Nadia talked about visiting Philadelphia and the Amish Country (it's really the Indonesian food she wants), last Thursday. I did some late night research on Friday for the trip.
I realized that The Sight & Sound Theaters is located right in the middle of the Amish Country between Lancaster town and Intercourse. Then I looked up for a good church (Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, preached by Dr. Liam Goligher) and a good lodging (Comfort Suites Amish Country - $89 and 4.4 google review, not bad for a 2-star hotel), even though we've decided to not to do overnight stay this time. We were also too night for the Amish all you can eat restaurant buffet (for $10-$12 per adult) at Dienner's Country Restaurant. Of course, there could have been more places to visit: Downtown Lancaster, Tanger Outlet (Not sure if it's worth visiting), Philadelphia Premium Outlets (off the main course but could be push on the way), lots of other Amish farms and farm views.
For the right routes to take, I referred to PaulRabe's comment:
I'll give the same advice I've given to the people who come to Philly and want to see the Amish. Drive out US-30 west of Philly until you just enter Lancaster County. When you get to Gap at Hiway 41, go south, and then almost immediately head west on Hiway 741. After doing so, you'll see several Amish farms. Get off the main road and you'll see more. Stop at any one that's selling stuff (quilts, pies, farm products), and you'll get as close as any visitor will do so. Continue doing the above as you go west on 741, and as you go north on Hiway 896 at Strasburg. Go past US-30 till you get Hiway 340, then head east. When you get to Hiway 772 in Intercourse, head southeast until you return to US-30. You won't see a lot of scenery or nature (it's all farmland and shops) or viewpoints (it's pretty flat) or anything mysterious or original (people have been farming here for over 150 years). But the above route will allow you to see authentic Amish farms.
So, here's the actual plan for the three "stooges":
Left home around 9AM. Picked up Willy. Ate Peanut Butter Jelly sandwich A Les Willy. Drove to Costo Gasoline for gas. Ate Indonesian food at Sky Cafe (very good, very authentic and cheap for Indonesian restaurants here). We had Sate Kambing, Mie Bakso, Nasi Lemak Rendang. Went to Pendawa Indonesian Deli/Grocery.
Got to Route 30 West, turned South at Gap. Took Hiway 741, enjoyed Amish scenic farm views. Arrived at Old Windmill Farm. It's family run. Huge property. Had to drive inside the inconspicuous entrance to park by the farm. Sign board wasn't clear, so we went overboard - good thing we kept asking around or we would end up with the Children of the Corn. I could certainly sense that this family like all Amish, live and talk in in their traditional Dutch culture. The farm tour was $10 per person, for no more than 30 minutes. Our tour guide was a 10 year old boy (埃立加姆斯/杰米) and his occasionally following but necessary for cuteness younger sister (埃丽萨贝特) who probably just wanted to hang out with and help out her brother. Though it may not be as informative as the adult tour guide (their father perhaps?) We had a great time, despite one of us couldn't handle the farm smell at some point. I got to milk the cow, play with little chicks and get to be guided by two young Amish children around their family farm. Tour costs $10 per adult, we started from around 4:30PM to 5:15PM.
Then we went North on the scenic farm road again from Route 340 and through Intercourse and returned to Route 30, going back to Philadelphia's Pendawa to get more stuff and Sky Cafe for our dinner. This time I ate just the Sup Buntut - Oxtail Soup. All of Sky Cafe's meal that I had cost around $6-$8. We had dinner around 8:00PM-9:00PM
We filled the gas near the George Washington Bridge, Willy got home at around 11:20PM, We arrived home at around 11:45PM.
Driving routine was: Nadia drove us to Philadelphia. Willy drove until the last gas station, Nadia drove to Willy's, I navigated the whole time and drove both of us home.
We may do this again in two weeks with overnight stay and perhaps the Sight and Sound Show (on Jonah, this season).