Visiting the Amish Market

Are you familiar with the Amish? I wasn't until we moved from California to Maryland, and even then I didn't see an Amish person, knowingly, until we drove to Pennsylvania one weekend to pick up a puppy. That was about 7 years ago. More recently, I've seen the Amish in Germantown, Maryland, at the Lancaster County Dutch Market.

When we drove the Pennsylvania so long ago, it was very clear from the horse-drawn carriages and the battery-operated hand tools we observed (in place of wired electrical devices) that the Amish are hard core. I don't know enough about their culture to explain more details here. In general, they seem to avoid some of the technologies that make mainstream American life easy.

Which begs the question, How are they getting from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Germantown, Maryland, each weekend?  I'm guessing that they've made an exception where it comes to commerce and earning a living from the general population of lazy Americans.

But I digress. In Germantown you can visit an indoor market that features some of the most delicious soft pretzels, baked desserts, cheeses, fresh and cured meats, poultry, game, and barbecue in central Maryland. Prices are comparable to what you would pay at your neighborhood grocery store, more or less. And, you get to see the Amish in their traditional style. Women wear very conservative dresses with aprons and bonnets; men wear simple shirts and pants with pageboy haircuts. (The older men usually have full sideburns and beard while the women all wear their hair in a bun.)

The market vendors take cash only, so you can stop by the ATM and buy your week of groceries, or you can spend $5 on a couple of pretzel dogs and just stop by to say hello. Either way, this is a trip that anyone should take at least once if they live nearby.