Friday night was spent driving through traffic, stopping at Cracker Barrel for dinner, and then hitting up a grocery store before calling it a night. We did manage to sneak in a fun swim at the freezing pool in our hotel. Why can't those pools ever be heated enough?
Saturday morning was off to the park. First thing on the agenda was measure all the kids. They use a candy system to let you know which rides the kids are tall enough for. Claire was a twizzler, Grace a hershey bar, and we thought Neil was a kiss, but he ended up getting on a few peanut butter cup rides.
Chris took the kids on a few rides, while I got in line for their newest/scariest roller coaster, Skyrush. It was really intense. I actually feared for my life going 75mph. It was a blast! I managed to go on four of the craziest roller coasters during the day. I think they have 12 total, so maybe next time I'll find time for a couple more. I love the coasters, but it isn't as much fun going by yourself. I think Chris was secretly happy to use the kids as an excuse. He isn't much of a "giant drop straight down" kind of guy.
Grace and Neil got to do some of the small kid rides together. He sure loves his big sisters! It was fun to see how excited he was on the pirate ship.
I even let him drive me around in the cars. It was a little dodgy, but we survived.
We got to the park right when it opened at 10am and the kids managed to get on one last ride at 10:57pm, right at closing. It was one really long day!! Our feet and legs were killing us. We had so much fun though. Of course, we tried some ice cream, cotton candy, and even a chocolate funnel cake covered in hershey syrup and reeses peanut butter cups. I even went on one more giant coaster right at the end. My equilibrium was a little messed up for the next couple days. No one had any trouble sleeping that night.
In the morning we slept in and then went back to Hershey to explore Chocolate World a little before driving back. They have a ride on tour to see the process of making chocolate. They even pipe in the smell. It really got your mouth watering. Thankfully they give you a sample of chocolate on your way out.
Of course, this is a giant tourist trap, and they sell all kind of chocolate and paraphernalia. It was tough to get out of there with only a small assortment of candies.
5lb. chocolate bar!
We did try a tasty chocolate milkshake while we were there. It was made with cocoa. Interesting.
On our way out of town we drove down Chocolate Ave. They had the cutest street lamps.
As we drove home, we went right through Gettysburg, PA. We decided that we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop and see what there was there. It's really a fun little town with a very European feel to it. Lots of shops and restaurants alongside all manner of civil war trinkets and flags galore.
There is a huge visitor center/museum that we stopped at. They showed us a video about the great battle at Gettysburg during the Civil War in 1863 and of course the famous Gettysburg address given by Lincoln. It was very powerful and awe inspiring to see what those people faced. It was the bloodiest battle of the war with 51,000 casualties.
These are from a giant oil painting that is in a circular room. They use it to illustrate how the battle unfolded.
There is so much of US history that I simply don't remember (or didn't ever learn). I've found myself needing to brush up on all these important events just to appreciate where I live. The fields of Gettysburg were beautiful. I wish I had been able to get a decent picture to do it justice. There were also many cemeteries dedicated to all of the fallen soldiers. It was sobering to walk in the same places. I'm so glad we stopped. A little bit of history to go along with the fun.
We had a great trip, and now we just need to recover a bit.
2 comments:
Oh my ! Looks like awesome fun...both places grandma and grandpa would like to visit ;)
Dang...I would've gone on that ride with you! and all that chocolate-mmm!!! sounds like a great quick get-away! :)
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