The Lincoln Highway and the Capitol of our fledgling nation

 

The Lincoln Highway starts in Times Square, NY, and runs coast to coast to the Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park in San Francisco. It ambles 350 miles through the rolling southern Pennsylvania countryside cutting my path from Pittsburgh to Lancaster.

Coming from California and having driven through the arid southwest to Texas, I’m struck by the excess of every shade and texture of green showing off occasional squares of lush farmland carved out of thick, old forest hillsides. Imagine the American colonists on foot or horseback taking weeks to travel these dense, nearly impenetrable forests and a lifetime to chop down enough trees to farm a small plot.

 

                                            Lancaster, PA    Penn Square

Sept 27, 1777 was one day in the limelight for Lancaster. The Second Continental Congress, whose members signed the Declaration of Independence, fled Philadelphia because the British troops were coming, and they all had bounties on their heads. They rested that day in Lancaster making it the colonial capitol before heading to York to set up a provisional seat of government.

 

Arriving late afternoon in Lancaster, a quaint colonial town squeezed between the many still standing groves, I had time for a swim and shower before meeting a school buddy from Holland, Ed Kaminsky.  

First stop was Happy Hour at Bert and the Elephant, a Belgian beer palace and cafe near Penn Square. They have 15 Belgian beers on tap with the majority checking in at 8% to 11 % alcohol. There’s an option to purchase another 54 more bottled brands. Each beer is served in its unique glass which are found hanging from the ceiling in neat rows above the 40-foot bar.

This is Amish and Mennonite country, renown for small, manually worked farms, traditional living and horse and buggy transportation.  Amish and Mennonites originated from the same group but split off due to the Amish rules of shunning technology. Mennonites have similar values of plain dress, religious beliefs and limited social contact although they do accept technology.  No flashy BMWs and Tesla's, but they drive basic small black cars, while using cell phones and the internet (though you’d be hard pressed to find them on Facebook).

Ed’s uncle owned the Rendezvous restaurant where Ed visited often as a child. His forte is property development, and he bought the old building to create a 55+ community of apartments and a modern version of the pizza joint.

Landis Place on King is an incredibly well designed, mixed-use building with 79 apartments, indoor parking, specialty community rooms on each floor, and a 7^th floor roof top deck with an indoor and outdoor kitchen for parties. The Rendezvous restaurant occupies half of the ground floor with a wood-fired oven and grill to serve up pizzas and cheesesteaks.

It is a non-profit co-op run by Ed and a board of Mennonite backers who keep the place in pristine shape. No alcohol is served in the Rendezvous due to the conservative management and onerous Pennsylvania liquor laws; however, you can bring your favorite beverage to enjoy a great casual meal.

 

I had a tip from Janet Hale: Dienners Country Restaurant for a PA Dutch home-cooked meal. With good farm fresh local foods, you can’t go wrong at any of these eateries.