Amish country?!

Friday is the day we "crapped out".   We started out well with a good pickleball practice.  After showers we decided to eat some good home cooking in Amish country.  We were ok riding the bike because the day started out overcast but ended up sunny.  We decided to explore Amish country in general and the town of Intercourse in particular.  Yes that really is the name.  It used to be called Cross Keys.  Go figure.  The GPS took us many miles along miles of corn and soybean fields.  The farms here tend to be very large and well maintained.  This area of PA offers some great bike rides along winding, gently rolling hilly roads.

By the time we hit town, I was very hungry.  We saw this place and decided to check it out since it offered the first food we spied.  We parked in the large and very busy lot and found an historic house that housed a nice restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating.  It was also the only restaurant in this complex and "somebody" was very hungry, so we went in.  What a disappointment.  The place was actually a bistro with trendy food.  For instance, the mayo offered was raspberry mayo. Duane got a burger and I got a Reuban with not saurkraut, but "pepper cabbage" which turned out to be sweet.  And so it went.  The Christmas shop featured ornaments made in---you guessed it--China.  There were some handmade Amish things but we had to hunt for them.  We bought some locally made peach jam, but it had corn syrup in addition to the sugar.  We looked for cinnamon rolls and found sticky buns.  We found no other little bakery.  I did find a fabric shop with reasonably priced fabric and bought a panel for a future project.  We passed on the homemade ice cream because we planned on getting some in Mt. Gretna on the recommendation of our new friends Bonnie and Ken.  A bit let down by this place, which was more "English" (non Amish) than Amish, we didn't take any pix and decided to see what the rest of the town had to offer, at least in the main street.  

We found this,

and this

this,

and this.  I tried to get a pic of a really cool close-line system people had adopted in and around this town, but kept glimpsing them between houses.  Heavy traffic and no place to pull off made it impossible to turn around and stop for a pic, so I was doomed to disappointment.  Still in search of little Amish business like the ones in Shipshewana, IN and Millersburg, OH--fruit/vegetable stands, little general stores, bakeries,etc.--we tooled on down the road.  All we saw were large farms.  Hot and tired, we headed for the best hand dipped ice cream ever.

The place was closed until 5pm.  We arrived at 3:30.  Drat!!!  Next door we saw this.

For some reason they were watering their tennis courts!

O well, we did have a nice cool ride through this soothing forest.  Home again we rounded out the day by doing laundry.  The air conditioner was broken.  

Tomorrow has to be better, right?

Louise and Duane