Florida Amish (Pinecraft)

Last week I made a short visit to the Pinecraft Amish community at Sarasota, Florida.  I wanted to share that visit with you via a series of photos.  If you haven’t heard of it, Pinecraft is an unusual Amish community for a few reasons. It is located in a city (Sarasota, population 52,811–technically just outside […]

Continue Reading Visiting Pinecraft (41 Photos)

I’ve been getting a lot of emails about a recent New York Times story about the Pinecraft Amish community, aka the “Amish Las Vegas”. Pinecraft is a neighborhood in Sarasota, Florida, and home to the only Amish population in the Sunshine State. The year-round Amish presence is small, but Pinecraft’s numbers swell every winter, when […]

Continue Reading Pinecraft

From what I hear, Spring actually follows Autumn in Pinecraft. Taken by Katie Troyer.   See more Florida Amish photos at Katie’s blog.

Continue Reading Swinging into Spring

The Florida Amish outpost in the Pinecraft district of Sarasota is unusual in a number of ways. For one, its size waxes and wanes with the seasons.  Every year in the fall and winter months, an influx of Amish vacationers boosts a hard core of full-time residents.  Right now we are in the summer off-season, […]

Continue Reading Amish in Florida

It took a little arm-twisting, but I’m finally posting a piece about–well–me, written by “Captain Ahab”, aka Rich Stevick.  Not because it wasn’t good, because as regular readers of the Pinecraft Pauper know, a Captain Ahab piece is going to be good reading. More on account of me being a bit bashful, I suppose.  This […]

Continue Reading Yours truly in the Pinecraft Pauper

I recently came across a few images of Amish-themed murals.  This first one is found on Bahia Vista boulevard in the Florida Amish community at Pinecraft, Sarasota. I’m not really an art person, but I usually enjoy murals when I meet them in my travels.  Maybe it’s just the element of the unexpected, in finding […]

Continue Reading Amish Mural Art

We’ve got a winner today for the subscription to the Pinecraft Pauper.  Sorry it’s a bit later in the day than normal-I’ve been laid up with a fever trying to get healthy before Xmas (unfortunately, the weather where I live is nothing like Florida’s!). But first, if you didn’t catch them, we had some interesting comments […]

Continue Reading Pinecraft Pauper winner

Sherry Gore is giving away a subscription to the Pinecraft Pauper.  To enter, simply go to yesterday’s post and leave a comment there.  For an extra entry, share this contest on Facebook or mention on your blog (1 extra entry each for a maximum of 3 entries; send an email to amishamerica@gmail.com letting me know […]

Continue Reading Win a subscription to the Pinecraft Pauper

Florida Plain newspaper The Pinecraft Pauper gears up for season #2 The Pinecraft Pauper is a community newspaper of the Pinecraft neighborhood of Sarasota, Florida, home to a small but sturdy collection of Amish and Mennonites. The Pauper was founded by local writer Daniel Fisher, and features news, human interest stories, puzzles, cartoons, tips (“Make […]

Continue Reading The Pinecraft Pauper

Time for the winners! Thanks to everyone who read the interview with Sherry Gore, author of Taste of Pinecraft: Glimpses of Sarasota, Florida’s Amish Culture and Kitchens.  What fun it was to get Sherry’s inside take on this unique community.  Also really enjoyed reading your comments and great questions. Before we roll out the winners, […]

Continue Reading Taste of Pinecraft winners, sample recipes, and stories