When making your plans for APA’s 2012 annual meeting, consider adding on an extra day or two to visit the Lancaster area, which is the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country and only about a 90-minute drive from Philadelphia.

There you will see verdant fields dotted with whitewashed farmhouses and horse-drawn buggies trundling down two-way lanes. Indeed, you can take a horse-drawn buggy ride yourself. You can also tour an Amish farm; eat dinner in Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant, located on an Amish homestead; tour an Amish schoolhouse; shop at an Amish farmer’s market, and see a film about an Amish family.

The Amish country’s old-fashioned charm and homespun warmth stem from members of the sect having followed a deeply religious, family-centered lifestyle for some 400 years. As far as technology goes, they carefully examine what is available before they decide whether they want to incorporate it into their lifestyle. For instance, while they cultivate their fields with horse-drawn machinery and do not own or drive cars, they do on occasion ride in cars, buses, and trains. They do not use electricity in their homes, but do have bottled-gas stoves and refrigerators. They do not maintain phones in their homes, but do use cell phones.

The Pennsylvania Amish are not an anachronism, but very much a thriving population. Because they have large families and most of their young people decide to stay with their faith, their numbers have increased considerably since they arrived from Europe. In fact, there is no longer enough farmland for all of them, so a number have turned to doing woodworking, leather crafts, or pursuing other cottage industries to make a living.

More information about Amish country is available from the Pennsylvania Dutch Country Visitors Center at (717) 299-8901 or www.padutchcountry.com.