Spring Break trip to Hershey, PA (Or will drive 7 1/2 hours for free chocolate) Part 1
The girls really wanted to go somewhere for spring break. Specifically, they wanted to go to a beach (specifically, the Atlantic Ocean). However, Donnie said he couldn't get away from work so we couldn't go anywhere as a family. The girls asked if we could go somewhere even if we couldn't all go. Jacob said he didn't want to go anywhere without Donnie. Also, he has a job now and his working would preclude taking a small trip. One of the girls suggested that we (the girls and I) go to Hershey, PA and I said that sounded like as good a place as any. Much as we would have loved to go to a beach, I didn't want to go anywhere super far away/ expensive without the whole family going.
Once we settled in on Hershey, it was time to find a place to stay. I looked into the Hershey Lodge but it seemed a bit pricey and didn't even include a continental breakfast (this frugal mama loves a free breakfast). One Saturday morning while Abby was at dance, Alyssa and I looked online for places to stay. Alyssa was surprisingly adept at searching and narrowing down places. She found the place where we ended up staying. It was a LaQuinta- definitely not luxurious BUT, the price, location and reviews were exceptionally good.
We booked the hotel, I did some searches on things to do in the area (first and foremost was Hershey World) and then didn't really do too much else until Easter Sunday, the day before we left. I knew the weather forecast was bound to change so it didn't make much sense to base decisions on weather until close to our departure date. The forecast didn't look good but there was no snow in the forecast (well, there was Sunday into Monday but it would be gone by the time we arrived) so that was good news. I bought tickets online for our events at Hershey World so that we wouldn't have to wait in line on Tuesday when we went to Hershey World. Then we packed and were ready to go Monday morning.
My car's GPS said it would take 6 hours and 55 minutes to get to our hotel. That was a bit more than I remembered when I first charted the distance between our house and the area. Selective forgetting, I guess :). With a stop for gas/ going to the bathroom, a bit of slowdown due to construction, and two interruptions in driving to pay $23.00 (total) in tolls (this frugal mama does not like toll roads...), we arrived in Harrisburg (where our hotel was) in about 7 1/2 hours.
It was close to dinner time when we arrived so we had to find a place to eat. There was a restaurant that shared the same parking lot as our hotel but we decided to go elsewhere. I found a number of pizza places nearby after we determined that pizza sounded good. We decided on one called JoJo's on 22. Despite its lack of Italian name, the restaurant was, in fact, Italian (we would learn the following day at Hershey World that the Hershey area has a quite large number of Italian families as many Italian immigrants came to work for the Hershey company when it first started). We loved the pizza and we are pretty picky pizza eaters. Light on the sauce is the most important standard in pizza for us. It's something that we all agree on (and that's very unusual).
After dinner we found a CVS to get some ibuprofen that we'd forgotten to pack. I am such a sucker for a sale that I couldn't resist purchasing some clearance Easter candy at CVS. We were headed to HERSHEY WORLD the following morning and here I was purchasing candy (mostly Hershey's but some M & M's too) at a drug store. You can take a girl near Hershey World but you can't limit her chocolate experiences to just Hershey World :).
We went back to the hotel, Alyssa swam while Abby and I kept her company. And that was part 1 of our adventure!
Here are just a few pictures from Day1/ Part 1 of our adventure
Monday morning in Springboro heading east towards PA- it snowed Easter Sunday and into Monday. Twas the best kind of snow. It looked pretty on tree branches and what not but it didn't stick to roads or sidewalks. I took this picture from the car (I was stopped at a light, obviously!!) less than a mile from our house.
We stopped at a dismal gas station in PA to get gas and go to the bathroom. I would have chosen differently but I was getting low on gas and figured at that point that beggars couldn't be choosers. Took this picture because of the green sign in the middle that "advertises" the PA Turnpike. Not a fan of paying a lot of money to use a roadway.
This is really embarrassing to admit... but, I didn't realize that the state of Pennsylvania had mountains in it (I'm certain that I knew it at some point but just forgot 😜). We drive through a small portion of northern PA every time we drive to Canada to see my sister. I guess I attributed that little slice of PA that I'm familiar with to the whole state? I'd never driven into the central part of the state before. So, when the road started ascending in PA and the scenery was dotted with mountains, I realized that I had been shockingly ignorant about the topography of the state. The drive was a pretty one; I was glad the weather was mild. I would not want to be driving in the mountains in inclement weather like snow or even rain.
Eating dinner at JoJo's- after our waiter had taken our order and given us drinks, he asked if we wanted some bread. Um, yes??
Onion rings- Alyssa is on an onion ring kick. These were quite good.
We ordered a large pizza which was way too much. We had to save room for dessert (chocolate!). We took the left over pizza back with us to the hotel. It would not go uneaten.
