Pennsylvania Dutch Country - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 968

AtRte.999aturntotheeastwillleadyoubackintotheheartofthePennsylvaniaDutch
country,whereAmishbuggiesaredrawnbysleek,high-steppinghorses.Thefarms'names
speak of many generations working the same soil: “Stone Cliff: 1892,” for example, or
“Eugenheiser's End: 1867.” Other signs call attention to homemade crafts and quilts, and
sterner ones show that these practical, productive folk always have one eye on the Lord:
“Repent and Be Saved!” or “What Man Sows, That Shall He Reap.”
When you reach the little town called Willow Street, stop at the Hans Herr House.
Guides conduct tours of the oldest home in Lancaster County (dating from 1719), and the
visitor center has an exhibit on Mennonite farm life. The house was a frequent subject for
paintings by Pennsylvania artist Andrew Wyeth, a descendant of Herr.
7. Strasburg
For railroad buffs Strasburg is a virtual heaven. At the enormous Railroad Museum of
Pennsylvania, they can climb into old locomotives and railroad cars. Nearby, the National
Toy Train Museum offers miniature versions of the real thing in five huge tabletop dis-
plays. If you prefer to ride, you can simply cross the street (from the RR museum) to take
thenine-mileround-tripontheStrasburgRailRoad.Accompaniedbythecheerfulwheezes
and whistles of its steam engine, the old train chugs through fields of corn and tobacco as
riders watch from plush Pullman seats and the conductor calls attention to local sights: an
Amish farmer plowing with a six-mule team, or a telephone booth at a cornfield's edge for
families that ban modern conveniences at their home.