ERT: Red Rose City

We had an absolutely delightful day in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Then we saw an ad about the annual show at the Lancaster Civic Center -- being put on that weekend by the Pennsylvania Arts Guild. In the spirit of "We might never be in this place again" -- we decided to spend the night in Lancaster.

HOLY COW...at this rate -- it could be March before we arrive in Florida!!

Lancaster is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. It is 71 miles west of Philadelphia, bordered on the north and west by the mighty Susquehanna River.

German immigrants, known as Pennsylvania Dutch, settled the area in 1709. It was known as "Hickory Town". The Honorable James Hamilton laid it out in building lots and out lots, and in May 10, 1729, it became the county seat. John Wright, a prominent citizen, gave it the name "Lancaster" after Lancaster, England where he formerly lived. The city is known as the "Red Rose City" due to its link to Lancaster, England.

I took this picture out of the sun roof of Marion's Prius!!

The downtown area is full of neat little neighborhoods like this...

No front yards. And obviously, no garages were necessary in the 1700's...

The morning of the Art Show -- we were walking around the downtown area when we stumbled onto the City Market.

Inside the building -- we found food vendors of all types!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

The food looked amazing.  We could hardly decide what to eat FIRST...

The challenge, CLEARLY -- is to not eat everything that smells good!!

We sat at a table, and were joined by some Lancaster citizens...they are very proud of their town -- for good reason.

We loved it!! Here's a picture from an upstairs location, looking down on the market...

Marion and I had no idea we'd be in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We only scratched the surface of this beautiful city on a beautiful fall day.

But during our brief visit -- I saw enough to tell you this for sure...if you ever find yourself near this place -- YOU SHOULD STOP.