I visited the 1719 Museum this past Saturday and really enjoyed the experience…read more The guided tour starts with a short film about the property that provides some great context for the rest of the tour. Then you leave the visitor center and walk over to the first structure of tour, which is a full-sized reproduction of a Native American longhouse. Longhouses (large multi-generational family homes made of logs, saplings, and tree bark) were once ubiquitous in Pennsylvania, including along the Susquehanna River. At the time the Hans Herr home was built, south-central Pennsylvania was home to several Indigenous tribes, including the Shenks Ferry, Conoy, Lenape, Mohawk, Nanticoke, Seneca, Shawnee, and Susquehannock peoples. The 1719 Museum collaborated with the Circle Legacy Center and members of the local indigenous community to build the longhouse reproduction in order to share the history of and honor Pennsylvania's native communities and educate visitors to the area. With your guide, you walk into the longhouse, where you sit down while the guide explains quite extensively about the Native communities in the area, the longhouse and its architecture, and the relationships between the indigenous people and the Mennonite people who made homes in the area. After the longhouse, the guide walks you over to the Hans Herr House. It was built in 1719 and is a 2-story, rectangular sandstone Germanic-style dwelling. It is the oldest dwelling in Lancaster County and the oldest Mennonite meetinghouse in America. The guide walks you through various rooms in the house and shares information about the Herr family as well as the larger Mennonite community in early Pennsylvania history. Our guide was Cindy, and she was incredible. I learned so much about the Native, Indigenous and Mennonite communities of 18th century Pennsylvania (and - in the case of the Native peoples - a much earlier history of their lives in Pennsylvania). She really educated us on a broad range of topics, while keeping the tour fun (I love fun education)! She made my tour extra special. If you're spending some time exploring Lancaster Counter, the 1719 Museum should definitely make your itinerary! In one place, you can learn a little bit about Pennsylvania's Native and Mennonite communities, and it's just a special place!

Why is the Hans Herr House significant and who the hell was Hans Herr?…read more The house itself is significant as it is the last remaining structure that is still standing from the original group of Mennonites who came to the Lancaster County area to escape religious persecution from their native Switzerland. The house is also significant in that it is the oldest structure in Lancaster County and likely the oldest remaining Mennonite meetinghouse in the Western Hemisphere. The original group traveled from Switzerland to Germany to escape religious persecution then after a governmental regime change they were forced from Germany to England where they met with William Penn who allowed them to colonize a portion of what is current day Lancaster County or when they arrived in 1711, the extreme most western frontier of Pennsylvania. One interesting piece of information is that the house did not belong to Hans Herr as it was built by his son Christian which is why his initials are over the doorway along with the inscribing mark of 1719. On the tour you are told why the name remained(s) Hans Herr House versus Christian Herr House but honestly I forget why. Maybe something just deferential from Christian towards his father or because of his father's status with the original group that came to the area or maybe everyone just liked the flow of the name more so it's based on tradition? The tour itself is around 40-45 minutes and it starts in the building which houses the gift shop and you are given a brief overview of the Anabaptist faith, the Mennonites who are direct descendants of the faith and a map which shows the route the initial settlers took from Switzerland to Pennsylvania. After that you are taken over to the house where you see the three rooms which make up the first floor (kitchen, bedroom and all purpose dining room-meeting room-family room) and the second floor which is where the eight children slept and finally the basement which is accessed from a side entrance outside of the house. You learn that the key to the home's design is that they didn't believe in wasting any space so every inch served a purpose such as not having hallways so as soon as you walk in the front door you're right in the kitchen. One thing worth noting, if you are someone who is hardcore hung up on only visiting historical places if they have lots of original items then this place might not be for you. There is not a whole lot original to the house that you can see with the exception of a piece of the ceiling insulation on the first floor (rye straw + manure + ??), the wooden crossbeam over the kitchen fireplace and the steps which go from the second floor to the third floor attic (obviously you can't use them). Past that I think most everything else was changed out in the 19th century when the house was still used as a residence or in the early 70's when the initial renovation occurred to make things into a tourist destination. If you want more original take a look at the bibles on display in the gift shop which are original to Hans and Christian. I wouldn't call the Hans Herr House a must see, but it's interesting enough and the tour is the right length to keep everyone interested along with being located close enough to most of Lancaster County's tourist elements. If you go: The 1719 Hans Herr House is open April 1 through November 30, Monday-Saturday, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM. Forty-five minute Herr House tours are offered at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. This is not the tour information for their reproduction Native American Longhouse. That tour is offered at 10 a.m., 12 noon and 2 p.m and has an entirely different focus. Prices are currently Adults: $8, Children 7-12: $4 and Children 6 and under: free with a slight discount if you choose to tour both structures. There are also several special events that happen throughout the year and that information is available on their website.

