Chocolate and the Amish

When Ceekay came for a visit, one of the first things we did was take a road trip!   Our first stop was, what must be, Paradise - Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Everything in this town centers around the making of my favorite confection - chocolate.

There's actually a large Hershey's Amusement Park but we set our eyes on the department store sized gift store where you could also take tours to learn more about what goes into the making of chocolate.

First up, was a tame ride that explained how chocolate was made from start to finish.

I'm pretty sure I gained 5 pounds just smelling the heavenly scent.

Next, we boarded a trolley that drove us around town and educated us about the Hershey family.

Did I mention that the tour guides gave out copious amounts of chocolate?  Even I couldn't eat it all!

Once our shopping was done we loaded up the car and headed for our second stop - Lancaster County.

We stayed in this adorable little cottage in the center of Amish country.

 Horse and buggies were everywhere!

There are buggies, or wagons, for many different jobs.

Not only did you have to watch out for motorized traffic, you had to watch out for the horse and buggies.  They moved along at a pretty good clip.

Naturally, we had to take our own buggy ride with an Amish tour guide.

He took us past some beautiful farms and explained a few of their beliefs - which Ceekay and I are still pondering.

It must have been wash day because every farm house we saw had laundry hanging on the line to dry.

I had a little fun at Ceekay's expense when she was having trouble getting out of the buggy.  I finally realized our Amish guide was not going to assist her in getting out of the buggy until I put my camera away.  The Amish don't like to have photos taken of their faces.  They believe it could lead to the sin of pride.  And, yes, we did plenty of shopping here too.  I got a good start on my Christmas gifts