Our Mini Pennsylvania Vacation

We had planned to get away for a few days last week, but were unable to because of Aunt Susana's passing. Luckily we were able to reschedule for this week.

We left town on Wednesday, went to PA and took care of some business matters in Montgomery County and Philly, then drove to Harrisburg to our hotel. Basically, we spent all day in the car. Claire was a trooper! Thank goodness for our DVD player. Claire watched Lilo and Stitch about one hundred times in the car, so it really helped her to pass the time.

After getting settled in our hotel (Note for future trips: a queen bed is not big enough for tall people and always insist on a room away from the elevator.), we went to a fabulous restaurant, The Firehouse, then made a quick stop at Bass Pro Shops to pick up some men's footwear appropriate for a day at an amusement/water park. We would have loved to have explored the store, but we only had 10 minutes before closing time.

On Thursday we woke up bright and early (Okay, around 8:00.), grabbed some breakfast on the go and drove to Hershey Park. Following a friend's recommendation, we walked all the way into the park and secured a locker by The Boardwalk, Hershey's waterpark. The Lazy River, wave pool, Sandcastle Cove and East Coast Waterworks were where we spent most of our time. Claire's favorite was the little wave pool where we spent over an hour.

Several hours passed and, when we had had enough water, we went to a few dry rides, then packed up and went back to the hotel to relax in the pool and whirlpool. Without a plan for dinner, I suggested we go back to The Chocolate Avenue Grill where we had gone last year, so we drove 20 minutes back to Hershey where we enjoyed a delicious dinner. The Chocolate Avenue Grill was a good choice. Again.

When we woke up on Friday morning, we packed up our belongings and drove to Easton, PA to visit The Crayola Factory.

It was such a fun little place! Claire created many art projects while there -- a print of a fish, a seahorse stick puppet, crayon rubbings, sand art, a Model Magic sculpture, etc.

It was fun exploring the "factory" and we especially enjoyed the demonstration where we learned how Crayola makes crayons and markers. A visit to the Crayola store was the last stop on our journey. We saw lots of fun Crayola products as well as the world's largest crayon, but we didn't find the one item Claire wanted to get as a souvenir (something her friend, Ema, had gotten there). She settled for a paper doll art project and we promised we'd see if we can order what she really wanted to get online.

It was a wonderful, albeit exhausting, little family trip! When I put Claire to bed on Friday night, we had the following conversation:

Claire: Mommy, I liked going to Hershey and The Crayola Factory, but I really love being back at home.

Me: It's fun to go away on vacation, but it's always nice to come back to our home, sweet, home.

Claire: There's no place like home.