As proof that we arrived safely in State College, here is Dr. Rosalyn C. Eves smiling large when she joined us at our motel this morning. We arrived at the Hampton at about 9:30 on Wednesday night. We were hungry for real food (although the airlines did serve us "snacks" during the flight), so we ate at a sports bar adjacent to our motel. It was fine and tasted great. We touched bases with Rosalyn, and made plans to meet up at 7:30 AM, but we woke at 7:11! We rushed around and were ready to go a little before 8:00. Fortunately, Rosalyn was a little late joining us. I guess she got caught in traffic. We sat down and ate a bite of breakfast together, and headed southeast toward Harrisburg and Lancaster.
We diverted from our true path (an Amish quest) long enough to go to Hershey, PA. We drove to the amusement park, and then to Chocolate World. We had to stop for numerous photo ops, because everything was so "cute".
We went into the complex, and of course went on the Chocolate World ride.
I took several photos while we rode. The animated creatures were really pretty cool, and the whole ride was a brief Disney-type experience.
One of the favorites was when these girls sang a song about milk and its important role in chocolate. The tour explains the chocolate making process from beans, to liquor, to the finished candy.
One of the most interesting things about the tour is that actual chocolate is being made along the route. We got to watch the filling of Hershey Syrup bottles,
the molding and mass production of Hershey's Kisses, and
the foil wrapping of the completed kisses, it was really pretty cool. We were all wishing that Jake and Katie could be with us to see it all. The tour ended with a free sample of the new Kissables product, kind of a kiss-shaped M&M.
Of course, one of the big draws at Chocolate World is the opportunity to buy Hershey Products. We did some shopping, which I am sure will end up as Christmas gifts to some of our faithful readers, and then resumed our journey to Lancaster. We stopped at a Sheetz station (kind of Maverick-deal in PA), and were asking for short cut directions to Lancaster. This man was there buying a cup of coffee, gave us directions, and then insisted on buying our drinks and leading us to the turn off to our short cut! We were dumbfounded, and profoundly moved by his kindness. When we got to the turn off, he jumped out of his truck, wished us Merry Christmas, and off we went. This was only one of the kindnesses we were shown today. It may be the time of year, or it may be that the people of PA are inherently good, but we had a wonderful day.
Our first stop was Bird in Hand, PA. We parked and began to wander. We went into the bakery, and there were so many samples around, we didn't feel the need to buy much (this is the off-season, so we had these tourist Mecca's to ourselves). Bubby did buy a classic coffee cake, which she and Sarah just enjoyed. We were in search of an Amish dolly, and had to go into every store. Bubby went into the hardware store and there was a woman there that made clay figures of Amish themes and was selling them. Of course, she had an Amish nativity scene of the clay figures, and Bubby could not resist. She got a miniature Joseph, Mary, Jesus, lamb, and braided rug for them to sit on. Sarah is seen here coming out of the restroom right after Bubby's purchase.
We went on to Intercourse, PA, and made several stops. We went into a grocery store frequented by the Amish and saw many interesting things, including the Amish version of Quasi Moto. I tried a new variety of apples, Gold Rush, that was really good, and we went in and out of other stores. Bubby found an amazing quilt store, that had an astounding amount of fabric. She was in heaven. There were lots of Amish Christmas shopping and Babsy and Bubby tried futilely not to stare, but it was too tempting. They went nuts every time we saw a buggy on the side of the road.
According to plan, we had a late lunch at Miller's Smorgasbord, and it was delightful. As usual, I ate some serious shrimp, but we tried it all. They had a chocolate pecan pie that was particularly memorable. We all ate too much, but enjoyed the experience. We recommend it.
This photo shows the instigators of today's activities caught red handed with Beverly Lewis books. Yep, all that reading about Amish romance over the last couple of years has lead to this trip. I am sure that it was much more fun for them today, because they were primed by these books. Of course they found another Amish romance author to read, and the cycle may begin again!
After Miller's, we found a doll store, and of course were obliged to visit a huge outlet mall complex. I couldn't tell you how many different stores we were in and out of, but the ladies were running wild. We got back to State College around 8:00 PM, tired and happy. Daniel had arrived, but was cooling it at Steve's house, and Rosalyn drove out to join him. Tomorrow the folks with local knowledge are responsible for our fun, and we can't wait to visit all the places they want to show us.
Bubboppy
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