Hershey

Day 1

We were on the road for only about 6 hours today, but OHIO has to be the dullest state to drive through.  We stopped at a Cracker Barrel to eat, always a road trip must.  Avoid the Cracker Barrel on 71 south of Columbus.  It was not up to standart.  We arrive in Pittsburg in the early enough to get cleaned up for the Pirate's Game.  Wish we would have had the time to explore the city and do the incline.  IT looked fun.  The game was great.  The pirate's park is user friendly.  We could walk right down to the dugout and talk with the players.  We had a lot of opportunities for foul balls, bring your glove.  Eat the Pieogies.  Great regional flair.

Day 2

We were so excited to get the Hershy today.  The roads into town are even brown.  We had reservations at the hershsey lodge.  The lodge was hard to find and did not deliver much more than a chain hotel would.  We went to chocolate work and bought tons of treats.  Hint, buy the "keeps you stuff cold" bag.  We stuggled to keep things from melting the rest of the trip.  Hershey has moved the historical factory tour out of the real factory.  The new "ride"  is a bit hokey with singing cows.  I miss the real thing I remember from my childhood.  The ate and hung out at the lodge, but the pools and tennis courts needs attention.  Try the chocolate hot wings!  My son LOVED them.

Day 3

HersheyPark!  We had a blast today.  Rode rides until we all were sick to our stomach.  Our favorites were the racers and the crazy mouse.  (we had an 8 year old with us so the loopy rides were out of the question)  We must have timed everything right because we didn't wait long for anything.  We had a 2day pass, so we skipped the water rides and planned to spent the next day in the water area.  From about 7-11 the park was amazing!  NO lines, lights everywhere.  We were completely wore out when out heads hit the pillow.

Day 4

Cloudy and windy today so the waterpark adventure was shortened.  The new boardwalk is great for small children.  The lines for the slides were long and involved a lot of steps.  We left around noon, just as the skys were starting to drop rain. We drove to Gettysburg.  We got there at 4 and went to the park's visitor center.  We were too late for any bus or tour guides, so we bought the audio tape and did the first 4-5 stops.  We liked the auto tour because we could take our time.  When we stopped we just stood by the other guides and listened to what they had to say. 

I must say the Quality Inn MotorLodge was great for our needs.  The kid hung out at the pool while we rested and planned our day.  The rooms were huge and the price was right.  It is located right next to the battlefield.

We took a ghost walk that night with the Ghost of Gettysburg.  We chose the Carliele street tour.  As real ghost enthusiast, we do not recomment this tour.  To unrealistic, not enought history.

Day 5

We finished the auto tour.  Little Round Top and Devil Den were amazing.  We checked into our B&b, the gaslight Inn, near the square.  They were uptight.  I felt like an unwanted guest in a parent's friend's home.  We felt as if every request was putting them out.

We tours some home and ate at the Farnsworth house.  It ate the Game Pie in honor of the history.  The price was high, the food was OK but our waitress sucked.  We heard other tables getting history of the home and explanations to the food but we just got our food thrown at us and we were never checked on again.

We went on another ghost walk, this time through the Farnsworth house.  We chose the confederate hospital route.  Better tour but i think it had most to do with the quality of guide we had.

Day 6

Breakfast at the B&B, more dealings with snobs, and a long trip home.  To get to I70 we had to drive for a hour in the blue ridge mountains, the scenary was breath taking but I had a feeling if we broke down, bango playing inbredder would have chased us out of town.  We got home in 9 hours, long ride.

OverAll the trip was just so-so.  A once in a lifetime experience.  The history lesson for my son was great.  He hasn't even studied the civil war and he is a buff.  Hershey was a let down for me just because I remember the hershey of my childhood and i had high hopes for the same experience.  My son and husband enjoyed it.  Avoid the Hershey Lodge and choose the Hershey Hotel instead.  It is more expensive but worth it.