<p>I will be taking my son to Lancaster in two weeks for a CTY course. Does anyone have any advice about where to stay, where to eat, what to do in the area? I'm thinking of driving up on Saturday and spending a day with him there. He starts on Sunday.</p>
<p>A pool large enough for lap swimming would be great, but not essential.</p>
<p>I grew up in Lancaster and all of my immediate family still resides there...so I can give you a lot of information!</p>
<p>As for where to stay...I'd avoid staying in the actual city of Lancaster and go to the outskirts to stay. I'm not completely well-versed on places to stay (since I've never had to find a hotel, of course), but I do know the owner of the Sleep Inn off of Route 30 in Mountville, Pa. The owner is a good guy and makes sure everything is up to date and clean. Whenever family from out of town come to Lancaster to visit, they end up staying here. When looking at their website, they have a indoor pool plus there is a miniture golf course and ice cream shop on premise (very handy for the summer!).</p>
<p>As for places to eat...</p>
<p>Make sure you try some local flavor, such as Krieder's Family Resturant (numerous locations in Lancaster) and Isaac's Deli (one of my favorites, again numerous locations!). Also, my favorite Mexican food place (owned by a Peruvian..so has authentic Peruvian cuisine) is El Serrano (located on Columbia Ave.). Also, if you like coffee shops, Auntie Anne is from Lancaster and there are a few Auntie Anne's coffee shops that offer great food and great drinks (non-alcoholic). Aunite Anne's daughter also owns a coffee shop called The Coffee Company in Lancaster (I believe it is on Oregon Pike) which I think has better food (esp. dessert) than the Auntie Anne coffee shops and exotic coffees that my family really enjoys!</p>
<p>If you are into great beer, definately check out Bube's brewery in Mt. Joy! Bube's brewery is actually the oldest brewery in the United States (most think it's Yungling...but Bube's is older, the difference is it closed during prohibition) and has great food, including an open-faced crab sandwich to die for! Lancaster Brewing company in downtown Lancaster also has great beer (I've never had the food though...).</p>
<p>Near F&M's campus, there is a good but kinda pricey steak place called Doc Holliday's. I went there once for a birthday dinner, it's a good place probably for lunch, but I'd try to avoid it for dinner (like I said, it's pricey).</p>
<p>As for places to see...</p>
<p>Downtown Lancaster is home to the country's oldest farmers market. I didn't get the opportunity to visit until I was in college, but it is quaint and there are a lot of specialty shops in the vicinity of the farmers market. </p>
<p>If you can swing it, I'd also try to get to Hershey. Hershey is only about 20-25 minutes from Lancaster and hosts not only Hershey Park, but also hosts Hershey's Chocolate World (free! including free sample of chocolate at the end of the 'tour'). </p>
<p>Also, there are other farmers markets in Lancaster County that are interesting to see including Roots (open only on Tuesdays) and Green Dragon (only open on Fridays). </p>
<p>Additionally, since I see you are from NY, you'll be very happy to know that there is no sales tax on clothing in PA! Plus there are numerous outlet malls in Lancaster off of Route 30. There is a Tanger Outlet Center and a Millstream Outlet Center on Route 30 that is very popular with the locals and the out of state crowd if you want to get some tax-free shopping done while you are in Lancaster.</p>
<p>Stay away from Amish toursit traps such as the Amish Farm. </p>
<p>PM me if you want anymore additional info. I wrote this on the fly, and there is bound to be things I left out. :D</p>
<p>We just dropped our son off for his second year at CTY on the F&M campus, and have also visited the area several other times in the past few years. (He'll be there for second session too). Word of advice: Book your hotel NOW, as in immediately, as everything fills up quickly during the summer months and it can be difficult to get reservations. You should also be aware that many hotels in Lancaster/PA dutch area won't make reservations for the summer for less than two nights on weekends, and some seem to unofficially require a friday and saturday night stay, so plan accordingly. </p>
