Dutch Haven, a beloved and much-missed Pennsylvania Amish country stop on the Lincoln Highway, has reopened
Plus: I share 20 nostalgic spots to visit in the area should you make the trip.
See, the news isn’t always bad in my newsletter.
Dutch Haven, the beloved stop in Pennsylvania’s Amish country that closed almost a year ago, is now back in business — at least part-time.
They announced on Facebook recently that they will be keeping hours Friday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
I took a long drive on Saturday, from New York City, through northern New Jersey, the Poconos, anthracite coal country (for an incredible McDonald’s find — stay tuned!) and then down to Lancaster County, making it to Dutch Haven a few minutes after sunset.
I was hoping to interview some folks about the store’s surprise reopening, but the owner was not around. I hope to get more information soon, as I have so many questions. But I wanted to get this news out to you without further delay. The store had been placed on the market for over $2 million about a year ago, closing for what we assumed was forever.
That I had another chance to stop here, snap some photos and take home one of their signature shoofly pies was not something I ever anticipated doing again.
I gave thanks on this long Thanksgiving weekend.
As I told you back in January, I first visited here in the summer of 1997, at the start of four wonderful years living in the nearby Lehigh Valley, working for The Morning Call newspaper. I was in my mid-20s, very impressionable, and Dutch Haven in Ronks made one heck of an impression on me. It was the sort of place that set me on the storytelling path I’m on today.
How could Dutch Haven not invite curiosity and compel a pullover? The yellow building with its massive rooftop windmill is the stuff of roadside dreams, and to step inside is to be transported to another time. There is the shoofly pie, made from an old recipe, and the free samples that immediately sold me on the Pennsylvania Dutch treat. I enjoy it every time I visit, including on Saturday.
Inside are charming and eclectic regional souvenirs, Amish furniture, and more. The decor is a throwback, too — the panels in the main room are true works of folk art. And there were hex signs, lots of them. Hex signs, variously described as tools to ward off evil, attract good fortune, and undeniably add beauty, are a Pennsylvania Dutch barn tradition I learned about at Dutch Haven many years ago. I own a couple of them — created by Jacob Zook’s company, of course — and they each came from Dutch Haven.
Dutch Haven had closed on Jan. 1, with the owner, Paul Stahl, saying it was time. He told Pennlive.com that he had grown weary of dealing with people. (We can all relate, I’m sure.)
“Dealing with the public has just gotten more and more difficult. I’m at an age I should think about doing something else,” he told the publication.
The apparent closure of Dutch Haven came a few years after we said goodbye to the aptly named Roadside America nearby, which featured an astonishing miniature village, shops and, like Dutch Haven, an irreplaceable vintage ambiance so specific to this corner of the world.
I was delighted we all now have another chance to celebrate Dutch Haven’s charms. My photos will give you a little taste of Dutch Haven. Alas, you can’t taste the shoofly pie this way.
Here’s hoping those hex signs ward off the bulldozers for the long term. What we need to fly by and land here, my friends, is a distelfink, and the post below will explain why.
Dutch Haven [MAP]
20 Retrologist-approved stops nearby!
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