Friday, July 12, 2013

Today Was All About Food

(Adamstown, PA) Hi 78 Lo 64 -- I forgot to mention yesterday something I thought about in our travels. Seldom do we ever travel to more than one state in a day's travel. Yesterday it took less than a half hour to go from W. Virginia, through Maryland, and into Pennsylvania. Last year it took days to get through one state. Not really an important fact, but I thought it was cool.

This morning it was cloudy but not raining, so based on a recommendation from our friend Jon we went to the Green Dragon Farmers Market. I wanted to get some fresh vegetables and fruit. The place was huge, a combination farmers market and flea market. I found everything I was looking for, plus some other things I wasn't looking for.

Cantaloupe, cauliflower, corn, cherries both red and yellow (yellow cherries are very sweet), mushrooms (which are huge), kiwi, and plums. We have plenty to eat for snacks this week.
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We walked some of the flea market, which was both inside and outside, but it was beginning to rain. By now it was lunch time so we left and went to Shady Maple Smorgasbord. Jon and Kathleen told (warned?) us about this place, and we have also read about it on several blogs. It’s the biggest buffet in this area, and surely the biggest one we’ve ever seen. (Click on photos to enlarge them.)
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One way to get there is by buggy ride. There are many buggy ride companies in the area.
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There’s a huge lobby area as you walk in.
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This being our first time at Shady Maple, our hostess explained to us where everything was located, and how we are to leave our green card right side up while we make trips to the buffet line. Then when we're done we turn the card over before we leave so they can clean the table.

It’s a long walk to the buffet line, through the huge dining room. Jim joked that our food would be cold by the time we got back to our table. :)
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The buffet line is 200 feet long. We've never seen so many different kinds of food in our life all in one place. There's very few items that are duplicated.
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Downstairs is a gift shop with 41,000 square feet of shopping area. If you can’t find what you want in this place, they don’t make it.
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If we lived in a house, I probably would have bought this.
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Or this.
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We were very full as we made our way back to the car and returned in the rain to the RV. A couple hours later Kathleen called to say they’re picking us up to go for a drive. The first place we stopped at was Sadie’s Baked Goods. It’s in an Amish home out in the country, with just a small sign on the street advertising the business.
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You see that all over this area, small signs in the street in front of regular homes advertising their small business. Everything from baked goods to produce, to furniture, and many other things. We drove up the driveway and on the front of the garage with their buggy in it was a sign directing us to the door to the bakery.
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A nice Amish lady greeted us and tempted us with her great selection of pies, cookies, donuts, and apple fritters and apple dumplings. We both bought a couple of items for breakfast tomorrow.

We then stopped at Bella Italia, a small pizza place, where we bought some sandwiches to bring home for a late dinner. (We were still full from lunch.)

We’re in for the night, with full bellies, and a lot of veggies and fruits (and donuts) for the rest of the week. Rain is still falling and we’re getting sleepy. I hope it quits raining tomorrow, Jim wants to go to Philadelphia to see a Phillies baseball game. We'll see.

4 comments:

Dizzy-Dick said...

Depending on what part of Maryland you crossed, if you blinked, you missed it. . .

Gypsy said...

On I-81 Maryland is about 10 miles from North to South. I'm hoping to visit Ara in Philadelphia when I leave NY the latter part of September. I've only been there on the train when it made a stop at the station on the way to Penn Station in NY. I'm just hoping Ara finds an apartment in an area of Philly that will be easy for me to drive to.

GGuncle said...

your right about that rest. my sister lived in reading for a while she took my late wife & I there. she then moved to York, & I think she took us to the one that was closest to there.her husband passed away there in York ,& then she moved to ill. her work took her to reading & York,then she retired.the rest. near reading was closed on fri. nites to the general puplic,but opened to the amish community. at the time we were there they had Delmonico steaks cooked to order on the line, slowed the line down a little, but was well worth the wait as I remember. thanks for sharing your travels with all us . I really enjoy the trips down memory lane.

Bob and Jo said...

Food days are good days in our book

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