We left Philadelphia early this morning and jumped on the highway towards Hershey, Pennsylvania. The kids have been looking forward to our visit to Chocolate World for the whole trip, so the anticipation had been building.
Hershey's Chocolate World was just plain fun. Pulling into the parking lot gives you the feeling of, "Uh oh, there goes the diet!"
The first thing we did was check out the free
Chocolate Tour Ride, a Disney-style track ride in the tradition of Snow White's Adventures and Peter Pan's Flight. The car is on a track and it turns back and forth to reveal different scenes as you move forward. The ride takes you on a journey through the whole process of making and serving up chocolate candy bars. From harvesting Cocoa beans to wrapping the finished Hershey's bar, all aspects of manufacturing are covered, with recorded narration and a bouncy musical score to accompany the ride.
I only wish we had the opportunity to go in the real factory. The story of Milton Hershey and his competitor Forest Mars probably makes for interesting reading. I intend on picking up a copy of The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars when I get a chance. It's not like I don't have enough books to read.
The ride naturally spills out to the gift shop and food court. The sweet smell of the various shops wafts through the air as though sugar has replaced oxygen for the support of human life. Our eyes grew big and we immediately honed in on our favorites. I spotted a piece of chocolate cake with tons of vanilla icing and knew I had met my match. Mary took the kids to get ice cream. We met up and shared what we had, packing away more calories and grams of fat than should be permissable by law. Man alive, it was GOOOOOOD! The cake was so rich and unbelievably tasty. We ALL got a sugar rush after scarfing down our goodies. I don't remember feeling buzzed like that since college...
Next was Hershey's Really Big 3D Show. This production was similar to Captain EO at Disney's Epcot Center and Muppets 4D at Disney/MGM Studios. Donning the typical 3D glasses, we were treated to an interactive film that would bring a smile to even the grumpiest of people. Not only was the 3D animation top notch, but they brought it more to life by having the seats vibrate and releasing various substances on cue, such as wind, snow and rain. Of course, one can only take so much of singing Hershey bars and Milk Duds, but it was over before it got annoying. It was a hoot and we all had a great time.
It was time to leave the diabetic nightmare and head towards Harrisburg, PA. It was only 15 minutes away and we wanted to get there quickly so we could see the National Civil War Museum.
We arrived at 3 pm and stayed until closing at 5 pm. The museum provided a great overview and many details of our nation's bloodiest war to take place on American soil. Taking an unbiased viewpoint of the North and the South, the war was factually portrayed through recorded dramas, audio interpretations accompanied by wax figures, dioramas of battle scenes, displays of hundreds of artifacts and descriptive exhibits that provided background and analysis of how the war started, what the key isses were, who the players were, how the battles played out, how families were affected and what the end result was. We tried to soak up as much as possible in our two hours and I think we all left knowing a bit more about the Civil War.
I have found it nearly impossible to describe all we have seen and done on our trip. I hope you are enjoying keeping up with us. Tomorrow we go to Gettysburg to see where over 50,000 Americans lost their lives and then we'll end up in our Nation's Capital, where we'll stay for four nights. See you in D.C.!
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