Saturday, October 26, 2013

Leg 5: Central PA - Hershey's and Lancaster County

We left Baltimore and headed north-west to Harrisburg and immediately beelined for the town of Hershey. Just in time for cold front. Lows in the low-30's, high's in the low 50's. Brrrr.

I know that Cici knew what it was, but Isabel was confused all the way up to the entrance to the town. When she saw the theme park, kiss street lamps, and other signage, she became excited.

We first went to lunch at the Chocolate Avenue Grill. Everything we are there was delicious. I order the roast beef wrap, while the others ordered burgers. The best part was the hummus trio that was devoured by all in attendance.

After that we headed to the downtown museum. Since it was later in the day, we were snuck in to the Chocolate Lab a few minutes late, but we didn't miss much. We learned about the growing and harvesting of chocolate in several countries. We taste tested chocolate from several areas of the world, and then we created our own flavored candy bars.





Isabel dumped every available spice into her, which has made for a very spicy chocolate bar. She was left it for me to consume.

Next, we headed to World of Chocolate, on the Hershey property. There we found a chocolate wonderland. We participated in a packaging line for kisses. We then headed to the Candy Bar Creation Line. We each were able to digitally choose our filings and watch then head down the conveyor belt. After that we rode the Hershey ride, which is reminiscent of It's A Small World.


^^Hee-hee... Chris has to wear a beard net!^^

My chocolate bar on the conveyor



Last, but not least, we headed to the candy purchasing floor. If you think it was overwhelming before... bring two kids to TONS of candy for sale. We have POUNDS of kisses at the hotel...

The next day was "Mommy Day." Or, as I was calling it, "Time to go Amishing."

My father had recommended we head to Intercourse and Blue Ball (interesting names abound in Lancaster). Right off the bat, we stopped at a farmer's market that WAS AWESOME!!!

We purchased huge quantities of beef jerky, various cheese cubes, homemade bologna, fudge, and other treats. We snacked on these in the car as we cruised around the countryside.

^^Awesome Cauliflower^^

We stopped at two petting farms for the girls and allowed them to pet the caged animals (somewhat creepy) and then drove to a farm where quilts are sold.





The quilt farm was the best part of the day. It was a picturesque farm that one only imagines is in movies. A German Shepherd wandered up to our car to great us. The yard was filled with holstein cows. Heaven.

The girls gained permission to explore the farm and animals, while I looked through the quilts.

The quilts were extremely expensive, but all hand made. I hadn't splurged on myself yet this trip, so I bought one. YAY!


I think I could have definitely spent another day in this area, exploring the culinary delights, but alas! off to Carlisle!

In Carlisle, my Father recommended we visit the base he was stationed at while he was in the army. I had looked it up online, and knew that there was an outside park with military equipment to look at. By the time we got there, the museum had closed, but the park was open to visitors.

Cici, at this point, cold and tired, opted to stay in the car.

Isabel proceeded to make the rounds and pose with all of the equipment. It took 45 minutes, but it was fun.




Next stop!!! Philadelphia!


1 comment:

  1. Hi guys! I'm glad to read you already started your trip, I hope you are having lot's of fun and some healing too! Sara Michelle says hi to Isabel! I miss you at the meetings. big hugs!
    Sara

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