I visited Historic Rock Ford on Sunday and learned so much. The house was built around 1794 for…read moreGeneral Edward Hand, an adjutant general to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Rock Ford is a Georgian-style mansion, where General Hand lived with his wife and children until his death in 1802. His wife passed away in 1805 and only briefly remained in the Hand family before becoming a home for tenant farmers for the next 150-ish years. The house was saved from destruction by the Junior League in 1958 and then renovated and restored to what it looks like now. I learned all this and more from our guide Priscilla, who was wonderful. She told us about the man, the family, and the house, as well as the enslaved people and indentured servants who are a part of the home's history, too. The tour lasted a little over an hour, so I didn't have time to find the John J. Snyder, Jr. Gallery of Early Lancaster County Decorative Arts, which is also on the property. The house was beautiful, and the information I learned from Priscilla about General Hand and his house was very interesting. If you're interested in history and historic homes, the Historic Rock Ford is worth a visit!

One of many historic buildings in the area is Rock Ford, a brick mansion with a large garden. They…read morehost tours throughout the week, which is the only way to see the inside. There are a parking lot and a visitor center with a kind staff person behind the desk. They also have restrooms inside the center.

The Ephrata Cloister or Ephrata Community was a religious community established in 1732 by Johann…read moreConrad Beissel at Ephrata, in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. By the early 1750s, Ephrata Cloister was home to nearly 80 celibate Brothers and Sisters who lived in striking Germanic-style log, stone, and half-timbered buildings. Alongside them, nearly 250 family members, known as Householders, resided in nearby homes and farms. Ephrata became known for: the German calligraphic art of Frakturschriften; self-composed a cappella music written using Beissel's rules for four-part harmony; and an ambitious printing establishment creating works for the use of the community and neighbors. During the American Revolution, Ephrata served as a hospital for nearly 250 American soldiers, some of whom rest in the Mount Zion cemetery overlooking the historic grounds. The Society declined after the death of Beissel in 1768. The last celibate member died in 1813, and the next year the remaining Householders incorporated into the German Seventh Day Baptist Church. Members continued to live and worship in the Cloister buildings until the close of the Church in 1934. After that, the buildings were turned over the state and became the museum you can visit today. I learned all this and more, when I visited the Ephrata Cloister this past Sunday. When you arrive, there's plenty of parking and then a short walk over to the visitor center, where you can purchase a ticket. Inside the visitor center is a small museum, which provided plenty of history and helpful context for exploring the grounds - especially if you're not taking advantage of the excellent guided tour. With the map you receive when you pay for admission, you can explore the grounds, and there's also an phone-led audio guide that tells you about each building (they're numbered). On the day I visited, there were two guided tours (one at 1pm and one at 2:15pm), and I highly recommend joining the guided tour if you can. It starts with a video in the auditorium space in the visitor center, and then a very helpful guide (ours was Sue) walked us to the grounds and explained more about the history and architecture. After that, she walked us to two buildings you cannot enter without a guide (the Sister's House and the attached Meetinghouse/Saal the Sisters used). I learned so much about this community - which I knew almost nothing about before my visit - and they were fascinating: they ate one (vegetarian) meal a day, they slept few hours each night (with a break from 12-2am in case the second coming arrived), and lived as an religious, pious, and equal community. Sue our tour guide pointed out which buildings were recreations and which were original. There were several that were original to the 18th century, and the architecture is really stunning. There's plenty to learn about this historic community and society and no wrong way to do it (although I highly recommend the guided tour, which I got so much out of - Sue was great). Don't forget to stop by the gift shop on our way out, too! A fascinating piece of American history right near Lancaster. If you're exploring Lancaster County for a weekend, including a visit to Ephrata Cloister is well worth it!

