Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in the heart of Dutch Country, PA

I’ve lived in Chester County for 3.5 years and somehow this past week was my first adventure to Cherry Crest!  What is wrong with me?!?!?!  Do not, I repeat, do NOT, allow yourself to miss out on this place like I did!  What a fabulous time for children, and adults, of all ages!

Discovery Barn and the yard of animals. Including the “goat bridge”.

We arrived at 10:00am when they opened, and went to the Discovery Barn where there were baby chicks, and incubator with eggs where we saw one chick pecking through, butter being made, a train table, videos, and a yard full of farm friends like rabbits, pigs, and goats.  The kid goats ran wild and were super friendly.  There was a cool bridge that the goats stood on and you could feed them by buying food pellets, putting them in a blue cup attached to a belt, and turning a wheel that moved the belt up to deliver the food to the goats.  The children thought this was super cool.

Then we took the 25 min (approx) tractor ride around the farm where Mr. Bob told us all about the farm, the history of the area, and the animals that live on it.  Cherry Crest is a working farm, not just an entertainment farm!  The tractor dropped us off in the “Barnyard” area where we played for 3 hours!  Seriously, there is so so so much to do it’s ridiculous.  Some examples of things we did were:  Giant Slinger, Giant Hay Chute Slide, Lil’ Farmers Playland which had things like the Coloring Coop, sandbox, slide.  We also did the Straw Bale Tunnel, Corn Hole, and relaxed in the Air Chairs.  The highlight for the children was the Jump Pillow, especially when the Strasburg Steam Train went on the railroad tracks right behind them!

Cherry Crest Adventure Farm is known for their Amazing Maize Maze.  This years theme is “High Seas Adventure”.  On average, it takes 2 hours to get through the corn maze.  There’s even a cafe and restrooms in the maze!  With two 4.5 year old kids, a 3 year old, and two 17 month old toddlers, my friend and I knew that corn maze was an adventure we couldn’t tackle.  BUT, the Simon Says Corn Maze was perfect for us!  It took about 8 minutes to get through and along the way there were dead end paths with a spinning wheel.  The children spun it and it told them something to do.  Their favorite was “growl like a bear and give a hug”.  So cute.

We bought lunch there.  For about $6 I got a combo meal that my girls shared.  It was 2 chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, and an applesauce or yogurt.  Then I had their famous farm fresh roasted sweet corn on the cob. 

We figured the kiddos would want to head out after lunch, seeing as we had been there 3 hours at that point.  Nope, back to it we went!  There was so much to see and do still and they weren’t ready to call it quits.  We didn’t end up leaving until 3pm, and even after our 5 hour day there, we still didn’t see and do everything Cherry Crest has to offer!  I can’t wait to go back and tackle more.

And a shout out of kudos to Cherry Crest for being a GREEN operation too!  They have solar panels out to wazoo and have conservation programs.

VISITOR TIPS:
*  Bring a stroller with rubber wheels, or even a wagon, since there’s a lot of grass or dirt.  (You can rent a wagon too for about $20.)  You can even put these right onto the tractor ride, child in it and all.
*  You can pack a lunch and drinks to save time and money.
*  If possible, check out their website for hours of operation (they fluctuate) and go during the week.  We went on a Thursday and it was empty.  The downside was that some of the food vendors weren’t open, but really that was worth it to feel like we had the farm to ourselves.
*  Wear/Bring sunscreen and/or a hat.  There’s not much shade.  They do have great shade coverings over some of the activities (such as the pillow jump), but there’s a lot of open space that is uncovered.
*  Parking is free!  🙂
*  There are super friendly employees at every attraction.  Ask questions, get help, learn, be friendly, enjoy!
*  The restrooms are super clean and kid friendly.  There’s even an awesome baby changing and nursing room in the front of the farm- equipped with some spare diapers and wipes should you need them.  Talk about family friendly, right???
*  Plan for a 5 hour trip, don’t rush through it, stay longer if you can!
*  Don’t forget to treat yourself to the popcorn, homemade fudge, and corn!  🙂

Kitchen Kettle Village- Family Fun, Shopping, Yummy Eats, and Peaceful Scenery

The shops

In the hunt for good stay-cation ideas, I learned about Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse, PA.  Literally, 35 minutes from my home in West Bradford Township.  I had no idea such a super fun place was essentially in our backyard!

