Strawberries, Amish, and my fun newfound friends

Well, I must say, I've managed to do pretty good at using my weekends to get out and about around here. It usually leaves me in trouble come Monday when I my books don't come out of my bag until Sunday night, but with how much time we're spending on these classes I feel like the little time I have away from my studies on the weekends is essential! And I certainly do make the most of it!
This weekend I took off to Lancaster County (that's "Lank-a-stir" with a nice philly accent) to see the Amish. I went with two friends from class, one from around here who played tour guide and another from New Hampshire. Both of us out of staters were beyond excited to share our road with buggies and see kids in their cute Amish garb hanging out in front of their homes. Even before we left our car the trip seemed worth it. The names of the towns are unreal. First you pass through Blue Ball, then through Intercourse, and finally you reach Paradise!!! WHAT?! Yes, we were throughly entertained. Especially when we discovered that Intercourse was hosting an OB/GYN conference. There are no words :) Though the Amish were amazing and the homemade pretzels and lemonade delish, quite possibly the highlight of the day was the strawberry eating contest. Much to our delight Intercourse was having their annual Berry Festival and to celebrate there was an open strawberry eating contest. The entrance fee was only two bucks to we decided to check it out. When we learned it was time and not quantity and that only 3 people were signed up, Meg (New Hampshire) and I decided to join and Julia volunteered to take the pictures. We strolled around for a bit, then came back to test our eating abilities. By then there were 7 contestants and we watched them cover the bottoms of plates with quartered strawberries. We were called up, took our seats, and they proceeded to completely cover the plates with whipped cream. Rules: Everything must be eaten and hands have to stay behind your back. Ok, so if you know me, I love getting things on my face when I'm eating, so the idea of being covered in whipped cream really appealed to me. Oh yeah, AND I WON!!! Meg came in a close second with only 4 strawberry quarters left. I ended up getting a $25 gift certificate to this little jams and jellies place, so we were all able to get some jams, apple butters, and salsas...yum! All in all it was a lot of fun and stinkin hilarious. W e decided we have to go back next year to defend the title...well Meg says I'm going down next year, but I'll take her again. After cruisin the amish farmer's market and looking around a bit more we came back home and I went straight to my friend Mel's house to leave again for another adventure. She invited me to spend Father's Day with her and her fam, so I got to eat good food, play with kids, and see yet another part of this beautiful state. Yeah, it's hot and humid, but it's amazingly green, and people sit out on their porches and play checkers and drink lemonade. I'm charmed. So here's some pics from the weekend so you can feel like you're being won over by this state and it's people with me.