A sunny fall Saturday and nothing as quaint or rolling-hill-beautiful as Lancaster, PA. We went for the Strasburg Railroad Museum, which is one of the truly great collections of those massive engines and their designer cars. But it was also Thomas the Engine day, and fun as that seems, too many people, strollers and lines.
So, we skipped off for a beautiful drive ending up in the little town of Lititz, with several memorable sites, the best of which is Sturgis pretzel store, the original from 1861. While the operation has grown, and this would hardly be called a museum or a real tour, it actually was one of the more genuine and fun tours we have ever had. First, it amazed me to learn that while soft pretzels had been around far longer, a mistake discovered by one Tom Sturgis in 1861, created the hard pretzel which is far better known, and man were they tasty.
What was especially fun was standing in a line, taking some dough and being told how to make the original cross-hatched design; it has religious significance, but perhaps more importantly, it gave meaning to their hard labor.
At the end, we were given small sample bags; I so regret not getting several massive bags in their store of a variety of but often a small batch of something so good will do it better justice than the indulgence of the waistline. This was pure, simple fun. #sturgispretzels, #hardpretzels, #outspokentraveler,
Outspoken Traveler 