Places to Play!
(and shop, antique, or enjoy good theatre).
Downtown Lancaster is well known for the Lancaster Central Market on North Market Street only a few blocks from Prince Street, where you’ll find just some of the many art galleries. They include: Pfenninger Gallery, Christiane David Gallery and Red Raven Art Company.
Watch bronze sculptures being created from the fire at A.R.T. Research Enterprises, located off Route 30, just a few miles from downtown Lancaster. Molding, casting, fabricating and enlarging are some of the services that this company offers to museums, artists, and corporations. Tour the private sculpture gardens and check out their Art Store. Perhaps you may want some memorabilia bronzed. (717-290-1303). www.thinksculpture.com.
First Fridays are a great time to experience downtown Lancaster when over 70 art galleries and shops extend their hours and stay open 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. the first Friday of each month. Walk from artist reception to gallery exhibit and shop for that perfect gift. If the gift is for your darling pet you may want to check out Rainbow Net Creations (717-380-1071) located in the Central Market Mall. They have an art gallery as well.
The town of Lancaster does not lack for theatre. The 1,600-seat American Musical Theatre, located on Route 30, is the place to be for some great Broadway sound and celebrity concerts with performers such as Michael Feinstein, Michael Bolton and ABBA, the Musical. www.AMTshows.com.
There are two dinner theatres. Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre (717-898-1900) www.dutchapple.com, features Broadway musicals, while Rainbow Dinner Theatre 800-292-4301 www.rainbowdinnertheatre.com, focuses on comedies.
The National Historic Landmark Fulton Opera House (717-397-7425), in downtown Lancaster, is the venue for regional professional theatre that dates back to 1852 and is considered to be the nation’s oldest continuously operating theatre. Aside from great performances of dramas, comedies and musicals, the Fulton Opera House offers hour-long tours, which are available Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. and weekends by appointment. The architecture is magnificent. www.thefulton.org.
Dealers and Collectors alike have succumbed to Adamstown, a small town in the Northern portion of Lancaster County. It has become known as the premiere year-round antiques destination of the Northeast. Just off exit 286 from the Pennsylvania Turnpike you can find just about anything from erotic art to horse plows. There are events that focus on particular antique market themes, some of which provide some musical atmosphere as well. www.antiquescapital.com.
Wilbur Eats Chocolate. You Will Too!
We all know the importance of eating chocolate. You can always find a Pop and Pop store, but why not go to the source. Wilbur Chocolate Factory Store in Lititz (717-626-3249) is famous for their Wilbur Buds, which are simply small pieces of chocolate shaped like rose buds. Chocolate is created in their factory, going from cocoa beans they roast themselves all the way to final products - items ranging from chips and wafers to unique gifts like the Wilbur Checkerboards. All of the supplies you need to make your own candies are available at the store too. And be sure to roam through the museum while you’re there. www.wilburbuds.com
Calling all Cooks
(and Cook Wanna-bes)!
You have the baking utensils but not the food supplies. Good Food Outlet (800-327-4406), on route 25 in Leola, is where you’ll find molasses, syrups, cooking oils, brown sugar, shoofly pie mix, pancake and waffle mix as well as turkey syrup. Someone’s in the kitchen with Donald but not strumming on a banjo. www.goldenbarrel.com
Where The Boys Are....
Downtown Lancaster has two great hot spots for nightlife. Head to the more upscale Belvedere Inn Restaurant and Bar (717-394-2422) where Dean Oberholtzer and his partner Mark Roberts own and run this former historic inn now turned dining, drinking, music and shmoozing. Located on North Queen Street (no kidding), the first floor offers a romantic atmospheric Americana dining and a large bar that seems to attract the cruisers on the weekends. Upstairs you’ll encounter a smaller food area with the emphasis on the bar as you enter Crazy Shirley’s Lounge where the weekend evenings lend itself to live jazz. Perhaps you’ll even meet Crazy Shirley herself.
Tally Ho Tavern (717-299-0661) is the popular dance bar with “Loft,” a Continental cuisine restaurant located on the second floor. This locale on W. Orange Street draws a weekend late-night crowd which is why the DJ doesn’t start spinning until midnight. However, if you can’t wait to move your booty, CD’s start humming when it opens at 8 p.m.
Dining Options.
“Seasonal. Sustainable. Straight from the farm to your table”. That is how one would describe the American cuisine at John J. Jeffries (717-431-3307), the restaurant at the Lancaster Arts Hotel. Chef Sean Cavanaugh gets all of his food from local farmers with environmentally sustainable practices. Quality matches the pricing and it is well worth a romantic dinner. The seasonal menu features Small Plates such as Stir Fried Brown Basmati Dirty Rice with Bison Pate, Ginger, Wild Mushrooms, and Pea Sprouts. Select a Large Plate and you might choose Grilled Black Tamworth Pork Tenderloin with Pork Belly Confit, Grilled Asparagus, and Tomato Curry Sauce.
Checkers Bistro (717-509-1069) on West James Street is a great meeting place and less casual restaurant. Located just a few blocks from The Arts Hotel, adds a touch of French Cuisine to your palate. Start with a Shrimp and Crab Chowder followed by Grilled Flat Iron Steak with “frites”. Then cross the street to Pemberley Tea Shop (717-394-4840) to select from a huge variety of teas to sip right there or tote the tea leaves home.
Probably the best and least expensive breakfast can be found at Wish You Were Here just around the corner from Tally Ho Tavern. Two Swedish Pancakes, made with an oatmeal pancake batter, are served with sliced bananas, applesauce and maple syrup for the mere price of $4.25. Add $1.50 for coffee and get free refills.
Spend A Night or Two.
Lancaster Arts Hotel - Brick walls, heavy wooden beams and a very comfortable bed sets the mood for a stay at Lancaster Arts Hotel, located in the city of Lancaster. This former tobacco warehouse features the works of local artists and sculptures all about the hotel, including a separate gallery.
Not only does this gay-friendly hotel provide free indoor parking, there is a complimentary shuttle that will take you within a 5-mile radius. This not only covers the downtown area of Lancaster, but a whole bunch of outlet stores to shop, shop, shop. No meters or parking lots to contend with and they will arrange for your return.
Talk about romance, they place a long stem rose on your pillow along with the usual chocolate. Local phone calls are gratis, but if you just can’t wait to tell a more distant someone about this gorgeous place, you have free use of the internet in their business center. (866-720-ARTS). www.lancasterartshotel.com.
Cameron Estate Inn Bed and Breakfast - A remote area of Mt. Joy is the locale for a former 1805 Mansion, now turned Bed and Breakfast. With 15 acres of lawns, babbling springs, rose gardens and woodlands, you can choose from one of 18 spacious rooms decorated with European antique furnishings.
The inn, owned and operated by Randy Wagner and his partner John Jarboe, features a complimentary hot-served fixed-menu breakfast in the romantic Sun Porch dining room. (888-4-CAMERON.)
www.cameronestateinn.com.
Who knows?
But whatever the reason, the office of tourism in Lancaster County recently put out an email to their members asking which businesses would be willing to list themselves as being “gay-friendly”. Not having heard the results as yet, I decided to explore the area on my own to see what was offered in the way of gay-friendly and/or gay-welcoming travel, entertainment and dining.
Needless to say, I was pleased with what I found!