You have the option of touring it urself or with a group and an option of watching the 15 minute…read morevideo before the tour. WATCH THE VIDEO. Good combination of informative & comedic & good acting. Tour guide was very information and kept a comfortable atmosphere for questions. I would recommend walking around in the yard to find the water (idk if it's a river) and these stairs that kinda stop in the forest

What an amazing place and Tom was so gracious to take us in during the awful snow storm with our…read moredog. We left Baltimore only 80 miles away at 11:30 am by 6pm we had made it as far as Columbia,PA due to the weather and poor road conditions. Tom saw that we were exhausted and clearly stressed out by our failed attempt to make it to North Country, New York. Tom welcomed us with open arms, took time to get to know us, and showed us around this beautiful historic home. The house is stunning, full of history and not to mention it is meticulously clean. Make sure you put his home on your must see and stay if you are looking for a quaint getaway from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Oh and one more thing Tom is a brilliant artist, take time to explore his portraits!

Great choice for our single night stay on our way home; we picked it because of the Victorian look…read moreof the house, but we soon found out that the whole house was a treasure; Tom was a charming host and interesting conversationalist; the house is filled with his artwork; breakfast was excellent, with little surprises and plenty of hot coffee; our stay was too brief, but we're already making plans to return

The Soldiers & Sailors Monument is a reasonably standard Civil War monument. It's tall, made of…read morestone, and has several statues placed on or around it. The monument does have several features that make it stand out. 1. It's located directly across from the Lancaster County Convention Center, so it's easy to access. 2. It's located almost in the middle of the street with busy roads surrounding all sides but one. 3. It's been updated with more plaques and new information as more conflicts have occurred. Take a second to read the plaques when walking by, they provide interesting information about the conflicts.

This phallic salute to soldiers and sailors has a rich history dating back beyond its July 4, 1874…read moreerection. The 1744 Treaty of Lancaster between the British and Iroquois was signed at this very spot in the old Lancaster courthouse. On September 27, 1777 the Second Continental Congress met in that same building, which burned down just 6 years later. Originally designed as a tribute to Lancastrian Union soldiers killed during the American Civil War, the statue now also represents those who have served in subsequent American military conflicts. Basically, if you fight for our country, Lancaster will honor you with a giant stone penis on top of which a robed woman sporting a sword and crown of stars called the "Genius of Liberty" turns her back on the defeated confederacy. Oh yeah, and there's 4 little men at the shaft representing the branches of the armed forces. Totally overshadowed by the badass penis climbing lady. Take a look next time you're in town.

Looking for a day drive? History? Fresh air? A small farm rich with history? Light hiking in over…read more600 acres of nicely groomed land? Think industrialism before its time. "Hopewell Furnace showcases an early American landscape of industrial operations from 1771-1883, Hopewell and other "iron plantations" laid the foundation for the transformation of the United States into an industrial giant for the time. The park's 848 acres and historic structures illustrate the business, technology and lifestyle of our growing nation."

Nice little national park location within a state park. We came towards the end of the day, so we…read moreonly had a little brief informative chatting from a park ranger. The walk down to the buildings was pleasant, but on a hot day, it may feel a lot steeper. The properties are extremely well kept and lots of great signage. Learned a lot!

This was the final date night of the season and so I purchased tickets for this event. The ticket…read morewas just to utilize the garden so that you can bring your own picnic, lawn chairs and or blanket. They do offer a charcuterie board for $25. They state on their site tables are available as first come. I was able to get a table that seated 6! I was somewhat disappointed that for a date night event there were no bistro tables. The table I found was so filthy and the pavers were full of debris. Had I known it was gonna be so dirty I would have brought cleaning supply and swept the area! The ambiance wasn't romantic for this date night as a lady's birthday party celebration was going on a few feet from us. Though the site stated a live musical artist would be present, he was so far off we couldn't hear him. Due to the birthday party celebration it was difficult to hear when he came closer but thank goodness for my playlist on pandora! When I purchased the ticket for the date night it showed a fee of $10 which is what I paid. But when my date arrived, after myself, he was told I had only paid for one ticket. Am I so stupid to have not known that a date night ticket wasn't for a couple?? This was so confusing but thankfully we had a $10 to pay his date night ticket. Sincerely, I wouldn't purchase any tickets to come to another event here. My garden is small but nicer and definitely cleaner tables and walkways. We tried making the best of it and enjoyed the Greek smorgasbord I packed for us.

