Ephrata Cloister, Lancaster County

Ephrata Cloister ought to be very cool.  It's a large compound constructed in the 1730s for a Utopian religious community of German immigrants.  At the time, Lancaster County was on the western frontier, and the pious came to these remote parts to flee the pressures and distractions of contemporary life.  I love places like this...but I did not love Ephrata Cloister.  My kids like history, but one of them texted their mother to tell her, "The monk place was a total bust."

Their website said they would be open, but in reality they were not.  They collected our money and let us inside, but because some kind of class was taking place in the visitor's center, they were not offering guided tours...and all the buildings were locked up tight.  They encouraged us to do a cell phone tour, standing in the cold outside the buildings and listening to an automated voice tell its story.  I might have done it if I'd been alone, but the kids were with me, and it was too chilly.  On the way out, we stopped at the gift shop, which had a big "open" sign out front, but it was locked up, too.  I'm sorry to say that the Ephrata Cloister is shoddily run.  Definitely call first if you decide to visit.