Jennifer Vogelsong wrote an interesting piece for the York Daily Record/Sunday News about the search for authentic experiences in Gettysburg and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Much of the public face is found along the Lincoln Highway/US 30 but she finds that the best places are a block or two away or along the back roads. She was inspired by the December issue of National Geographic Traveler that ranked the two destinations among the most important historic places on Earth — and fourth worst when it comes to sustainable tourism, ie how authentically they preserve the past, manage tourism, and withstand development.
At the Mennonite Information Center on US 30, director Jeff Landis advises “If you see a sign with the word “Amish” in it, it probably isn’t.” Still, at The Amish Experience, with billboard ads and an F/X Theater, “employee Ginny Reese said it’s pretty authentic, and an appealing option for visitors who don’t want to drive the back roads for the real thing: ‘They can’t find it or they don’t know where to go and what they’re looking for.'”
Read more of Jennifer’s travels around these two areas and York in her blog Explorer’s Backpack.
Tags: Amish, Gettysburg, highway sprawl, Lancaster, Lincoln Highway, Mennonite, Pennsylvania, tourism, US 30
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