Yup, same place. My parents live a half hour west of lancaster, so it was an easy place to meet and my son is into thomas right now.
If it works out with naps and all, I suggest aiming for the end of the day. The last train was 3:15 and by then a lot of people had cleared out. The place was apparently an absolute mob scene just hours earlier. There's really not much there aside from Thomas, a few extra little train rides is about all. And of course lots of stuff to buy. $18 a pop to ride that puppy too.
I'm on the train and I don't feel like reading. So my weekend...
We left Sunday at about 10:40, me with 3 hours in the saddle already. So I was good for the next 2 days. Got there at 1:10, met my parents at the hotel and had lunch at Outback, across the street. Weather was awesome.
Hit the Strasburg Railroad for a few hours then checked into the hotel. Had dinner there and a few beers and my daughter played with my parents all night.
Next morning went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and it was much better than I would have thought. We may need to hit this place more often when I get huge morning rides in and have the calories to spare.
Most of the day was Dutch Wonderland which my daughter loved. At about 2:00 she was toast so we dropped her in the car and drove around a bit until she nodded off. We hit the Tanger Outlets after she woke up and I found a pair of running shorts at the Nike store in an attempt to replace the shorts I wear around the house. Turns out I chose wisely and I liked them so much I ent back and bought another pair the next day before we left. We then hit the next block of outlets looking for something or other.
Dinner was an "authentic" Amish place and it sucked. We went in the fall and my Amish Food Experience was the same. It's just not that good. We either need to try harder or give up. I had no idea the Amish ate instant mashed potatoes. After dinner we went back to the hotel and my wife and daughter hit the pool for a bit.
Tuesday we were back at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then did a buggy ride which was really enjoyable. The guy driving the cart was a Mennonite so it was really interesting to hear him talk about the area and the history. Picked up some pies and honey and apple butter then found a small petting zoo area before we hit the road just as my daughter conked out. She slept until NJ.
In all a good 3 days. I got back on the bike this morning. It was a good thing. Will link that later.
