Amish and Kisses

Taryn could not wait to see the Amish and was delighted when there were buggys pulled by beautiul horses everywhere as we drove out the next morning. It was such a beautiful day after that fearsome storm. We decided to take some back roads out into the beautiful farmland and just enjoy it all - from their well kept yards to the clean clothes hung out to dry.

Back in town we stopped at Kitchen Kettle Village. It's kinda "touristy" but a nice place to browse and shop. Gary lined up a horse drawn tour for us and we boarded a wagon pulled by Debbie and Donna - a pair of standardbreds. Our tour guide was very plesant and informative. We traveled with another family from Texas and they were wonderful tour companions. This was a great way for Taryn to learn a bit about the Amish culture and she was fascinated.

We were back in an hour and then continued to browse and shop. There was a great little stand there selling hand churned ice cream and fresh made potatoe chips. Guess what we had for lunch?

After that treat we boarded the bbow and were off to Hershey. Ya gotta do the Hershey tour when you're in Pennsylvania!

Did you know it is the 100th anniversary of the Hershey Kiss?

Wow, has this place changed. It is now a huge theme/amusment/water park...and then there is Hershey World. This is where they still have the chocolate plant tour and candy store. Of course it is now twenty times bigger but not as much fun.

You still ride the little trams thru the tour, but the tour is now more glitz and less of the good ol' Hershey story. As we left the tour we were stopped and asked to participate in a study. We were guided to a room, given instructions and then asked to sample two different pieces of chocolate and comment on each one. That was kinda cool.

During our visit another major thunder and lightning storm hit. The theme park suddenly closed and every wet body from there packed into Hershey World with us. What a mess.

We purchased tickets to the 3-D movie for relief from the crowd and there in the pre-show we finally heard the good Hershey story we remembered. Did you know Mr. Hershey and his wife were scheduled to be on the Titanic but were unable to board when she became ill? Talk about a God-thing!

Our "resort" was a part of the whole Hershey thing and just happened to be right next to their train tracks. Let me assure you that there is not even one hour during the nite when those trains aren't bringing delicious supplies in to Hershey. It's covered!