<p>We really enjoyed our stay this year at the very new Courtyard by Marriott which is right off Rte. 30, and very convenient to F&M. Rates were fairly reasonable, and if you are a Marriott Rewards customer (no charge to sign up), they get better. Nice breakfast in the morning (not free). We have also stayed at the Holiday Inn which is right around the corner in the past. It's nice, but not as new and spanky as the Courtyard. One plus with the Holiday Inn is they have a "family suite" which is a large room with king bed connected to a regular room with two doubles. Again, both are within a 5-10 minute drive of F&M. The Holiday Inn has an outdoor pool, the Courtyard a very nice indoor pool.</p>
<p>One other tidbit of advice: We fly in from California to drop off our son, and have found the huge Wal-Mart off of Rte. 30 in Lancaster to be an excellent place to pick up snack foods (a MUST at CTY Lancaster!), forgotten items, and supplies. There is also a K-Mart and a Target along rte. 30.</p>
<p>Near both hotels, we really like the Old Greenfield Inn for dinner - very friendly service, great food, nice atmosphere in an old "farmhouse" style. We also have enjoyed several dinners at Stolfus (spelling) Restaurant, which is a family style restaurant in the "amish" style in an old family farmhouse but not the tourist trap of many so-called "Amish smorgorsborgs". When you get to Lancaster ask at your hotel's front desk for a copy of the Lancaster tourist guide. Both places should be listed. Issacs Deli has a branch in the same shopping area as the Old Greenfield Inn.</p>
<p>One thing I would also recommend is getting off the main tourist roads. The map in the tourist guide shows areas designated as "scenic" and it's great to travel these back roads and see the more rural areas (which you will not see if you stick to Rt. 30 and 222). One thing that we have done twice with both our kids is visit the Ephrata Colony --- it is a very interesting historical park that was founded as a religious colony (some say cult) in the 1700's - it is a very interesting way to spend a few hours, and very pretty. It is in the town of Ephrata, which also has a nice farmer's market on Saturdays. About a half hour drive if you go backroads from Lancaster. </p>
<p>We also make it a point to pick up a copy of the local newspaper (in both hotel lobbies) and go to some of the more fun "local" events such as antique fairs, farmer's markets, etc. Lots of fun, and not loaded with tourists. My son loves antique books, and we have spent many happy hours browsing at Moyer's Book Barn near STrousburg too.</p>
<p>Hope your son has fun at CTY!!! My son is very sad that this will be his last year and I expect lots of tearful goodbyes when I go to pick him up in August. :(</p>
<p>We just dropped off our DD at Lancaster CTY and stayed at the very nice Courtyard by Marriott. </p>
<p>I wish we had known about the snacks b/c the food was horrible. She's probably living on Goldfish crackers and toast for three weeks, b/c we didn't get her any snacks! Last year she went to Lafayette College in Easton, and the food was actually quite good. Everybody was horrified at the dining-hall lunch on drop-off day--icky burgers, icky hot dogs, and weird rubbery chicken. Plus shredded lettuce for "salad." </p>
<p>This is my DD's last year at CTY, too. I'm sooo sorry we didn't send her when she was 13 and 14! She loved it!</p>
<p>PS, if you and your son want something a little different, we had a wonderful stay at the Old Churchfield Inn a few years back. It's an historic B&B in the heart of an old amish town. About 35 minutes to F&M. Do a search on google and it should turn right up. No pool but beautiful and very nice hosts.</p>
<p>Wackymother, we must have been there at the same time. Wonder if our two "no more" kids have met yet. :) </p>
<p>Yes, the food IS pretty bad at CTY Lancaster. My son really complained a lot last year, and he is NOT a picky eater (quite the opposite). However, on weekends, some of the RA's will take the kids to the Lancaster Farmer's market or over to Turkey Hill (convenience store like a 7-11) so they do have some chance to stock up. Last year, my son seemed to survive on Ramen noodles from Turkey Hill and baked goods from the Farmer's market. He came home 10 pounds thinner (he's a big guy - 6 foot 4) and this year he was determined to have enough food to last him for all six weeks. I swear that all that is in his closet is snacks and goodies.</p>
<p>Thank god the RAs will take her somewhere to get food. She was buying black-market ramen from a girl on her floor! She's a really picky eater anyway--I think she lost about 5 pounds in three weeks last summer, even with the vastly better Lafayette food.</p>
