Whoopie Pies For Breakfast: Cycling Through Pennsylvania Dutch Country

The next time I drink a glass of milk, eat a soy burger or bite into an ear of corn, I will think of beautiful Lancaster County, Penn.

This area, also called Pennsylvania Dutch Country, known for its fertile soil and strong farming industry, generates food, feed and fiber via livestock-raising, dairy and poultry farms, and acres of corn, soy beans and alfalfa. A large concentration of Amish and Mennonite farmers live here and work the land.

While I was there for two days in mid-October, cycling and sightseeing I passed working farms and miles of corn fields.

Prior to the trip, I was able to purchase a cycling map and download several cue sheets from Lancaster Cycling Club, so I negotiated the area easily.

Lancaster County encompasses almost 1,000 square miles. It can be touristy the closer you get to the town of Lancaster, but if you stay north of Route 30, you will find quiet roads, farm stands, busy Amish and Mennonite farmers, who will give you a smile and friendly wave, and be able to race the many horse-drawn black and gray buggies.

The cycling was fun, mostly rolling hills with distant views of harvested fields lying next to navy and silver grain silos that stood stoically under a bright sun and blue sky.

An Old-Time Inn

For two nights, I stayed in Lititz at the Cooper’s Inn B&B, which has been in the same family for six generations.

My room was in the original part of the house, built in the 1700s, on the second floor and overlooked the horse corral, dog pen and two barns. I enjoyed having the cats greet me and the dogs barking signaled a passing buggy.

I started both rides from the inn and my first impression of the area, besides the beautiful farmland scenery, was the smell. Being on new roads I was distracted, but after pedaling a few miles, I realized there was a distinct aroma of cow droppings.

Amish farmers travel by horse and buggy, so I had to maneuver around horse poop, which made me chuckle. But by mile 10 the air cleared as I pedaled by fields of corn, alfalfa and soy beans and past Mennonite churches.

Northern Lancaster County also has nice smoothly paved roads: In 50 miles I saw no potholes. I did have to cross over a few busy routes and there wasn’t much of a shoulder, but car drivers were mostly respectful.

During my first ride, 30-knot wind gusts made it difficult for me to hear any upcoming cars or buggies, and at one point a gust pushed me sideways.

On Sanctuary Road in Mount Hope the power lines were swinging wildly. Lots of farmland means not a lot of trees -- great views but not much to block the wind.  The wind made for an uncomfortable ride, so although I was supposed to pedal 45 miles up through Mt. Gretna toward Cornwall, I rode only 25.

Lunch in Lovely Lititz

Fortunately, this afforded me time to stop in the adorable town of Lititz for lunch and sightseeing.

Lititz is a town of stone and brick buildings settled in the 1750s by Moravians. The town center has cute shops; Linden Hall, the oldest girls' boarding school in the U.S.; Wilbur Chocolate Company; the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Factory, where I twisted my own pretzel; and peaceful Lititz Springs Park.

Walking through the park, which has a spring-fed canal running through the center of it, I saw children feeding bread to a duck paddling against the strong current.

I stopped by the Tomato Pie Café for a tasty light lunch of tomato bisque with a delicious mini herbed scone. I didn’t want to fill up because my innkeepers had made arrangements for me to have dinner with an Amish family.

Farm Fresh

When I got to Amanda L’s dairy farm on a dirt road in Brunnerville, Penn., three couples were also there. As we got acquainted, Amanda sat us down to a dinner of sweet, juicy meatloaf, cheesy egg noodles, cinnamon topped rice custard, buttery farm-fresh peas, homemade bread and hand-churned butter.

The meal commenced after grace was said. During dinner we learned a bit about the Amish culture. After a dessert of homemade chocolate cake with chocolate and peanut butter frosting and pumpkin custard pie, we sang "Amazing Grace," which almost brought me to tears after learning from our hostess the history of the song’s author, a reformed slave trader turned minister and abolitionist.

The next morning I sat down to a hearty breakfast at the Cooper’s Inn: sliced ham, potato cakes, homemade wheat bread, bacon, a warm blueberry cudgel, and chocolate and sweet cream whoopie pies!

The innkeeper explained to me that the Penn Dutch always have a sweet at breakfast. I had mine wrapped for later.

I met the two other couples staying at the inn and we traded stories -- the folks from New Jersey had hired an Amish guide who took them to several farms.

The couple from Arlington, Va., talked of their drive through the country back roads, stopping at farms to buy cheese and a handmade quilt.

After breakfast, I geared up for a ride and decided to head north from the farmland and toward Middle Creek Management Wildlife Area. The pedal out was pretty quiet as I passed the packed parking lots of Mennonite and Methodist churches.

This ride was more forested and rural, though I passed a few pumpkin patches on my way toward Middle Creek. This 6,200-acre preserve of mostly oak and hickory forest has hiking trails and a man-made lake that provides a habitat for migrating waterfowl. I spotted bird watchers, horseback riders and photographers enjoying
this area as I rode by.

On my way home, there was a head wind and a bit more car traffic. The best part of this route was seeing a peloton of 20 teenage Mennonite boys and girls coming toward me on bikes with wicker baskets.

The young ladies wore dresses with white caps and the boys wore pants with suspenders. I wish I’d gotten a photo of them as they yelled "hello" to me.

From Covered Bridges to Cows

Upon my return I showered, gobbled my leftover whoopie pie and headed out to find some covered bridges. I drove around Lititz and Ephrata and found three of Lancaster County’s 29 covered bridges nestled among endless farmland fields, grazing cows and lazy creeks.

This area was really scenic and I would have liked to experience more of it atop a bike. My ride to Middle Creek was lovely, but I preferred the acres of farms and fields to the woods.

If I come back this way, I’ll stick to the farmlands for the best way to experience this beautiful, green and fertile county in south central Pennsylvania.