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

This is a wonderful buggy ride. It recently changed owners and the couple who own it are lovely…read more The horses are new and much younger. The ride is significantly longer and no longer stops at the little touristy farm. My grandchildren had a fantastic time. I'm not big on touristy stuff, but this place is really awesome!

I would give this company another try. We happen to get on the last buggy ride of the day. We only…read moregot to ride to the end of the road and back to the starting area. Our horse named Molly was old and did not quite have the stamina of other horses. Our driver was extremely friendly and let a set of brothers take turns driving under his supervision. Overall it was a good experience.

If you enjoy history, stop by this former house of President James Buchanan, the only bachelor U.S…read more president. If you want to go inside, you have to book a guided tour. They are only a few times certain days of the week. The grounds are usually open for you to wander and sit. Personally, I found the house beautiful from the outside.

The man had TASTE. If you're into furnishings and stuff this is a must see! Tiger striped maple on…read morebalustrades on the stairs. The China, the art!

I should've elaborated a little more on my review like there's ample parking there in the field…read morelot! Everything is super organized with The lines, the ticket counter and going in! There are a ton of photo opportunities spread out all over the place! And the staff is courteous with plenty of food stations there as well. They have merchandise stores to pick up items and there's so much to look at that even if you have to stand in line, it moves quickly and lots of spooky things to distract you!

I'm sure this place is better when it's not raining. The sets were great, the animatronics were…read moreamazing. The actors were kinda ehhh. Maybe they just didn't want to get wet, maybe the 6pm-8pm time is just too slow for them. Not sure but probably won't come back. We try out different haunts every year but this one didn't really stand out. They have like a food court and games area, which is kind of cool but the games and escape room aren't part of the tickets, you have to pay extra. We have a better experience at a different haunt, same price, with way more attractions and it includes carnival rides and games in general admission tickets. So that was upsetting to know we have to pay even more money after already paying over $100 for general admission. We made the best of it and still had a good time. I'd suggest looking at the weather before purchasing tickets and avoid rainy days if possible.

I am so glad we chose this company for our buggy tour. John was our buggy tour guide - he was…read moreamazing. If you don't want an animated tour guide, don't have John. He was very knowledgeable about the area and was very open about answering our questions. Just for reference, I chose the 55 minute tour with the covered bridge. I could have traveled around for another hour and not been bored. Bring cash for two reasons - 1) If the roadside stand is open, he will stop. The farm's children have cookies, lemonade, painted horseshoes, and hand-made keychains. The cookies were out of this world - I can't even describe how satisfying the taste and texture were. 2) To tip your driver - John definitely deserved it. There is a parking lot, keep your eye peeled because you might miss it, depending on which way you are approaching. My daughter and I walked to lunch afterwards. It's right in the middle of lots of eateries and shopping - bonus!

I had been looking forward to a buggy ride tour. Unfortunately the covered bridge was under going…read morerepairs so had to miss that. Our guide was very open to questions and sharing about Amish life. We learned a lot.

Hands down this was one of the best tours that I've been to! Our tour guide was amazing,she had all…read morethe history on the house as well as the beautiful antiques in the home. The tour took about an hour but what a wonderful was to spend an hour. Call find out the tour days and hours then run to be informed and impressed!

