TUESDAY AUGUST 28, 2012
THE RED CABOOSE HOTEL, RONKS, PA
My second day was spent enjoying more ofsame:shopping the Amish crafts,nourishing myselfwith the wonderful food and stalking the Amish. Now the Amish do not like to be photographed, it has something to do with their religion, so I had to be very sneaky with my camera.But I must be pretty good at itbecause, so far, I haveno arrest warrants against me.And thanks to the rental car agency also, who gave me auglynon- descript, non- memorable little silver car.
As for some of the sights to see in Lancaster county, besides Amish people, they also have 29 covered wooden bridges. I saw 3, one of which ( pictured) I would classify as being orginial and not having been built for the tourists. This wooden bridge is a “double long” and it spans 2 creeks. It is also in disrepair and can only be used for foot traffic.
Quilts are a popular enterprise in this area. There is a Quilt Museum (which I never made it to – it keeps odd hours and days) but they are many, many shops that sell quilts, fancy pillows, pot holders and the such.
A very clever hotel venture for this area is The Red Caboose. When Don Denlinger bid on 19 retired cabooses at an auction on a dare, he surprisingly won all of them for $100.00. Thus the start of the Red Caboose Hotel. They have been cleaned them up, converted to hotel rooms and are now a caboose hotel. It is a colorful and darling sight to see sitting smack dab in the midde of the corn fields! There is even a converted silo / now “viewing tower” which I climbed 76 steps to the top. The hotel also has a restaurant in a proper dining car along with a wooden train playground.
HERR”S MILL BRIDGE
VIEWING TOWER SILO AT THE RED CABOOSE HOTEL
QUILTS ON DISPLAY
Amish Father and Son in Town
Amish Farmer in the Field