this week we take a break from travel kind of we're going home for the holidays to my hometown that
is I'll share with you where I grew up in some hidden gems when visiting Lancaster County Pennsylvania
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our adventure is starting at the Fort Lauderdale Airport and I'm really excited because joining
us on this trip is my youngest son Lennon are you ready to go home what are you excited most
about are you hoping for snow are you hoping for snow are you hoping for snow I mean this
trip is starting off perfectly it's really not the holidays until my mother annoys her son
so we just got to DC and now we're heading to a very small town
Akron Pennsylvania which is about two and a half hours from the DC airport so
we're heading to Lancaster county is about an hour and a half west of Philadelphia
Lancaster is made up of several small towns including the small town of Akron where I'm from
we say Lancaster you say Amish theses two often go hand in hand being that Lancaster PA is home to one of the largest Amish
populations in the United States the county is known for Rolling Hills beautiful farmland and
a relaxing way of life after getting in a little later than we wanted to due to the DC traffic
we got some rest and the next day we headed over to one of my favorite places in Lancaster County
so we're here in Lititz Lititz I would say is the quintessential small town it
it's so cute I can't wait to show you around
Lititz is a very old town dating back to the early 1700s coming here as a little girl I
have many fond memories especially enjoying fireworks in the park on the 4th of July
but it's grown so much since I left with new gift shops coffee shops breweries now calling
that at home it's become a destination now we'll stroll over to the heart of the town
the Lititz Springs Park is a great spot to take a stroll let the kids play or feed the Ducks
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a lot of people come to Pennsylvania they come to see Hershey Park which Hershey Park
is a lot of fun but the locals love this place for chocolate and this is the old
Wilbur Bud Factory so up until about 2016 it was a functioning Chocolate Factory here in
Lititz Pennsylvania and they made the factory into condos and I think a hotel because people
have told me they stayed there but across the street they still have a Wilbur Bud um store so
we're gonna go check that out because I'm here in Lititz and I need those Wilbur buds [Music]
it smells like chocolate
so even though that large brick building across the street is no longer The Wilbur
Chocolate Factory the majority of the chocolate production is still done in
PA including here at this store in addition to a Mount Joy and Hazleton facility [Music]
thank you [Music] now that I have my chocolate it's time to pop into
the Tomato Pie Cafe for some coffee and to taste test these Rover buds [Music]
I used to work for a radio station here in Lancaster and we had a partnership
with Wilbur buds so we would get over buds every Christmas for our clients
always eat like a can all by myself this will be ready [Music]
I'm going so good
oh it sounds like Christmas I just love it [Music] so lettuce was definitely
busier than I remember it it might be because there's a lot of people
shopping before the holidays what a picturesque place to shop before the holidays super cute and
I'm excited for Lititz because it's always been a really nice place and I hope more people come
to visit foreign I took Lennon for a ride on the Old Country Roads that we know and love so much
that you can get fresh produce and pumpkins and all sorts of different stuff and it's
like real cheap it's like you get pumpkins for like a dollar and it's like awesome and
there's tons of those everywhere if you want produce or like when you're cooking
just come down to the local farmer stand and a lot of times they're not even like
attended by anyone from the farm you just leave your money in a basket
when people find out I'm from Lancaster County Pennsylvania they usually have a lot of questions
clothing out of simple colors like purple blue black gray women many times don't use buttons
they'll use pins to close their clothing and you'll see men using suspenders versus belts
okay so tonight we're at Green Dragon green dragon is nestled in the small town of Ephrata
Pennsylvania it's a place near and dear to my heart I used to come here with my parents
every Friday night it's only open one day a week it's a farmer's market that you can find almost
anything your heart desires from clothing to Vintage Goods to home decor to Meats to produce
to restaurants homemade candy it's just a large variety of anything that you could possibly need
it's just a really neat place to visit so if you want to go somewhere in Lancaster County that's
local local local Country Market with anything your heart desires including those Lancaster
County famous soft pretzels then Green Dragon is the place to go so let me go show you around
we're meeting up with my family to start here at the candy counter I've been coming
here since I was a kid do you like to candy store Do you yeah the nice thing about coming
home is many things don't change including this stand and this nice woman they've been
here since I was little and I can't wait to purchase my favorite red shoestring licorice
okay
[Music] in there
first family tradition complete
Green Dragon has 30 plus acres which includes free parking and indoor and outdoor shopping
usually on summer evenings it's packed out here but tonight it's cold so it's not as
busy as what I typically expect but this is the way to finding those famous Lancaster
County soft pretzels there's nothing more traditional than pretzels pretzels Lancaster
County so why is Lancaster County known for pretzels well it's said that German
immigrants who settled here in the late 18th and 19th centuries brought with them a long
tradition of pretzel baking while accounts vary One Source claims that the first American Pretzel
was baked in 1861 in Lititz as The Story Goes sometime around 1850 the bread Baker
Ambrose Roth obtained the recipe from a hobo as a thank you for a hot meal and some Hospitality
okay I'll do that all right
yummy yeah
many of you have probably eaten at Auntie Anne's pretzels at some point in your life
the famous pretzel chain was founded here in Lancaster its founder Annie Byler lived
in Lancaster County and the headquarters for Annie Anne's is located right downtown
thank you
you go in for the taste patch check out the goods you want bite you want a bite on a bite
okay no he might he might
nice and warm it's like home right here
so if you find yourself in central Pennsylvania on a Friday head over to
Green Dragon take a stroll eat some food maybe make it a family tradition from ours to yours
so after a very long day he was back home to play some cards I mean it's just not home
for the holidays unless you get around the table to play some good old Texas Hold'em
don't give her money
with you
[Laughter]
something new to me is this place Black Forest Brewery my brother who wanted to
get out of the house requested we come here the Black Forest Brewery is a family-owned business
and expansion to the 1777 Americana in bed and breakfast here in Ephrata PA cheers [Music]
drinks and Philadelphia football I already love this place oh they just scored we missed
it and of course we ordered some food this is called the Nashville hot it's a hand-battered
chicken thigh tossed in Nashville hot sauces topped with pickles and the famous garlic Dill
aioli Harold like spice I like pickles this was the perfect handheld for us to share delicious
that was so much fun and the Eagles won so we were heading off and then
thank you everybody wouldn't have gotten gas thank you very welcome gosh people
are nice here really makes me miss home the Black Forest Brewery had a great atmosphere
delicious food amazing beer definitely stop by if you're ever visiting central Pennsylvania
that concludes this week's video I hope you enjoyed seeing parts of where I grew up in
central Pennsylvania I was only home a few days and would love to recommend more for you to see
in Lancaster County so I'll leave those ideas in the video description below if you like this
video please consider subscribing to my channel also leave a comment I'd love to hear from you
lastly happy holidays
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