Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog

I found Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Music memorabilia in Bird-In-Hand, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Amish Country. You read that correctly. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think of landing some real cool Heavy Metal/Hard Rock finds in this neck of the woods. Life is sweet when you can uncover and discover places you have never been to before, only to find unexpected Heavy Music treasures. An early Summer, family trip to this beautiful area of Pennsylvania, provided for some much anticipated rest and relaxation, sitting by the motel pool, with my Metal loaded ipod at the ready. The Amish are a gentle, hard working, religiously devout people. Witnessing the Amish farms and seeing these folks work the fields and travel by horse and buggy only makes me respect them all the more. I admire their perseverance. The Amish are a devoted people, devoted to their families, friends, religion and to the land they sow. Observing the Amish community makes me wonder why life as I know it, has to be so hectic, so competitive in every aspect?   One of the other items on our to do list, while staying over at Bird-In-Hand, was to check out any or all of the nearby antique shops. Here is where this story picks up the Heavy Music theme.

Before I, my wife and daughters began our journey to Bird-In-Hand, I just figured my only connection to Heavy Music was going to be from the ipod I packed. Uh, nope. Right on Old Philadelphia Pike, Route 340, is a row of vintage built shops and barns… everything from a Hardware Store to a Teddy Bear Store is in view. Yes, I mentioned a Teddy Bear Store on Metal Odyssey. One of these shops contains a cluster of antique dealers, where all the dealers are not present… yet their goods are. Walking in, I perused the unusual and typical, the mundane and interesting of all things antique. My wife and daughters set off on their own path, navigating this rather large antique mecca of a barn. After twenty minutes of scouring the old artifacts that surrounded me, I heard my wife in an excited voice tell me to walk over in her direction. There, it was there, that she motioned with her hands… three large rooms filled with Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal albums, CD’s and memorabilia. The Amish Country Rocks. 

To say I was Metal ecstatic would be an understatement. How can this be? How could there be such a bounty of Heavy Music and Rock memorabilia smack dab in the middle of Bird-In- Hand, Pennsylvania? There are some questions in life, that are better left unanswered… this is one of them. Who cares why there are cool dealers within this antique shop, nestled in the middle of Amish Country, selling their Heavy Music memories… all that matters is it exists! Hooray for this Metalhead. The dealers who had used albums and CD’s for sale have great Heavy Music taste. I immediately grabbed hold of the Kiss – Gene Simmons solo CD, it was my wife’s choice pick to boot. I will admit, it was a no brainer picking up this used CD, the entire package is in mint condition. I also picked up, without hesitation, the ZZ Top used CD, “Antenna”. (My wife and I saw ZZ Top on this tour, back in the ’90’s). There were also a few CD’s still originally sealed for sale as well, running at six bucks each. The lone unused CD I bought was Cheap Trick – “Heaven Tonight”, (released in 1978). I never owned this Cheap Trick album, therefore it was about time. Some Kiss trading cards, a couple of Beatles magnets and a used, mint copy of GTR – self titled album, rounded out my finds. 

I could not have been more satisfied, of having found such an assortment of Heavy Music memorabilia to look over. Especially gratifying is the fact, I never expected to uncover the music that means so much to my life on this trip, in the quaint and friendly village of Bird-In-Hand, no less. As I exited this antique shop, with my bag of Hard Rockin’ goodies in hand, I vividly recall having to walk very closely past… an Amish man tending to his horse and buggy. My way of life, is not this Amish gentleman’s way of life. This whole experience walking out of the antique shop felt rather awkward, maybe semi embarrassing. Here I am, all psyched out about my finds, walking towards the family car, with a Kiss – Gene Simmons CD clearly visible through the plastic bag that I am clutching onto, as this polite Amish man tends to his horse. Talk about a tale of two separate worlds crossing paths. 

This entry was posted on August 7, 2009 at 1:40 am and is filed under antique shopping finds, backroads usa, classic rock, classic rock albums, classic rock bands, classic rock music, collecting music, collecting rock music, cool album covers, everyday experiences, everyday people, everyday social experiences, family, feel good stories, rock music, rural pennsylvania, shopping for music, travel, travel america, travel stories, vacation stories, vintage rock album finds with tags amish country pennsylvania, antique stores in bird in hand pennsylvania, beatles memorabilia, bird in hand pennsylvania, bird in hand vacation getaway, bird-in-hand pennsylvania antique shops, cheap trick heaven tonight album, cheap trick rock band, gtr rock band, kiss gene simmons solo album, kiss rock band, lancaster county pennsylvania, metal odyssey, pennsylvania, true vacation stories, zz top antenna album. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.