My family will be visiting Philadelphia in early May and is planning a side trip to Lancaster on Saturday. Any tips regarding must-sees? Also, any recommended restaurants? Has anyone been to the Millenium Sight and Sound theater in Strasburg? Pricey tickets. Was it worth it? Thanks for your input.

Do you have kids? Don't miss the Strasburg railroad - a 10 minute trip on an old-fashioned steam train.. also eat lunch at teh Red Caboose motel/restaurant.. train theme. the pretzel bakeries (Sturgis?) are really fun too. Stop at a roadside vegetable stand to meet real Amish people (and get great veggies!) I think the Site and Sound thing you mentioned is "Biblical and born-again Christian" in theme - are they doing Noah's Ark w/live animals?? If not, I'm mistaken...

This is a very unique community I would make this the focal point of my visit. Always remember going to a restaurant called "The Bird in Hand". Much of the cooking is German and so it is high on meat, greese, cheese and gravey. I would not have high hopes here. But if you are person that likes this kind of food, you will enjoy yourself. And as many americans were raised on a meat in potatoes/white bread diet you will in no way be in the minority. Don't wait till you are starving to stop lines always out the door at "Bird in Hand".

This is a very unique community I would make this the focal point of my visit. Always remember going to a restaurant called "The Bird in Hand". Much of the cooking is German and so it is high on meat, grease, cheese and gravy. I would not have high hopes here. But if you are person that likes this kind of food, you will enjoy yourself. And as many Americans were raised on a meat and potatoes/white bread diet you will in no way be in the minority. Don't wait till you are starving to stop, lines always out the door at "Bird in Hand".

You can learn to pronounce it correctly before you go--natives say LANkisster, not LanCASTer.

We usually eat at Good 'n' Plenty - huge platters of ham, chicken, potatoes, Penn Dutch noodles, carrots, etc are served family style at long tables. In nearby Lititz there was a shop where you learn to make pretzels. It's harder than you'd think.

I always (highly) recommend Miller's Smorgasbord in Ronks...they serve an enormous, lavish, and delicious buffet that includes carving stations of roast beef, ham, turkey, chicken, noodles, potatoes, vegetables, just to name a few and I mean a few...then there's salads and seafood and an equally large selection of desserts including shoofly pie...there's a bakery adjacent so you can buy more treats and bring them home.

Just a little education note. Are you aware that the Amish regard pets as livestock and are big producers for the petstore industry? i.e., PUPPY MILLS. The animals spend their entire existance in tiny cages with no opportunity to get out and run at all. THey are bred at every opportunity with no regard for genetics or health problems. (Imagine a woman having a baby every 10 months!) Think hundreds or thousands of dollars spent by pet owners for problems like epilepsy, hip displasia, retina problems, etc. To the Amish, the dogs are livestock and they see nothing unethical about this practice whatsoever. Keep this in mind when you are touring the area and when you see the puppies at pet shops. Now you know what's behind those big pretty barns.

x: So what? I get much mnore upset about ignorant folks that post off-topic in the Fodor's travel section.

Are you always as rude and obnoxious as this? If so, I certainly understand your desire for anonymity.

If your education had included more from Emily Post, and less from PETA, you'd probably be a much nicer (and happier) person.

I think PETA members are a bunch of a$$holes. But what you don't know about the Amish is revolting. These people are going sightseeing in the area and supporting this practice with their tourism dollars.

What Tourists Don't See in Amish Country

A multitude of problems have been documented through the Pennsylvania SPCA. Several complaints were filed regarding the health of animals purchased from Joyce Stolzfus, operator of "Puppy Love" in Lancaster Country. The list of problems include deformed jaws, hip dysplasia, retina disease, defective kidneys, chronic diarrhea, kennel cough and worms. One purchaser stated, "The puppy had spells where he seemed to almost go berserk racing back and forth from one corner of a room to another." The puppy mill operators have been less than hospitable toward inquisitive visitors. On one occasion, our investigator was being shown puppies by an Amish woman. He observed over 100 dogs crammed into tiny cages. After he looked though a window into a barn full of dogs, he was sprayed in the face with mace. The Amish have stated that they raise dogs using the same methods that they would use for "any other livestock."

X I just think you should substaniate your remarks we only saw puppies in pens no cages. George you can't know anything about puppy mills to attack back like. X you should substiate yourself before you make a leaping generalization like that. Just because someone breads dogs does not put them into the puppy mill category.

