Lititz

The name of this town makes our mouths water.  For those of you who have savored the taste of Wilbur’s Chocolate, just the name makes your mouths water too.  We came for the chocolate, but we made ourselves earn it.  We took a 10K volkswalk, wandering the town of Lititz.  Sadly, most of the walk was dull, but when we got to the two hundred year old buildings in the downtown, we found ourselves walking slower and enjoying it more.  The town started as Moravian village in 1741 as a refuge from persecution by the Catholic Church in Europe.  Wounded soldiers of the American Revolution were housed in the Brethren House.

This home must belong to an antique collector.

The style of these homes, just feet from the main street, harken back to an earlier time.

Lititz is known for more than one kind of delicacy.  The Julius Sturgis Pretzel Company also makes a tasty treat.

But chocolate is what we wanted and what we got.  We even had orders from family members to bring them their Wilbur’s.  Happily we complied.

The shop has shelves of chocolate in many forms.

This treat was brought in by a delivery man while we were there and it really had Jerry excited over the prospect of trying it out.  No samples of this however.

They also have a collection of china chocolate pots.

Watching the employees fill the molds made us return to the sample bin for more tastes.

John Sutter of gold rush fame is buried in a Moravian Cemetery in Lititz but our search did not locate him.  Swiss born, he moved to Lititz, home to many of his fellow countrymen.  Broke following the destruction of his land holdings by gold miners, he and his wife moved here when he was trying to get  reimbursement for his help in colonizing California.  As usual, Congress failed to act.  He died in Washington DC and was returned to Lititz for burial.

We didn't just satisfy our sweet tooth, we went into Intercourse to shop for chicken pies at Stoltzfus.  On the way back to the RV, we stopped at a farmer's stand for delicious asparagus and tempting pastries.

This lovely home was along our route to the campground.

This is Amish Country with buggies commuting along the road.  The hills can be so steep drivers have to pause at the top to be sure there isn't a buggy ahead.

farmers tilling their lands with teams of horses or mules,

 girls and boys pushing scooters up the hills

 and large farms with multi-generations living in the expanded houses.

Disavowing electricity, clothes are washed by hand and hung out all day to dry.

In addition to the Amish, the area has been settled by Mennonites, Moravians, Catholics and Protestants.  There are many, many churches.  There is also a Jewish community outside Lancaster, the major city of the area.  We read in the paper about a Jewish Food Festival occurring this weekend.

This is a lush, green land with hilly, narrow roads.  It is a pleasure to view and a lovely place to visit.