of Lititz to find somewhere to eat. We decided on a little deli called Spill the Beans.

We each enjoyed our meals and then it was back in the van to find the Wilbur Chocolate Factory.

At the chocolate factory there was no actual tour, but there was a display of items used in chocolate making years ago.

We also got to see ladies making chocolate goodies. It's amazing what can be made out of chocolate!

Our last tour in Litiz was the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Factory. Again, you can read all about its history by clicking here.

During the tour, you are taught how to make a soft pretzel. Reagan was having a blast!

Randy’s pretzel

My mom working on hers

We did learn the meaning of how the pretzel is formed. The crossed pieces symbolize the position of the children’s arms as they prayed. The three open spaces symbolize God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Isn’t that cool?

You're then given an overview of how pretzels were originally made in these brick ovens.

The heat in those ovens got up to 550*!! And it was pretty hot in there today – I couldn't imagine what it was like with the ovens blazing!

The town of Litiz is very quaint and filled with lots of shops.

I know a lot of you gals would love walking up and down its streets, peeking in those shops. :)

From Litiz, we drove to Lancaster, admiring the beautiful farmland. We didn't see many Amish folks out and about, but it was great day of family fun anyway. I gotta admit, it was pretty cool spending time with my mom, my daughter and my granddaughter. Of course, having Randy around is always a good thing! :)

Until the next time . . .