Family trip to Dutch Country

Have you been to Lancaster Pennsylvania? I would not have believed you, if you told me it was a great place for kids... but it was. It was really amazing. There was everything, ice cream factories, water parks, steam trains, amish villages and a tourist trap awesomeness to boot. 

This was our itinerary and some notes from the trip. 


On Friday afternoon our first stop was at the Turkey Hill Experience. My four-year old really liked the interactive exhibits. They had a milking cow that you can try to milk (don't worry it's water) and the cow is plastic.  There is an old style milk truck that the kids drive and honk the horn. There was even some anti-bacteria video games that talked about the good and bad bacteria in milk. The exhibit also features the "Tasting Lab" where you can experience life as a food scientist and create your own ice cream flavors. Tickets were reasonable, $10 for adults and kids 4 and under are free. There were no lines and it is all you can eat ice cream and iced tea samples. 

 We checked in to the Double Tree in Lancaster. It was a little bit pricey for two rooms, since we went with my mom. But it was a very nice hotel. There is a large pool and then a splash park for the kids to play in. It was a great save, because the first day my mom went, but the second she napped and just Freddy and I went down to swim. 

The hotel accommodations were clean and updated, the staff was super family friendly and kind, and there was a very nice restaurant in the hotel that was not that expensive. 

There was even a wedding going on during our stay, and we still catered too as if we were the only guests. My son really wanted to try room service but we will have to save that for another time. 

For dinner, the first night we went to Hershey Farm Inn and Restaurant. It was a great place for kids, there is a little farm, you can see the Tom Turkey and Freddy were making introductions. The farm had chickens and goats and few other animals. The property is gorgeous with a lovely garden to walk through, a large pond and a playground. They also have a huge market with a couple of stores, a green house, and a bakery. Don't miss the huge Amish Farmer and the horse buggy coach you can try. The food was good home-style country cooking. I got a Amish dish that was sauerkraut and roasted pork. But they had everything from hot-dogs and  chicken nuggets to salad and soup. They also host a Smorgasbord (huge buffet) with a chocolate fountain, but we resisted and stuck with the smaller less expensive menu.  

 On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the local Grocery Store, Weiss. The only reason I write about it because if you do decide to go Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park you want to stop there to pick up tickets. You can save $10 a ticket. But we went to pick up milk and yogurt for the room for breakfast. It is also nice to be near a grocery store when you have a little one. You never know when you need to restock fruit snacks and water bottles.







Saturday morning we went to the Strasburg Rail Road. It was an incredibly preserved Steam Train from 1915. We bought our tickets from the hotel, which saved us about $10 a ticket. The train yard has so much to do, we could have spent all day there. There is a huge museum. The train ride itself takes about 45 minutes. But there are two stops, a picnic ground if you want to pack a lunch and a farm with attractions. The inside of the train was gorgeous, with green velvet seats, wooden trimming, antique iron lighting fixtures, and working coal burning ovens for heat in the winter months. We got on the train early to save our seats. It is really magical, even a cynic like myself got into waving at everyone as we rode by. 

The train ride was lovely passing through pristine farm land and green meadows. There were plenty of farm animals to keep the kids entertained and we sped by. 

When we got back to the train yard we spent plenty of time in the Thomas the Train toy shops, the playground, and the little train rides they have. 






Our next stop was the Kettle Kitchen Village. I would love to go back to with my girlfriends to go shopping. The Village was lovely, and so friendly. We had lunch in the Kling House Restaurant which was delicious, inexpensive and family friendly. The village shops are just darling, there is a super cute quilt shop, lovely tin works, delicious fudge shop, a bakery, a canning shop that has hundreds of tasters and a bakery. There was live music playing in the middle of the village and a place to have some treats and enjoy the sunshine. If you go to bakery you can buy a cookie for a $1 and the kids are given a tray of colorful royal icing they can use to decorate their gingerbread man. Freddy loved it and he conned me into buying him one of those huge unicorn lollipops. After our busy Saturday we went back to the hotel. My mom took a nap and Freddy and I played in the pool. We decided to keep it low key and had dinner in the hotel restaurant.  

 The next morning, we went to Miller's Breakfast Smorgasbord. Which had an outstanding breakfast and plenty of kid friendly foods. Many of the shops, restaurants, and farmers markets are closed on Sunday, so you have to be careful. But we managed to see the Miller's Quilting shop which was like going to an art museum and you have to wear a glove. Then finally we stopped at Dutch Haven. You can't miss a tourist trap especially with a huge sign that says "Amish Stuff." We had shoo-fly pie, popcorn and home-made root beer. Freddy got a post card for his other Grammy and my mom bought a beautiful blanket.  All in all it was a fantastic trip and I can't wait to go back again in the Fall.