I toured the Wright's Ferry Mansion this past Saturday when I visited Columbia. In fact, I was in…read moreColumbia specifically to tour Wright's Ferry Mansion after a tour guide at another historic home told me it was an absolute gem in the area. I'm so glad she mentioned it to me; she was so right - it is one of the beautiful and best preserved/renovated homes I've ever visited. The home was built in 1738 by Susanna Wright (1697-1784). Susanna and her family were English Quakers that settled in the area in the early 18th century. Susanna was brilliant; known as "the Blue Stocking of Pennsylvania," she was a scholar, a poet, a friend of Benjamin Franklin, and so much more. The house is a two-story stone house - not large, but incredibly beautiful. I've toured many historic houses in the United States and abroad and, while I almost always enjoy a tour of them, I don't often think, "I want to live here." But as I walking around Wright's Ferry Mansion, I thought, "Oh, wow, I'd live here." It's just a gorgeous historic home - the wood, the colors, the flowers, the furnishings, the art... The Rasbridge family saved the house from scheduled demolition and lived in the house until 1973, when he sold it to artist, graphic designer, and art connoisseur Richard C. von Hess and his wife, Louise McClure Tinsley Steinman von Hess. They hired a celebrated preservationist (George Edwin Brumbaugh), and the four-year restoration of the house made it what it is today. I'm not exaggerating, it's one of the most beautiful historic homes I've ever toured. But I found arranging a tour to be more difficult than is typical for a historic home. You cannot pre-purchase tickets for a tour on their website. The website does provide the house of operation and states that tours are one the hour and that reservations are advised. There is a phone number that you can call to schedule a tour, but I didn't do that! They open at 10am, so I showed up right at 10am last Saturday. There was a chalk board on the door that says that tours are on the hour and that you may knock. I heard voices inside, so I knocked. I was told the 10am tour was full but that I could come back to at 11am. I came back at 10:50 this time, worried that the next tour would fill up (and this would be my last chance to take a tour during my visit to Columbia, as I had arranged other tours in the afternoon in Columbia and Willow Street). There were two other women waiting, too. Unfortunately, there's nowhere to wait except at the front door of the house, and there was no shade at all. It was a sweltering day, and I was immediately sweating through my clothes. It was 11, and no one had come to the door. We weren't sure if the tour had ended much earlier (since the house is on the smaller side, we did wonder if the tour was an hour or had already ended) or if it hadn't ended yet. Then someone came out with a fussy baby who didn't want to finish the tour, and we realized the tour was still going. I'd say we probably started around 11:10-11:15. That made my day really tight (I had somewhere to be at 1 and needed to have something to eat first), so I let our (very nice) tour guide know that I probably wouldn't be able to stay for the whole tour unfortunately. We finished the tour of the first floor around 11:50-11:55, so I called it at that point and now need to return to tour the upper floor. FYI: they don't allow photographs inside the house, so use your imagination (or check out their website), but I took plenty of pictures of the exterior of the house and the flower garden in front of the home. Susanna Wright was a fascinating woman, and the house is incredible. The tour is interesting; I learned so much about Susanna, the house, and Columbia. I wish I'd pay a little more attention to the fact that they recommend you scheduling your tour over the phone in advance, because the process of arranging the tour on the day of was a little difficult. So learn from my mistakes. Arrange your tour ahead of time to avoid a tour filling up and being turned away. Or - if you don't want arrange for a tour in advance, make sure your schedule is more flexible than mine was, so that you can come for the next tour if the tour you want fills up or if the tours don't start on the hour. This house is incredible. Since I shot myself in the foot by not pre-scheduling a tour, I need to go back to the do the tour again and see the second floor! But the house is so amazing, I'm happy to do it!

Don't sleep for affordable arts and entertainment in Central Pennsylvania; don't forget at the Rose…read moreLehrman Arts Center at HACC. Earlier this year, I attended a Candlelight Concert featuring Vivaldi's Four Seasons, a 60-minute classical music concert performed by a local female string quartet. It was an amazing sight and sound. The magic of lights and Vivaldi's classical music still resonate after 300 years. Check the calendar for more upcoming productions. Performances have already been posted for the balance of 2024 and forthcoming 2025. Tickets were $35 for preferred seating and purchased online.

I used to take a few classes in this building. They were usually English classes. They used to have…read morefree art galleries for students to check them out. I wonder if they still have it now a day.

This event is so much fun! Everyone is so nice there. I love sampling all of the delicious soups…read moreand voting for my favorites. There's lots of seating, desserts, activities, and prizes too!