The "A Place To Eat For Over 50 Years!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in the Brickerville House having lunch with my wife Carol and her friend Debbie.  It's seems like its been ages since we last ate at the Brickerville House which is in the Northern part of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  After we were seated I began looking around the restaurant which was established in 1753.  Neat place with the most inviting interior of most of the restaurants in Lancaster County.  As I opened my menu I noticed a full page story titled "The Brickerville House" which told the story of the restaurant.  When our waitress brought water glasses to our table I asked her if I could have a copy of the full page story that was on the inside of the Brickerville House menu.  A minute later I had my copy on the history of the place in which I was about to eat my lunch.  The Brickerville House has deep roots in Lancaster County being that it started in the mid to late 1700s when a Prusian immigrant by the name of John Bricker bought a large piece of land in northern Lancaster County.  John and his wife built the building in which I was sitting, waiting for my lunch, as well as where travelers stopped to rest and tend their horses.  The building continued to operate as a restaurant and hotel for another 75 years after Mr. Bricker died.  It wasn't until 1923 that Mr. Wayne Weidman purchased the property and turned it into a general store. It also served as a hotel for travelers.  Mr. Weidman operated the building as a general store and gas station as well as a barber shop with a pole sitting along the road.  The place also served as a polling location on Election Day.  It wasn't until 1972 that William and Peggy Lawton purchased the now vacant building and spent a year renovating the old house.  The following year the Brickerbille House antique and gift shop opened.  Eventually a popular German themed lunch-only restaurant opened at the end of 1973.  In 2008 the Agadis family purchased the Brickerville House and the specialty shops that sat near it.  It took a few months to renovate and update, but the place opened once again as a restaurant in November of 2008.  Today the stone house that was built in the 1700's has survived and still serves one of the best meals you can get anywhere in Lancaster County.  And, it not only is a restaurant, but has become a thriving village of locally owned businesses.  If you are ever in the neighborhood, check out the place and see if you can leave without buying something.  My guess is No!  As for my lunch today...well I had egg salad with the trimmings.  And...there was a no way anyone could finish that monstrous salad!  My bill for my lunch and drink was a bit under $10.  And, after typing this story I will sit down for my wife and east the remainder of the salad I couldn't handle at lunch.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.