"X", that is truely horrible! I sincerely hope that such people are in the minority, but you make it sound like common practice. I intend to do some research on this before revisiting the area, and, if what you say is true, bypassing the area altogether - wouldn't want to give them further $ in tourist money - though the argument could be made that without tourist $s, the Amish would rely more, and not less heavily, on this abhorent trade.

OK, those were excerpts from websites. If you do much research on puppy mills, you'll find that Amish and Mennonites are big into this new version of "livestock." The puppys that wind up in petshops frequently come from these puppy mills. Several states are notorious for their large numbers of puppy mills. As a pet owner, I'm not interested in paying hundreds of dollars for a purebred dog at a petshop, just to bring it home and spend 2 or 3 or 4 times that much in taking care of health problems because of blatant disregard of health issues by the "breeder" (i.e., puppy mill owner).

So, don't take my word for it. Go to your favorite search engine and type in "+puppy mill +amish" and see what pops up. Just typing in puppy mill will give you lots of good information, but adding amish will narrow it down to the subject at hand.

The amish make part of their profit at the tourism booths. Part of it is in and behind those picturesque barns where hundreds of dogs are raised in squallor.

By the way, PLEASE DON'T take my word on this subject. Take about 2 minutes and do just a tiny bit of research.

The Amish don't treat their kids much better than their livestock. They actually went to court to get permission to deny their kids any education beyond eighth grade, to "preserve their way of life." Sure, a kid with only that much education isn't going to be able to get a job and wil be trapped on the farm whether he likes it or not.

I have been ripped off every time I've dealt directy with the Amish, whether a quaint horse-and-bugy tour that promised a narrated tour and the driver never said anything, except stopping at a farm where I was sold a "loaf of bread" that was totally puffy -- looked like it would weign a pound, but only weighed a few ounces. I have no idea what their ethics are in dealing with each ohter, but us "english" are apparently fair game.

Stop and think about what their way of life really means and the sacrifices that the kids make involuntarily.

xxx not surprised that you could not substaniate yourself. People will take you more seriously in this world if you can actually qualify your passions by giving us some actual facts. Again just because someone raises dogs does not make them a puppy Mill.

X with your thinking any cultural attitudes about raising children will come under scrutiny.

Ok this is critical thinking 101 people back up what you are saying with facts and steer clear of generalizations you have no way of substantiating.

I live in Lancaster County and have many Amish farms as my neighbors. Yes, some do run so called puppy mills and most Amish don't have a great respect for animals in general other than as livestock, but to classify them as rip-offs is totally false. They are some of the hardest working people that you will find. Most people that visit so called "Amish Country" only see the tourist traps that line the major route through the county almost all of which are run by "English". Take a ride on the back roads and you will see the real working Amish and their roadside stands. Let's hope that they will continue to lead their farming existence so that their land will not become the next Wal-Mart.

Anyone who's online can do a simple search on Amish and "puppy mill" and see plenty of coverage from a huge variety of sources, many of them actually credible. Here are links from dog breeders sites:

http://www.golden-retriever.com/nypost.html

http://www.allbreed.net/chows/Adopt/Adopt18.htm

http://www.dvgrr.org/goldengateway/frompres.htm

http://www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/archives/palawwhy.htm

ddd, I did provide facts. I just didn't give you the references. 123 made the comment about their treatment of their children. I didn't know anything about that.

ddd, even if I provided you with the facts AND the references, you and other readers will remember everything better by doing a bit of research yourself. There are other reasons I wanted the reader to research puppymills. But they have nothing to do with travel. It's an educational issue. 123 has provided you with specific web sites.

SM, I really don't have a problem with the Amish using "traditional" methods of making a living. I have a problem with dogs spending their entire existance in a 3'x3'x3' wire crate, having 2 litters each year, living in a filthy environment without proper nutrition and health care. Cattle farmers don't treat their cows like this.

ddd, you're right. Just because someone raises dogs doesn't make them a puppy mill. Find your own personal favorite breed. Do some research. Find a reputable breeder. Ask THEM about puppies from the Amish or Missouri.

Thanks 123 for the facts have forwarded articles to people I know purchased puppies there. I am sure they would not have had they known this.

x stand by my original statement to you on facts. BA in Political Science I know what I am talking about on this score.