Pennsylvania: Part Deux

October 9-10

This was to be a weekend that embraced US culture wholeheartedly.

We’d the largest SUV that the car hire folk could offer. We had eschewed maps for GPS. We’d printed t-shirts and baked brownies. And Gregoire had even promised us some mixtapes. We were ready for our first roadtrip of the season.

Stop number one: Rafting at the Delaware Water Gap

At over 20 degress, the weather was unseasonally hot – perfect for navigating the Delaware ‘rapids’. Gregoire deserves a special mention for ‘doeeng double ze paddleeng of everyone else’. Kudos to Declan and Guillaume for managing to smoke and paddle at the same time. Who said that men can’t multitask?

Stop number two: Lancaster

Lancaster must surely be one of the worst towns I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. Great banter to be sure, but a truly awful place. We stayed in a comedy hotel which would have made Fawlty Towers look like a veritable 5 star, we’d a poor meal in a local ‘gastro’ pub, and a number of local watering holes refused to let us in without seeing our visas. Thankfully, after about an hour of wandering, we found a dodgy looking joint that wasn’t so suspicious of foreigners.

Stope number three: Amish Country

With Declan and Gregoire still sleeping off their previous night’s fun, we ventured out to Dutch Country. Schoolboy error: it was Sunday – not much was open. But we took a tour on a horse and cart and heard a bit more about Amish life. Indeed, our guide’s own story was fascinating. Brought up in the Amish community, he had left school – as was compulsory – to do farm work at the age of 12. However, at the age of 16 he had enjoyed the rumspringa period in which Amish rules may be broken: he’d gotten a piercing, enjoyed technology and lived a party lifestyle. He now admits that he took things too far at times, but he still decided not to join the Amish again as an adult. Instead, he obtained his High School Diploma and is now training to become a vet. He will be the first person in his family to graduate from University in over 300 years. However, his family would rather that he gave it up and return to run the farm.

The Amish don’t drive cars. For them, family is key. And motorised transport has the potential to take you far away from it. Our driver explained that the concern is more than geographic: ‘the worry is that you’ll travel so far away from home that you can’t find your way back, and that you end up losing a bit of yourself along the way’ ….’And there’s certainly some truth in that’ he mused. Perhaps. But there is also truth in the idea – so beautifully expressed by du Bellay – that through leaving home we can fully appreciate where we are from and thus who we really are.

In any event, we’d great fun over family-style food before hitting the road for our next stop.

'Family style' dinner included colouring in sheets for the kids..

Stop number four: Gettysburg

Any good legal education should appreciate historical context. So this merry band of lawyers (and one actuary) decided to visit Gettysburg.

As our SUV entered the town, we passed civil-war reenacters dressed up to the nines, and Guillaume, a military geek, played Lincoln’s speech to set the scene.

As we drove around the park, Nico was in the driving seat. Needless to say, hilarity ensued. However, the funny side may have been lost by those in the 20 car tailback he caused.

My overriding memory is the extreme peace that has settled over the landscape. The civil war was severe – over 200,000 killed in combat – and it’s now hard to imagine such fighting occurring in that place. Here’s to Somalia having the same ambiance someday soon.

Stop number five: Harrisburg

Harrisburg = ghost town. Pennsylvania’s capitial was unimpressive. We’d a bad meal in a poor restaurant (déjà vu anyone?) and then we headed for home.

A fantastic weekend. It all went to prove that one should ‘never say no to a roadtrip’.