Exploring with Sean-Bon

The other day Brandon and I realized we mostly blog about our weekends. It's not because our weeks our boring or unmeaningful, and we could write about little snippets from our weeks, but really, our post would end up being something like: "We went to work, went to the gym, went to youth activities for church..." Now, you see why we write about the weekends! Don't worry, though, because we will make sure to fill you in on funny and exciting things that happen (like my trip to Florida this week for "Spring break"!).

Yesterday, we met up with Sean in "Amish Country" and set out for a day of exploration. Brandon, of course, had come prepared with printed out maps and information about activities to do in the area. Sean and I laughed when we realized that neither of us had come that prepared because we knew Brandon would!

We went to the Mennonite Visitor Center and watched some very informative videos about the Amish and Mennonite people. Then, we went to a pretzel making factory and learned all about the history of the hard pretzel (which was first made, marketed, and sold from the Sturgis Pretzel Factory we toured). We even had a lesson on how to twist a pretzel and learned that in the early-mid 1800's, certified pretzel twisters were the second highest paid labor position (only under tobacco rollers). There is also a ton of religious symbolism involved in the twisting of the pretzel: 1) you start out by rolling the dough into a long snake and arranging it in the shape of a 'U' which symbolizes the childrens' prayers pointing to heaven; 2) then you twist the top parts of the 'U' which symbolizes "tying the knot" and the solid marital foundation parents created for their children; 3) the finished pretzel represents (with its three different holes) the Trinity. All that in a little, yummy, bite-sized pretzel! (Sorry for the bad pic-- lighting was weird in the factory)


Then, we went on to an old Chocolate Factory, got some tastes, and watched a video about how "chocolate can fit into any active lifestyle".


Lastly, as if we hadn't been focused enough on food, we went to a family style buffet restaurant called "Shady Maple". It is by far the largest and best buffet we've ever been to. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, let me help you understand how amazing this place was with a few pics and a short narrated video by yours truly:

Sean's first course.

We hadn't seen Sean since Christmas and we loved hanging out with him. Thanks for the adventure, Sean-Bon!

Updated:
Check out this youtube link ot the Shady Maple Smorgasbord commercial - hilarious