Clearance candy from CVS- clearance Easter candy is the best! Easter candy in general is my very favorite- I love the all pastel colors. It's also the little things- Reese's Eggs are way better than regular Reese's Cups (IMHO). To top it off, after Easter, it's all half off. It's almost too good to be true (definitely too good to pass up even if you do have tickets to make your own candy bar at Hershey World the next day).
Once we settled in on Hershey, it was time to find a place to stay. I looked into the Hershey Lodge but it seemed a bit pricey and didn't even include a continental breakfast (this frugal mama loves a free breakfast). One Saturday morning while Abby was at dance, Alyssa and I looked online for places to stay. Alyssa was surprisingly adept at searching and narrowing down places. She found the place where we ended up staying. It was a LaQuinta- definitely not luxurious BUT, the price, location and reviews were exceptionally good.
We booked the hotel, I did some searches on things to do in the area (first and foremost was Hershey World) and then didn't really do too much else until Easter Sunday, the day before we left. I knew the weather forecast was bound to change so it didn't make much sense to base decisions on weather until close to our departure date. The forecast didn't look good but there was no snow in the forecast (well, there was Sunday into Monday but it would be gone by the time we arrived) so that was good news. I bought tickets online for our events at Hershey World so that we wouldn't have to wait in line on Tuesday when we went to Hershey World. Then we packed and were ready to go Monday morning.
My car's GPS said it would take 6 hours and 55 minutes to get to our hotel. That was a bit more than I remembered when I first charted the distance between our house and the area. Selective forgetting, I guess :). With a stop for gas/ going to the bathroom, a bit of slowdown due to construction, and two interruptions in driving to pay $23.00 (total) in tolls (this frugal mama does not like toll roads...), we arrived in Harrisburg (where our hotel was) in about 7 1/2 hours.
It was close to dinner time when we arrived so we had to find a place to eat. There was a restaurant that shared the same parking lot as our hotel but we decided to go elsewhere. I found a number of pizza places nearby after we determined that pizza sounded good. We decided on one called JoJo's on 22. Despite its lack of Italian name, the restaurant was, in fact, Italian (we would learn the following day at Hershey World that the Hershey area has a quite large number of Italian families as many Italian immigrants came to work for the Hershey company when it first started). We loved the pizza and we are pretty picky pizza eaters. Light on the sauce is the most important standard in pizza for us. It's something that we all agree on (and that's very unusual).
After dinner we found a CVS to get some ibuprofen that we'd forgotten to pack. I am such a sucker for a sale that I couldn't resist purchasing some clearance Easter candy at CVS. We were headed to HERSHEY WORLD the following morning and here I was purchasing candy (mostly Hershey's but some M & M's too) at a drug store. You can take a girl near Hershey World but you can't limit her chocolate experiences to just Hershey World :).
We went back to the hotel, Alyssa swam while Abby and I kept her company. And that was part 1 of our adventure!
Here are just a few pictures from Day1/ Part 1 of our adventure
Monday morning in Springboro heading east towards PA- it snowed Easter Sunday and into Monday. Twas the best kind of snow. It looked pretty on tree branches and what not but it didn't stick to roads or sidewalks. I took this picture from the car (I was stopped at a light, obviously!!) less than a mile from our house.
We stopped at a dismal gas station in PA to get gas and go to the bathroom. I would have chosen differently but I was getting low on gas and figured at that point that beggars couldn't be choosers. Took this picture because of the green sign in the middle that "advertises" the PA Turnpike. Not a fan of paying a lot of money to use a roadway.
This is really embarrassing to admit... but, I didn't realize that the state of Pennsylvania had mountains in it (I'm certain that I knew it at some point but just forgot 😜). We drive through a small portion of northern PA every time we drive to Canada to see my sister. I guess I attributed that little slice of PA that I'm familiar with to the whole state? I'd never driven into the central part of the state before. So, when the road started ascending in PA and the scenery was dotted with mountains, I realized that I had been shockingly ignorant about the topography of the state. The drive was a pretty one; I was glad the weather was mild. I would not want to be driving in the mountains in inclement weather like snow or even rain.
Eating dinner at JoJo's- after our waiter had taken our order and given us drinks, he asked if we wanted some bread. Um, yes??
Onion rings- Alyssa is on an onion ring kick. These were quite good.
We ordered a large pizza which was way too much. We had to save room for dessert (chocolate!). We took the left over pizza back with us to the hotel. It would not go uneaten.
Clearance candy from CVS- clearance Easter candy is the best! Easter candy in general is my very favorite- I love the all pastel colors. It's also the little things- Reese's Eggs are way better than regular Reese's Cups (IMHO). To top it off, after Easter, it's all half off. It's almost too good to be true (definitely too good to pass up even if you do have tickets to make your own candy bar at Hershey World the next day).
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