This venue has exquisite landscaping and gorgeous gardens. The House has a timeless elegance that…read moreis so unique. Our music group: Vivace Live String Quartet performed for their Music on the Lawn series and we enjoyed every minute of the atmosphere! Plus- their staff is a great team to work with: thoughtful, eager to help, and friendly. Can't wait to go back!

I have never left a venue tour after 10 minutes before, but unfortunately, that is exactly what…read morehappened here. This place does not even deserve 1 star. From the moment we arrived, the person conducting our tour was extremely rude, condescending, and defensive. We genuinely felt as though our presence was an inconvenience and that she had no interest in having us there. What should have been an exciting and enjoyable experience became uncomfortable immediately. Our wedding is over a year away, and while we had a general idea of the type of timeline we wanted, we obviously do not have every detail finalized (nor should we have to!). We explained our rough plans for a reception party (no ceremony), including incorporating some traditional reception elements followed by food stations. Rather than helping us understand how that could work at the venue, she repeatedly challenged us to provide an exact timeline, with no typical guidance or consultant feedback whatsoever. When we asked how many hours we would actually have the venue rented for, so that we could better understand the logistics and figure out a timeline, she spoke down to us and told us that 5-6 hours is customary for weddings. The way she said it was extremely belittling, as though we were somehow inexperienced or unreasonable for asking. Every venue is different and because we are not having a traditional ceremony, just a reception, we didn't know if the rental spaces/times would change. We were trying to get this necessary information from her so that we could create the timeline she was pressuring us to have, yet instead of answering our questions and helping us work through it, she made us feel like we should already know the answer. At one point, she became defensive and explained that we could not have food available for four hours due to safety and that this was why she was "challenging" us to have a timeline. We completely understand that food cannot simply sit out for four hours (duh??), and we never suggested that it would. We were simply discussing our ideas and trying to understand the venue's logistics. The level of defensiveness over a hypothetical timeline was honestly bizarre and completely unnecessary. The same thing happened when we asked about catering. We were told that we could bring in our own vendors. My mom commented that it was nice to have that flexibility/DIY, since some venues require you to use their preferred vendors. She immediately became argumentative and abruptly corrected her by saying, essentially, that we were not "doing it on our own" and that we had a choice in the matter. We understood that.. We were not arguing with her or misunderstanding the policy--we were expressing that we appreciated having the option. My mom has been in the bridal/wedding industry for 7 years and has never experienced this kind of treatment during a venue tour. We came in excited, open-minded, and ready to learn about the space. In fact, we traveled 2 hours to come. Instead, we were met with an incredibly unprofessional and snide attitude simply because we were sharing our ideas and asking customary questions. Ultimately, we walked out after about ten minutes. That should say everything. Honestly, we feel blessed that we had this experience now rather than after booking and we have no idea how this place is in business. A wedding venue is supposed to be a place where you feel welcomed, supported, and excited about celebrating one of the biggest moments of your life. We could not imagine working with someone who made us feel like a nuisance before we had even booked the venue. After seeing other reviews mentioning similar concerns about the poor service and attitude, I am even more grateful that we trusted our instincts and did not move forward. The venue itself may be beautiful, but the terrible experience we had with her was enough to make us immediately take it off our list. If anyone actually decides to get married here, good luck! And if you're thinking of visiting, don't.

Recently attended a fundraiser event for the Christiana Library at this location. The event was a…read morePrincess Ball for little girls. While it was a colaboration between the library and the event space, no neither can take full credit, the two worked together effortlessly to make this event memoriable. Easy to find on Lincoln Highway in the Gap, the grounds, barns, and outdoor spaces were beautiful and well maintained. The inside of the barn was refurbished, modern, comfortable and a beautiful backdrop for any event. The grounds weren't quite in full bloom but were well maintained and the perfect scenery for pictures. The parking, although on the small size, was paved and ample. Another outbuilding where a storybook reading was held is normally used as a bride's quarters for getting ready pre-wedding. That room was elegant and furnished with luxurious french provincial type furnishings, gold guilded mirrors and was very grand. At our event, carriage rides were offered around the property. I had the pleasure of chatting with a relative of the owner, who relayed the property's history to me, which was very interesting. While the home is a private residence, there's still many venues on the property for different kinds of events. Definately a place to consider for large baby shower, party, reception, or wedding.