Pretzels of Lititz

Pretzels have an ancient history, but the origin of the pretzel remains a mystery. There are many stories as to how the first pretzel was created, the most common being that in 610 A.D. Italian monks used scraps of dough to form the shape of children’s arms in prayer, with three holes to represent the Christian Trinity. They were called “pretiola” in Latin or “little reward” and were given to children who learned their bible verses and prayers.

In 1861, after eleven years as a baker, Julius Sturgis stopped making bread and established the first commercial pretzel bakery in America.

Their pretzel tour not only gives a complete history and demonstration of how the pretzels are made.

They also teach a hands on training course of how to properly twist a pretzel complete with certification. I am now a pretzel twisting fool with papers to prove it.

Coleman Bridge over the Pequea

The Colemanville Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that spans Pequea Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The Colemanville Covered Bridge was originally built in 1856 by James C. Carpenter at a cost of $2,244. After being damaged twice by flooding, it was partially rebuilt in 1938 by Edmund Gardner and 1973 by David Esh. Lancaster county completely rebuilt the bridge in 1992 for $350,000.

The bridge has a single span, wooden, double Burr arch trusses design with the addition of steel hanger rods. The deck is made from oak planks. It is painted red, the traditional color of Lancaster County covered bridges, on both the inside and outside. Both approaches to the bridge are painted red with white trim.

This bridge has easy creek access and great for photography.

Erb's Mill

This was one of my favorite bridges from Lancaster county. The bridge was originally built in 1849 for a cost of $700. It was built on the Erb family's tract of land in the farming region along Hammer Creek. In 1887 the bridge was rebuilt by John G. Bowman for $1744. Today the bridge has been fully restored. It has easy access to the creek to get some great shots. I used a R-72 red filter to get the infrared effect on this image.

The Cloister

One of America's earliest religious communities, the Ephrata Cloister was founded in 1732 by German settlers seeking spiritual goals rather than earthly rewards. Gathered in unique European style buildings, the community consisted of celibate Brothers and Sisters, and a married congregation of families. At the zenith of the community in the 1740s and 1750s, about 300 members worked and worshiped at the Cloister.

This one is a four image panorama merged in Photoshop CC and finished off in Aurora HDR Pro. Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

Lime Valley Bridge

Here is a four image panorama of the Lime Valley covered bridge in Lancaster county, Pa.

Neff's Mill

One odd thing I found in Lancaster county was they don't really have a lot of areas around their covered bridges where you can stop, park and snap a few pictures. I saw lots of no parking and no trespassing signs near many of the bridges. To get this image I had to go on someone's property to shoot and didn't feel comfortable doing it so I just got the one shot and moved on. This could have been a tremendous image but the horses wouldn't co-operate in the short time I had, so for now it's just an image to say I was there once.

Long Horn

Impressive set of horns here. Some horns get to be six feet across. A truly magnificent animal. It took a bit of patience to get a good composition image but it was worth it.