Day 2: Chocolate and Battlefields

We woke up this morning in Frostburg and enjoyed a continental breakfast before making our way to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. We watched a film about the Civil War and Battle of Gettysburg, toured a very well-done museum and art gallery, and took a self-guided battlefield tour in the Nissan. We also saw the cemetery where Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg address.

"Four score and seven years ago..."

Here Mom is about to get her head blown off by a cannon.

The volunteer at the National Cemetery found out we were from Alabama. (I think the giveaway was when Daddy was asking for directions and told him we were "fixin'" to head to Harrisburg.) After confirming our southernness, the guide told us there were no rebels buried in the cemetery.

Leaving Gettysburg, we went to Harrisburg to see our second state capitol of the trip. There were Civil War actors inside who engaged us in conversation as soon as we got there. The dome of the building was really pretty, and Daddy and I ended up talking to the bookkeeper in the Senate Library. Again, we just walked on in. He gave us some PA recommendations, and we were back on the highway. Next stop...?


Hershey, Pennsylvania, truly is Chocolate Town. The entire town was built through the enterprising spirit of Milton Hershey, founder of Hershey chocolate and the reason milk chocolate is popular in the states. There's a Hershey Park amusement park, a few schools founded by Hershey, several mansions built by Hershey, and chocolate factories to boot, including the largest chocolate factory in the world. We spend most of our time at Chocolate World, a museum/entertainment center for chocolate lovers. When we got there, Fowler and I participated in an exhibit called "Create Your Own Candy Bar" in which, you guessed it, we created our own candy bars. We chose the ingredients and made our own packaging. After this, we went through the museum ride with Mom and Dad which took us through a factory simulation of how chocolate is made.



The gift shops and restaurants were, as one would assume, incredible. They sold chocolate cookies, cake, cupcakes, cheesecakes, hot chocolate, chocolate bars, chocolate stuffed animals, chocolate candles, chocolate lip balm, and even chocolate bath soaps. After perusing the stores, grateful for and annoyed by the heat which was preventing us from chocolate purchases which would only melt in the car, we got on the Chocolate World Trolley to take a tour of the town. On the tour, we saw the Hershey schools, chocolate factory, Hershey Mansion, Hershey Park, and Hershey-kiss shaped street lights. The guides were funny, and of course, the free samples didn't hurt! Hershey was definitely a good stop.


Leaving Hershey, we headed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where we decided to call it a night. Lancaster is the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, so we'll see if we can have some Amish fun in the morning.

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