<p>Yes, we must have been at the Courtyard at the same time. The clerk said there were lots of people asking for directions to F&M, so we knew there had to be a bunch of CTY kids there. (Our DD is taking Probability and Game Theory, and there were two sections, one older and one younger. What's your son taking?)</p>
<p>BTW, check-in there is at 3:00, and when we got there at 4:30, our room wasn't ready. We had to wait about 20 minutes and they comped us for bfast without our asking, b/c we had had to wait. I thought that was really nice of them, and good thing, too, b/c at least our DD had some food in her tummy!</p>
<p>As a 4 year lancaster CTY alum, I can answer any questions about the place. First if you are going to buy and send snacks, make sure they have no peanuts, trace of peanuts or make in a factory that may contain peanuts, because they will be confiscated. There is a large lap swimming pool on F&M's campus, so I would not worry about finding him one in the hotel. And if you think the food is bad, 2 years ago you had to walk to the ASFC which is far from your dorms for every meal, except when we ate under a tent! I will not deny that I did not on occasion skip meals for some things I bought at turkey hill. If you are into black market items then also stock up on glow sticks, there is a huge demand for them on fridays and saturdays. My sister is going to be there 2nd session doing math sequence, for what its worth too. </p>
<p>O make sure you bring a bathrobe, as you must wear it on thursdays (or the last friday).</p>
<p>Yes, I forgot to mention Turkey Hill. There is no 7-11 in Lancaster (actually...I for a long time I thought 7-11's were just in the movies...;)) Turkey Hill has excellent products including tea's, juices, and ice cream. Nobody in Lancaster really eats anything but Turkey Hill ice cream.</p>
<p>Also, the best place to get gas in Lancaster is along Route 30 near the outlets. There is a Wawa out there that has consistently the lowest gas prices in the county (go figure...in a well-traveled place...seems backwards, but true). However, gas prices in Lancaster are pretty cheap anyway so you can't really go wrong.</p>
<p>
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One thing that we have done twice with both our kids is visit the Ephrata Colony --- it is a very interesting historical park that was founded as a religious colony (some say cult) in the 1700's - it is a very interesting way to spend a few hours, and very pretty.
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</p>
<p>Are you talking about the Ephrata Cloister? To tell you the truth, even though I grew up in Lancaster, it was on the other side of the county and didn't really know about this attraction.</p>
<p>Carolyn, another great attraction in Stasburg is the Strasburg Railroad. I only went once when out of state family came to town, but I remember it being mildly interesting (as an uninterested 14-year old at the time).</p>
<p>Also, I should let you know that there is now a closer Walmart to F&M on Fruitville Pike off of PA283 (near the intersection of Route 30...it's in the complex next to the KMart). It's not nearly as big as the one out by the outlets, but it does have snack foods and the likes.</p>
<p>Along the lines of snacks...make sure to buy some Tastycakes if you see them. They are unique to southeastern/central PA and are well...tasty!</p>
<p>EDIT:</p>
<p>I also want to warn you to be careful about when you go to lunch on Sunday. Sunday lunches are very popular after church, so if you don't want to wait for a long time, go early! Last weekend I was visiting my parents and I got to Isaac's at ~11:30am. By the time we left at noon, it was filled with people waiting.</p>
<p>Mothers and fathers....there is also a BIG Pottery Barn / Hold Everything / Williams-Sonoma outlet in Lancaster! If you're looking for any of their products, stop in. I got some magnificent W-S beach towels that I had stopped myself from buying at $65 each a couple of summers ago...for $25 each! Yes! </p>
<p>Also there's lots of small furniture, pillows, glassware, summer stuff. Prices range from really great to only slightly less than the catalog and retail stores. We used to have a PB outlet in Manhattan and it closed years ago. I really miss it. Obviously!</p>
<p>Shallowly,</p>
<p>Wacky</p>
<p>P.S. We forgot to send the all-important BATHROBE for our DD! Realized our mistake as soon as we unpacked but she bravely said it was okay.</p>
<p>Shoot! My son DID mention that he needed a bathrobe for this year, but I never got around to getting him one. Ugh. Well, guess he'll manage like he did last year and wear his sleeping shorts and a towel on thursdays. He did bring some glow sticks though, and bubbles too. And, of course, that CTY staple: duct tape. He also bought two rolls of alumnium foil with him. Said he wasn't sure what he'd end up doing with them, but that they'd "come in handy." I can only imagine what kids at CTY can do with duct tape, alumnium foil and glow sticks. :)</p>
