Woke up this morning to find the humidity is much less today. It sure felt good. We packed up and left King of Prussia, headed to Lancaster. We stopped in to see an old mill in the heart of Amish country. It was fascinating to learn the history of the mill and the generations of family that ran it. http://resslermill.com/pages/home.html The area farmers would bring their wheat and corn to the mill up to 1977. The mill was in operation for 230 years. The mill is run by water and is fully functional today. The tour guide demonstrated milling corn and wheat. The force generated by the water also ran electrical generators that powered some of the lights. The mill processed corn and wheat for the Amish families in the area. Even though they do not believe in using machinery themselves, they are ok with someone else using it to process their grain. The family that ran the Mill lived in the house next to the mill. Generations lived in the home. The brother and sister that ran the mill until 1977, left the home and the mill to the Ressler foundation so it could be preserved. They left all their belongings as they were in the home when they left to live in a retirement home. We toured the home, but no pictures were allowed to be taken. It was very cool seeing the items they used in every day life still in their places. Frozen in time. There was a cradle that was used for 120 years of families living in the home. All the furniture was left behind and the kitchen was left with all the utensils they used daily. There are no surviving members of the family today. The farms surrounding the mill are all run by Amish families. The one across the road, the young mother has 5 boys under the age of 6. There is a school down the road where they attend. It is a Amish school that is for the small community of families near it. Each community has their own school. The children do not attend regular public school. We saw many horse and buggies and some horses working the fields. We didn't spend a lot of time in the area, as we were meeting Cousin Jan and her family for an early dinner. We saw enough to understand how simple life is for the Amish. We stopped by a Country Side Road Stand that sold homemade big pretzels and shakes. They also had many craft and food items for sale. I could not eat most of it , but I did have a shake. Mary and the kids had the pretzels and said they were very good. When I did the planning for stopping at the stand, I knew there was a petting zoo. Once we were there, I completely forgot about it and we missed petting goats and other animals :( I realized this as we were driving to Maryland. As we drove through Lancaster, we saw many horse and buggy ride signs. When I return , I want get a ride on a buggy.
Amish horse team just coming in from the field.
Ressler Mill. Built around 1730. I love the stone buildings.
The tour guide processing wheat. There are four stages the wheat get milled. Each grind the wheat finer and finer.
Behind the Mill where the water is diverted for powering the equipment.
This is the farm with the 5 boys under 6 that live across the road from the mill.
Side View of the Mill.
The home that the family lived in while running the mill.
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