Home Again

We're back home again after our longest road trip ever. Not very many pictures because A) our camera died- not just batteries either. It's pretty dead. Hubby is hoping he can get the card reader from work and at least get the pictures we did manage to take off the camera. and B) my new Bloggie only had a small memory card and we're still trying to figure out how to get them off the camera and onto the computer. That all being said, we had a wonderful time away. We started off with: * Hubby's niece's wedding in MA last Saturday night. She married Britt - our first Gay Wedding. It was beautiful and special and everything you'd want a wedding to be. It was held outdoors at a big pavilion in a park. Hubby got to play keyboard with the band. Since it was two hours west from our home we decided to stay in Hartford, CT for the night and continue on our great adventure the next day. * On Sunday morning we headed out to Hershey. We stayed at a very nice Inn and spent the day on Monday in Hershey. Yes, the air does smell like chocolate! We did not go to Hershey park, as neither Hubby nor I like roller coasters, but we did do some of the other touristy things. ***We went to Chocolate World where we went on the indoor trolley for a tour through the factory. ***We also made our own candy bar wrapper.....I'll post a photo when we figure out the camera situation. *** We went on a trolley ride around town that was wonderful. It was a mini-play with two characters. One was a female train "conductress" and the other was a boy who jumped off the trolley every five minutes, changed costumes on a platform at the back of the trolley where we couldn't see him and came back on as a different character. Hilarious! *** We went to the Hershey Museum where we learned all about Mr. Hershey and how he came to be the king of chocolate. *** We went to Hershey Gardens where they had millions of roses.....fantastic! *** We went to the Hershey Zoo - a small zoo with limited animals but beautifully done and lots of fun. *** We were handed candy everywhere we went.....it was great! * On Monday night we drove over to Gettysburg where we stayed at an Inn right on the battlefield. Some friends who live in PA came out to join us. We had dinner together Monday night and on Tuesday we used the CD in our car and took the Auto Tour around the Battlefield. It was very impressive to see all the monuments (it would have taken us weeks to stop and look at every single one). It was also very impressive to think of the number of lives lost in the three-day battle. *** We also went to the Hall of Presidents which was very lame and not worth the money. They had wax figures of each president and they talked for about 3 minutes each. Not very well done. * On Tuesday night we drove over to Intercourse, PA where we stayed at "The most romantic Inn in America". I had mixed feelings over this place. It was very expensive. I thought we would be immersed in luxury, and basically we had a little cottage that was nice but not terribly romantic. We usually love going to bed and breakfast places because they're run by a couple or a single person who becomes your friend and makes you feel like one of the family. This place was not run that way. It was a very nice place and we had a great time, but it certainly wasn't the nicest place we've ever been. They did serve a five-course breakfast that left us stuffed every day until dinner time. That being said, we had a great time in PA. We did all the touristy things there too: *** Went to a couple of the smorgasbord restaurants. My favorite was Millers, but we went to the Plain and Fancy as well and Hubby liked that one best. *** We saw an experiental movie called "The Amish Experience". It was about a young man who has to make the decision of whether or not to stay with the church. It's not just a movie, but adds in lots of lights, special effects, etc to make it a more interesting experience. *** We took a tour of an Amish house and learned many things about their lifestyle. *** We took a buggy ride (NOT comfortable!) and learned even more about the Amish from a grizzled old Amish guy named Aaron. *** We saw miles and miles of cornfield, cows and farms. *** We saw buggies riding down the sides of the highways. *** We saw many Amish men working their fields. *** We bought cold home-made rootbeer from a little Amish girl who couldn't have been more than six. She was minding the rootbeer stand. *** We went to see the play "Joseph". When I bought the tickets, I thought it was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was not. However, it was a fantastic play on the biggest stage I've ever seen and included singing, dancing and live animals. *** We'd had three different people tell us about Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. It's the original estate of Pierre DuPont. On Friday we took a drive over there and were absolutely amazed at the gorgeous acres and acres of gardens. I'm sure there's plenty more things we did that I'd have to think about to remember. It's going to take me a few days to digest everything I saw (AND ATE!!). Hopefully I'll post pictures and videos when we get things settled with the cameras. Tomorrow we get to sit back and relax and do nothing before we have to head back to work on Monday!