<p>And, I'm pretty sure that at least some of the food he squirrelled away was intended for the CTY black market, so if anyone's kid is hungry, tell them to look for the tall blonde guy from California. He is pretty hard to miss. ;) </p>
<p>Wackymother, my son is taking Philosophy of the Mind first session and Crafting the Essay second session. I talked with him tonight and he is having a blast. I miss him, but I know that he is in very good hands.</p>
<p>Wackymom,
Have you thought about what your daughter might do next year? Son is already talking about the "older" CTY at Princeton, or perhaps the CTY China if it comes through. Guess we better start saving for THAT one. LOL!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice! I've made a reservation at the Courtyard Marriott - the smaller places would not book for Saturday night only. I'll even be able to use Amtrak points to pay for the room, if the certificate comes in time. </p>
<p>I'm sorry to hear that the food is so awful! I'm not sure how my son will survive. I'll send him with money to supplement what they serve there, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the nut-free campus (he is allergic). </p>
<p>I'm looking forward to trying the restaurants and (on Sunday, after I drop him) the outlets. And I'm sure we'll visit Ephrata on Saturday.</p>
<p>What exactly are glow sticks?</p>
<p>Well, there is some mean mexican rice to look forward too.
Glow sticks look like <a href="http://www.wristbandsonline.com/eshop/products/GloSticks4LG.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.wristbandsonline.com/eshop/products/GloSticks4LG.jpg</a></p>
<p>They are used for the heavy traditional dances, primarily the cannon song of james brown is dead, but sandstorm gets some airplay too. There are some people with real skills, I know there will be a string raver there 2nd session who is awesome.</p>
<p>Thanks, Mike, for solving the mystery!</p>
<p>Also, off the beaten path is the Willow Valley Resort and Conference Center <a href="http://www.willowvalley.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.willowvalley.com/</a> and Shady Maple Farm Market (enormous) <a href="http://www.shady-maple.com/market.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.shady-maple.com/market.html</a> and Smorgasbord <a href="http://www.shady-maple.com/smorg.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.shady-maple.com/smorg.html</a> This is the largest (and I mean huge) and most extensive smorgasbord that you'll probably find anywhere in the U.S. It's definitely worth a special visit, even though it means eating light for the other meals on that day. The village of Strasburg is also worth a visit as well if you're interested in anything to do with trains. The main street of the town is also quite charming. <a href="http://www.strasburgpa.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.strasburgpa.com/</a> If anyone is interested in miniature golf, the Village Green miniature golf courses are fun for people of all ages. <a href="http://www.villagegreens.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.villagegreens.com/</a></p>
<p>Thanks, nyumom - I can see we'll have plenty to do there. And there will be two weekend, as I'll have to go back to pick him up.</p>
<p>My sister went to the lancaster CTY 2 years ago and she loved it there. Me and my parents, however, went to King of Prussia. My dad had a buisness trip there (it's about 30 min from lancaster) and we had a grand time (me and my mom). We went to the mall for one of the days, and then the next two days we went college visiting, visiting Villanova, Bryn Mawr and Haverford. We stayed at a Comfort Suites, which was nice.</p>
<p>DD is back and had a great time. She loved it, but she's glad to be back home. This morning we took the kids out to breakfast and they almost had a fistfight over the bacon. DD announced, "I haven't had meat for three weeks!" She won. </p>
<p>Carolyn, I don't know what she's going to do next year. Not sure about the Princeton thing b/c she's more interested in math and science. Also I thought the description was kind of vague. Will your son be going there? What are they really doing? </p>
<p>Where are some of the CTY kids thinking of going to college? I know DD is going to be shocked that college isn't like CTY!</p>
