On the last day of our trip to Lancaster, PA visiting my brother, our family loaded up and traveled to the nearby Amish community. Our goal was an unforgettable feast. There are many Amish buffets, but we decided upon Shady Maple Smorgasbord.
Smörgåsbord is a buffet-style meal of Swedish origin. It is served with various hot and cold dishes.
I had only been to a place like this once before and it was when I was a very young boy, pre-teen age sometime. I remember loving it, but my belly was nowhere near as prepared as I am now as a 30-year-old grown man.
If you aren't familiar with the Amish, you should do some research, or simply ask AI. As a matter of fact, I will do that for you and place a screenshot below:
They grow their own vegetables and raise/slaughter their animals. This is what made us want to eat at one of their buffets. Local food always seems to taste better and it's much better for you than highly processed and genetically modified foods.
It's also common for them to not use technology. I'm not sure how exactly they are still able to run a business with things like digital cash registers, but I guess they bend the rules when it comes to business. Otherwise, they are focused on working hard and have a pretty strict life. There is no temptation from social media or things on tv. Most of them have never even touched an iPhone for instance.
Although they may not be too familiar with the digital age, they are experts in the old ways of living. Imagine stepping back 200 years in time, that's basically how they live. Horse and buggy instead of a car. Among many other things that seem odd in today's world. I would never want to live like that, but I respect those who do and appreciate the services that they offer outsiders like myself.
Back to the food. There was a little bit of everything. There must have been close to 100 different dishes. Meats of all kinds, every side you can imagine, and then some. Plus the desserts were endless, you could have just about anything you desired.
My entire family ended up going a little overboard. We wanted to try everything and also wanted to get our money's worth. I had 2-3 plates of food and I think everyone else did the same, if not more. By the end, I tried a total of 10 different desserts. I had a raspberry cheesecake that was to die for. Thankfully the desserts were small portions so you could try a lot without having to waste food.
I was uncomfortably full when we finished. All I wanted to do was go to sleep, but there was no nap in my future. We went shopping for a bit afterward and I remained in the car suffering from food coma symptoms. It was rough, but so worth it to get to try so many different types of food.
This experience made me wish that I lived closer to an Amish community so that I could take advantage of their good eats more often. Despite my brother living less than a half hour from the place, this was his first time going to the buffet despite living in Lancaster for several years now.
I couldn't eat like this every day, but it was such a treat to get to splurge like this. I'm glad I got to enjoy this meal with my family and we will always have this memory.
This concludes my trip to visit my brother in Lancaster. I hope that you've enjoyed getting to peek into my life and see how lucky I am to have an awesome family.
