You’re moving to central Pennsylvania. Great! It’s a wonderful area, with friendly people and lots of things to see and do. It may be a little different than where you’re from, however. We do things our own way here. You’ll pick it up quickly without a doubt, but if you’re concerned about standing out as a newcomer, here are a few tips to help you assimilate a little bit more quickly.
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Central PA Has Specific Alcohol Laws
If you like to relax with a drink every now and then, you might find Pennsylvania alcohol laws a bit confusing. You can’t just pick up a bottle of Chardonnay at your grocery store. Wine and spirits in Pennsylvania are only sold in special state-owned stores designed for this purpose. Once you know where to go, this shouldn’t be too inconvenient, but be aware that these stores all close at 10 p.m., and on Sunday you can only buy between noon and 5 p.m. You won’t find beer at the local supermarket either. It can only be sold at bars and restaurants, licensed beer stores or from the distributor. On the plus side, you can buy a six-pack from a bar or restaurant.
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Central PA Has Amish
The second largest Amish population in the United States can be found mostly in Lancaster County. Don’t gawk. An Amish buggy clip-clopping by is a common occurrence around here. If you see any of them selling food, try some! It’s delicious.
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It’s All About Scrapple
Scrapple is a pork dish that’s kind of like Spam, but not exactly. It’s a breakfast staple throughout Pennsylvania and if you move here, you’ll feel obligated to try it sooner or later. Who knows, you may even learn to love it!
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Central PA Has Its Own Language
Pennsylvania has a dialect and slang all its own that’ll take some getting used to, even once you learn to pronounce Lancaster (LANKA-stir, not LAN-castor). It may take you a while to realize that youse means all of you, WaWa is the holy grail of convenience stores – unless you’re a Sheetz fan – and a Snoopy is a picky eater.
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Central PA Has Hershey
Well, you probably knew this, but you won’t live here long without feeling obligated to make a pilgrimage to Hersheypark, Hershey Chocolate World and other symbols of Milton Hershey’s chocolate empire. You won’t find many central Pennsylvanians who don’t know just about everything there is to know about the man who gave his name to the sweetest city in the world and the great American chocolate bar!
This isn’t quite everything you should know about living in central Pennsylvania, but it’s a good start. Part of the joy of living here is discovering all of the amazing things about it yourself, so youse have fun and good luck!