I know for many of you, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania might not be your first option for a weekend getaway. Even being from Philadelphia, I never thought to take the short train ride to Lancaster and just experience the town.
The town of Lititz is located in Lancaster County and it is where we chose to do our girls reunion!
Once a year my girlfriends from college and I get together for one weekend. This year was Lititz! One of the ladies recently bought and renovated an 18th-century-style estate in Lititz with plans to establish it as a business. The house is so beautiful and you feel like you walked into a time-capsule! It's large enough to hold us girls, so it became the best location for this year's meetup.
Route 66 Restaurant
The ride to Lancaster was three hours on the Amtrak from New York City. It was super easy and let me out right in downtown Lancaster. As soon as I got there the first thing I had to do was eat! The train ride was early enough that my first meal of the day would come once I arrived.
With a quick google search, I came across this quaint restaurant with the greatest retro vibe. The interior made me really appreciate themed restaurant decors, something I definitely would love to see more of!
The restaurant is called Route 66 Restaurant and everything on the walls makes you feel like you are really enjoying a meal on the famous highway.
It's a burger and sandwich spot, with a Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich on the menu with fries for $8!
And it was huge!
I can't help but order a Nashville-style chicken sandwich anywhere I go if it's on the menu. This one did not disappoint! And I ate the entire thing.
Very few know how to successfully keep chicken moist and juicy even during frying.
The Hess Homestead
What makes this house so cool is all the history being preserved! The owners are antique buyers and sellers so not only is the home part of their personal collection, but when showing artifacts to clients it serves as the perfect setting.
Even though the entire living room resembles a mock art installation you would see in a museum, it's all just part of the decor so it wasn't weird knowing that I just kicked my feet up in George Washington's desk chair.
The Animals
What's a Pennsylvania farmhouse estate without a few animals! The house has 2 goats, 3 cats, 2 dogs, 4 ducks, and several chickens (they moved too fast for me to count).
When the owner grew up on a farm, it's only right there are ten animals on the premises, with plans of getting more I think!
Lancaster Central Market
In Philadelphia we have Reading Terminal, it's our farmers market/eatery that features local vendors and many of them are from the Lancaster community! It was cool to finally see the Lancaster Central Market, which has a similar concept as Reading Terminal, except Reading Terminal is overrun with tourists and they make it impossible to walk through the market at all.
It was so refreshing to actually enjoy and experience a place without a ton of tourists and traps.
Inside the market I bought a few spices and salts; mesquite bbq seasoning, truffle salt, smoked cherrywood salt, and chai. Since this trip I've used all the seasonings, salt, and tea! Seasonings and salts are probably the only real souvenir I purchase when I travel.
The market house multiple local vendors selling items like goat cheese and milk from their farms, soaps made with lavendar they grow in their gardens, flowers, or handmade aprons and oven mitts!
C'est La Vie
This casual-chic French restaurant is located right across the promenade from the Lancaster Central Market. Here we enjoyed what was supposed to be a light lunch, but the meal was so filling.
For a starter, we shared the Seafood Pizza. Made with crab, lobster meat, and I believe a white fish. It was so good! When you picture a seafood pizza, I definitely don't image it to taste this good.
Even though it was a seafood pizza, it included pepperonis which really brought back the pizza flavor.
For my main course, I order the Shrimp Tempura Caesar Salad.
Can you even imagine?? 🤤
This salad has made me believe that tempura is the best technique to fry anything and it's highly underrated.
Why aren't more things made in tempura on menus? I need answers.
Tomato Pie
When you hear "tomato pie" what do you think of? An actual pie crust with tomato filling, exactly. I don't know if that is good or bad, but I what I ate at the restaurant Tomato Pie in Lancaster was the best version of a tomato pie that I know.
For starters, I commend anyone who can handle dough and pie crust with decadence and deliver an amazing meal.
The tomato pie crust was buttery and flaky. The middle was cheesy and filled with hot tomatoes. What really made the tomato pie filling enjoyable was the seasoning! Rosemary and thyme really carried the flavor and the generous use of salt was just right so the dish did not taste lackluster.
The cafe describes their menu as "simple but artful". The title is fitting with items like White Lavender Mocha and the signature Tomato Pie.
Impromptu Pool Party
Laying by a pool all day with a group of your closest friends is exactly how I want to spend a Monday away from the city. Being able to have the whole pool to ourselves was just the cherry on top. It was nice to be able to catch up with everyone after the year we are having and hearing what new goals everyone is setting out to accomplish!
We all met in college at different times and around my senior year we realized we're all stuck with one another and wouldn't have it any other way.
Oh! And if you're ever short on drinks for an impromptu pool party or beach outing, mango Naked smoothies blended with ice and a vodka of your choice goes really well together ðŸ¥
Although we broke quarantine for this trip, I condone participating in more activities that bring you joy in these times. As long as you are keeping yourself safe and keeping everyone around you safe, then feel free to enjoy something.
The great thing about Lititz and Lancaster is they are both small towns so being socially distanced from others was not hard at all. And since the goal of our trip was to spend time with each other, we were really only around one another 🙃
Lititz is a great place for a quick trip with your significant other. It was even voted "Coolest Small Town in America"!
Once everything opens back up, I hope to revisit Lititz again!
