This is the time of year that is most boring for league tennis players – a.k.a. no league tennis. Mixed is starting to form, seniors have just completed Sectionals and Early start ratings have been released. Hopefully the 2012 season will bring some good competition and it seems to me that many people have been bumped up which means the reclassification of the NTRP levels is just about complete. This is the final year of the “old” age groups as the new age brackets take affect for 2013. They are 18-40, 40-55 and 55+. You can play down as always but it will be interesting to see if people continue to play multiple levels or if they tend to gravitate towards playing mostly within their age group.
I took a mini-vacation with the family this weekend in Lancaster, PA. I was not interested in another Amusement park venture as we’ve been to Hershey, Dorney and even Busch Gardens many times. My boys are 8 and 10 now so it’s time for some more educational activities. So, back to Lancaster…
We started out with a beverage at a wine / microbrewery called Rumspringa. I enjoyed a wonderful beer and was able to keep my souvenir pint glass. The boys had a choice between Root Beer and Birch Beer and we went with our server’s recommendation to stick with Root Beer (he said it was sweeter).
Next up was an Amish buggy ride. Our driver who was 75 began the tour by stating that we could “ask him anything.” And ask we did – no, not about puppy mills, but we did ask just about everything else. There was another couple in our buggy from New Brunswick, Canada. They drove 14 hours, didn’t have hotel reservations and they were making their way towards Williamsburg, VA. I asked if they had visited Philadelphia and they said, “no, we’re not fans of big cities.” I’m not a city guy either but if I’m driving 14 hours and my choices are Lancaster or Philadelphia, ah never mind.
The Amish go to their own schools from 1st to 8th grade. When they turn 14 – that’s it, no more education – it’s time to work on the farm. They don’t use electricity. They do have propane powered lights, refrigerators and stoves. The girls don’t use buttons (they use pins). When they get sick, they go to the hospital like everyone else but they pay cash and get a cash discount. They have phones but not in the house. And – no Internet.
Our next excursion was to an Amish farm. Here we learned that the Mennonites and Amish are both German descendants and that the Mennonites broke away from the Amish and are
generally less strict with their rules. The Amish are primarily in Pennsylvania and Ohio but there are Amish and Mennonites in New York and Canada as well. There is approximately 27,000 Amish living in Pennsylvania. I asked if it was true that the married men have to wear a beard and the single men are clean shaven. I was told that this was a popular misconception. When the kids turn 16 they enter a “Rumspringa” phase
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumspringa where their parents and community relax the typical restrictions. The young adults are allowed to stay out late and we were told that it’s not uncommon for a buggy to be blaring music from a portable radio at 1am on a Saturday night. The young adults typically get married around age 21 and that’s when they join the church. Being a church member requires a beard for the men and 90% of the Amish do join the church. You are not allowed to quit the church once joining it but if you don’t join it you can still live at home and do your thing without repercussions from the Amish community.
On Sunday we finished a delicious brunch at Loxley’s and headed to the Renaissance Faire. This was Pirates weekend and it was our first time visiting the Faire. The concept is that you are in 
England 500 years ago. We saw jousting, the repeated firing of a field artillery piece, all kinds of juggling acts, human chess and a blacksmith making a knife. Somebody asked why the blacksmith had no shirt on and he said that if a hot ember got in his shirt it could take him 5 seconds to get it off and that’s 5 seconds longer than he wanted to burn. They then asked (of course) “what happens if it goes down your kilt?” “Then I pull the rip cord and run…” I can’t make this stuff up…
We also got to do sword fighting. For $5 you can put on fencing gear from head to toe and have three balloons attached to you; on the top of your head and one on both shoulders. You get a 6’ foil and you have to pop your opponent’s balloons before yours gets popped in order to win. I took on my boys and it was the highlight of the weekend. My oldest (Gregory) was the first to have his 3 balloons popped. Kenny and I faced off and it hit me that I could not win this match under any circumstance. After Kenny was down to his last balloon I was sticking my face out, sword down as Kenny (my 4’7″ 95lb 8 year 
old) repeatedly rained down haymakers about my upper torso and ultimately defeated me. It was so much fun and just a little scary. Gregory asked me later, “Did Kenny really beat you?”
So now it’s back to tennis– it should be fun and it should also help me get in better shape!
