Day 150: Hershey, PA

Today was everything Hershey. We started at Hershey Chocolate World where we did the free factory tour ride (twice!). We learned how the chocolate is made and scored a few free Halloween sized samples. It was an amusement park ride, not a real factory tour, but we liked it nonetheless.

Daddy then treated each of us to our favourite chocolate bar from the huge Hershey store. Sugar rush to start the day!

The bell is a Hershey kiss.

Hershey Park was our next adventure. This is a huge theme park with lots of big coasters but pretty strict height restrictions so there were many rides where Alistair was an inch too short to ride. We alternated back and forth so Liam and Seamus got to ride the five big coasters, which they knocked off in quick succession after rope drop. We got in a few more rides but then it got incredibly busy and the wait times for everything skyrocketed. We waited over an hour for the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ride and called it quits for rides with huge lines. 

This coaster opened before the rest of the park and was a freebie rope drop as we walked right on.

Waiting to enter the rest of the park at rope drop. Ali doesn’t like waiting.

OMG the line for this ride was SO long. Ugh!

My score.

I got decimated by Ian in this shooting game (his score on the right).

We got decimated by everyone else. Holy cow that is a high score!

We watched the seal and sea lion show and then walked the trick-or-treat trail where the boys collected some treats. The food at the park was pretty good - we visited the smokehouse for ribs and a turkey leg and had chicken fingers, salad and fries for supper.

Trick-or-treat!

Hershey dance party.

Alistair preparing for Fright Fest.

Statue of founder Milton Hershey who died in 1945.

We headed out just before Fright Fest was scheduled to start. Scary stuff is not my jam so it was a good time to depart. Back at the campground there was a live band playing. We enjoyed the tunes. Alistair also placed first in the campground colouring contest (yay!) and Seamus placed second so they both won small prizes. Alistair fell asleep before the prizes were awarded at 8 pm so the big boys accepted his award on his behalf.

What a crazy day. We have never been at an amusement park that was so crowded. We are peopled out.

Day 149: Ronks to Shartlesville, PA

We set our sights on a fancy breakfast this morning. We found it in a real train dining car at the Casey Jones’ Restaurant. It was the best breakfast of the trip so far; huge portions, thick sliced sourdough toast, and scrapple - a delicious pork and cornmeal loaf, sliced and fried.

It was a foggy Pennsylvania morning.

Next we headed back through Amish Country to Shady Maple Farm Market, makers of 50 flavours of whoopie pies. In addition to purchasing a selection of whoopie pies, we picked up a bunch of local vegetables and other special treats like a pork roll and artisan pretzels.

Sample!

Scrapple of all different kinds.

Look at these huge, beautiful broccoli heads.

Crystal Cave, Pennsylvania’s oldest show cave, was next on our itinerary. Our tour guide was enthusiastic but we must admit that this cave wasn’t particularly exciting. It was discovered in 1871 and opened to tourists pretty shortly after. As a result, we suspect that many cave formations and decorations from the parts open to visitors have been removed over time and frankly, there is not much left. The coolest part of the tour was when the guide turned off the lights and shined a black light around. We could see the formations glow bright purple from impurities like manganese in the calcite. 

We drove along Route 61 and checked in to Appalachian Campground in Shartlesville where we set up camp. We went swimming, had a bonfire and played BINGO at the community hall with the permanent residents of this campground. We didn’t win and the boys found keeping up with the numbers while looking for the required pattern (W, L, F, I) a bit stressful but we had a few good laughs.