July 12th - Harrisburg, PA

​We got some work done on our blog before heading off to the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster County with Jean. We make an annual visit to this Christian musical theater, which is broadway quality in terms of the sets and talent. They always feature well trained live animals in their performances, which add to the realism of the story. This year, we saw, sheep, horses, a llama, goats and doves. For the first time, there were digital effects employed in the set backgrounds.

This year, the play was "David", which told the story of King David from his life as a boy being trained as a shepherd to his rise to royalty, fall from obedience and communion with God, his reconciliation and death. It was powerful and inspiring. My favorite quote from the play was "Men see the outward appearance of a man. God sees the heart." The special effects were incredible, as usual. There were five giants slain. (Goliath had four brothers.) 

Afterwards, we went to a Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant - Shady Maple. This farm to table buffet had an incredible selection and the quality of the food was outstanding. It was Hank's fifth different Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant and by far his favorite. Food and Wine magazine called it "one of America's best buffets."

Our route to the restaurant took us through the large fertile farms of Lancaster County, which are largely farmed by Amish and Menonite families. The harvest is amazing this year. Unlike the Harrisburg area, Lancaster County is getting normal rainfall, which was readily evident in the relative size of the corn plants. We also saw fields of soy beans, tobacco and hay. We saw many horse-drawn buggies on the road. We saw a farmer sowing and fertilizing corn in a rig drawn by size horses abreast.