That is what we call “cookie art”

My family arrived at 10am and found parking no problem.  The girls immediately spotted the playground and pony rides, but we headed toward the shopping area first.  First stop, the famous Jam & Relish Kitchen.  There must have been close to 100 samples throughout the store, I was amazed!  We took a few bites of delicious pickles.  My middle daughter, who never likes pickles, ate about a dozen of their kosher dills!  We also sampled some dessert dips, my favorite was the “Cheesecake in a Jar”, it was scrumptious!  We headed toward the back of the store, the cookie section.  There, for $1 a cookie, the girls could decorate their own homemade gingerbread cookie- in honor of the Kitchen Kettle Village mascot.  Their creative juices were flowing and they reaped the reward when they eagerly gobbled up their tasty creations.  We then taste-tested even more jams, dips, salsas, and sauces.  We purchased a honey mustard grilling sauce and a raspberry preserve.  It was so hard to reign ourselves in and not buy the whole store!  When we walked out of this store it was as if magnets were drawing my husband in.  The smells lured us into the Smokehouse where he bought some locally-cured sausages, we all sampled cheese (the buffalo sauce cheese was awesome) and we bought some locally-made hard pretzels.


We then strolled the shops a bit more, greeted friendly pet dogs along the way, even took a picture with the Kitchen Kettle Village Gingerbread Man.  Then we were ready for our AAA Buggy Rides 35 minute tour of Intercourse.  We put our name on the list, which was about a 50 minute wait for our family of five, then went to the playground and pony rides just across the parking lot.  There was also, which was a pleasant surprise, a petting farm where the girls got to feed the chickens, goats, llamas, and donkey.  So the girls took 3 laps around the pen on the pony, played on the swings and wooden train, fed some fun animals, and then washed up and we went back over to the shops.  We killed some more time in the Pepper Lane Fudge and Sweets shop.  We came at the perfect time too, we got to watch the chocolate fudge be made!  It smelled heavenly.  I wish there was a such thing as smell-a-webpage because you would be in heaven sniffing this photo.  We sampled some cooled chocolate fudge and I honestly have been thinking about it ever since!

Can you smell it???

Full from our tasty tour of the shops, we climbed onto the buggy ride at 12:15p
m.  The comfortable benches and covered top along with the clickety-clack of the horses hooves provided for a very relaxing four-mile tour of the Amish country.  The girls enjoyed looking at the corn fields, watching the farm animals, and feeling the breeze in their hair.  My husband and I learned a lot from our driver, a Lancaster Amish man named Amos.  Did you know that church services are at members homes and only meet every other week?

The baby enjoyed spotting animals in the pastures

After the ride we went to The Kling House Restaurant for lunch.  The restaurant is the converted home of the Kling family.  I had a vegetarian sandwich that was delicious and my husband had a huge roast beef and bacon sandwich.  Both of us raved about the homemade chips too.  The girls enjoyed their lunches and looking at the old photos on the walls and family nick-nacks on the shelves.  It was the perfect scene for our traditional “I Spy” game while waiting for our food to arrive.  Though full, we couldn’t pass up the Lapp Valley Farms Ice Cream stand!  The price was so good and the helpings plenty!  We ordered the chocolate chip mint, strawberry, and chocolate marshmallow.  They were all equally amazing!  The waffle cones were fresh and incredible too!  It was the prefect finale to our day.  So, a nice Wet One wipe down for the ice cream coated girls and then back to the van we went.

My family can’t wait to return to Kitchen Kettle Village.  When I asked them their favorite part of the day, my oldest said the buggy ride, then changed to the pony ride, and my middle daughter said everything.  The baby, too young to talk, just kept saying “doggy”.  I think she was a fan of the patrons who brought their friendly leashed pups.  Ha!  Now that we know Kitchen Kettle is open year-round and has family-focused events all the time, we will most certainly return!

VISITOR TIPS:
*  The village shops open at different times throughout the year.  Over the summer, it’s 9am.  We arrived at 10:00am and found it very easy to park and walk around.  It started to get a lot more crowded about lunch time and when we left at 2:00pm.
*  The village is completely stroller friendly.  Bring whatever you need.  We had a sit n stand and I think that worked out well because it wasn’t too wide and was easy to maneuver.  The stores were stroller friendly as well, though it didn’t feel fair to other patrons to have the clunker in there so we tended to park it outside.
*  If you plan to do a buggy ride, book your tour when you first arrive at the village.
*  If you eat lunch at Kling House you get a coupon with the kids meals for a gingerbread cookie at Jam & Relish Kitchen, so save that activity for after lunch and it will be free.
*  If you live further and are in need of an overnight stay, there is really quaint lodging right there.  

Disclosure:  In exchange for an honest review, my family was given vouchers to experience some of the wonderful things Kitchen Kettle Village has to offer.