Day 165 - Shenandoah National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway, VA

We packed up the tent and checked out of the Big Meadow campground. The campground was located in a wooded area and whilst it was really beautiful, there was no big meadow. We decided we needed to track it down.

It didn't take long to find the big meadow, it was opposite the exit to the campground and as with everything in America, when they say 'big' they really mean big!

We parked up and heading into the Byrd Visitor Center to learn about the history of the park and controversy of how it was formed, before taking a short hike through the meadow itself. The meadow was where President Roosevelt dedicated Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive. There have been so many parks, monuments and other amazing places on our journey that are still here today as a result of President Roosevelt and his dedication to expanding the National Parks Service and protecting wildlife, scenery and natural wonders.

We have mentioned a few times during the course of the trip the Appalachian trail and here in the Shenandoah National Park we are again following its path, through driving though rather than hiking. The Appalachian trail is a National Scenic Trail that is about 2,200 miles long going from Georgia all the way to Maine, hitting 14 states in total. It is one of the longest hiking-only trails in the world and only about 1000 people complete it end to end every year. Taking on the challenge of the trail is no easy task, it takes most people 5-7 months to complete and involves walking over incredible difficult terrain, camping backcountry and having to deal with bears. Still, I'd love to try it one day!

We continued the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park until we reached the end of the park and the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is another National Parks Service protected area and links ups the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with the Shanandoah National Park. The drive through the parkway is 469 miles with constant views of the Appalachian Highlands and the Blue Ridge mountains.

This was supposed to be one of the best places in America to see the fall colours but although it was towards the end of August, the majority of the trees hadn't quite turned yet but for the few that had, the colours were beautiful.

Unfortunately, the plan we had for our trip meant that we weren't going to be able to complete the entire drive through the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Smoky Mountains, we had too many other things we wanted to see before heading that far South so we pulled off the parkway as we headed to our campsite for the night in The Lynchburg / Blue Ridge Parkway KOA. 

Day 164 - Hershey, PA and Shenandoah National Park, VA

After 3 nights in Hershey, it was time to pack up and leave. It was a lovely day today, the best we'd had so far since arriving in Hershey, so we decided to take a drive along Chocolate Avenue to get some pictures and videos of the lamp posts whilst the sky was blue.

On our way out of Hershey, we finally found the real chocolate factory. Unfortunately, it didn't seem possible to do a factory tour or even get very close to the factory, probably a good thing really given how much chocolate we had already eaten over the last couple of days. 

We hit the road towards the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia where we had a camping reservation for the night. 

This park is only 75 miles away from Washington DC and is a popular holiday destination for those who live and work in the city. It is a long thin park which protects the Blue Ridge Mountains and around 80,000 acres of wilderness. 

We traveled along the Skyline Drive, a 105-mile road that runs the entire length of the park along the ridge of the mountains. There were so many pulls outs along this road, we weren't able to stop at them all but each one gave a breathtaking view of the park and beyond. 

We were only passing through the park and given the number of times we had to pull out and take in the view, we quickly got behind schedule. This meant that we didn't have time to go on any of the 500 miles of walking trails in the park. Something to come back for! 

We stayed in Big Meadows campground at mile marker 51 on the Skyline Drive. This was a big and very well equipped campsite with showers, laundry, camp store and lodges. It is one of those places you could easily spend a week and not feel like you were slumming it in field. We were unfortunately in the RV section as it was the only area we could pre-book which did mean we were subject to generator noises during the night. They are supposed to go off at 10pm but our neighbours' one kept coming on and off. The camp hosts were fantastic and spoke to the RV owners the next day to remind them of the rules, but next time we would try to get into the tent only section instead.

Day 163 - The Strasburg Railway, The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and Amish Country, PA

We started the day off with our free Marriott breakfast before hitting the road for today's adventure. We were headed to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the Strasburg Rail Road located just under an hour away in the town of Tonks.

We parked up and entered the ticket office where we paid for a combination ticket for a return trip to Paradise and entrance to the Railroad Museum located just over the road.

We had originally planned to do the rail road trip the day before but thanks to Lee's quick thinking, we swapped the days around at the last minute to avoid the rain. It still wasn't warm enough for the open air train (which they didn't have running on the day we visited) but the sun was out and we could enjoy the scenery without getting drenched.

After a quick look around the gift shop where we bought a flashing signal pin to prepare ourselves for the journey, the train pulled into the station and we boarded ready for the journey to Paradise. We were at the front of the train, in a completely empty carriage which gave us a great view of the engine and the track in front. Halfway through the journey, we were asked by the conductor if we'd rather stand in the luggage area. A little confused, we followed him in where he opened the huge side doors which gave us an awesome view of the countryside and allowed us to feel the wind in our hair as we puffed along.

The Rail Road was founded in 1832 and since then has carried both freight and passengers along a single track and is thought to be America's oldest short-line. Our journey was 45 minutes minutes long and took us through the Pennsylvania Dutch Countryside. Throughout our journey, we were give a history of the railroad, information on the farms and the Amish people we were seeing go by and little stories to keep us entertained, such as the ghost train that echoed back in one of the valleys when our train sounded its horn. We went past the Red Caboose Motel, where each of the 38 rooms were a converted Rail Road Caboose cars (these are the cars that would have been on the end of a freight train that the crew would live in). Next time we visit, this is definitely a place we would like to spend a night just for the experience.

We reached Paradise and were rather unimpressed. We pulled into a side track for an Amtrak station where modern trains were dropping off people on their boring daily commute, not very paradise like at all! Our steam train unhooked itself from the carriages, went past us and then hooked itself back onto what was the back of the train. Just before the turnaround, the conductor asked Lee if he had  coin he could borrow. Confused, Lee dug out a copper cent coin from his wallet and we both assumed it was a new method of trying to collect tips. After the engine had gone past, the conductor returned our coin to us, it was flattened and out of shape. He had put it on the tracks and let the engine go over it. He happily told us that he'd just saved us a dollar by doing a stretched penny for us himself rather than us having to use one of those machines.

The conductor stayed off the microphone on the way back to Tonks so we were able to sit back and just enjoy the countryside going past.

Back at the station, we headed off the train and over the road to The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. I was expect a small museum with a couple of old trains on display. I was not expecting to walk into a huge warehouse and an even larger outside area with over 100 different locomotives and carriages. Many of the trains were open so you could have a look inside. There were many interactive displays, our favorite ones being the remote controlled toy trains that picked up and delivered freight items, the coal shoveling and the simulator that allowed us to experience driving a train. As well as being a museum, there is also a restoration workshop where you can see locomotives and carriages being restored to their former glory, some to be displayed in the museum and others to be used in the Rail Road across the road.

We both really enjoyed the museum, it was an unexpected find. After a couple of hours our feet started to hurt so we headed back to the car and went in search of some lunch.

We were in Lancaster County, heart of Pennsylvania Amish country and it didn't take us long before we started to see the buggies driving along the road and the clotheslines hung with typical Amish clothing in various colours. It must have been laundry day when we visited as nearly every single house hold had their washing out, a really unusual sight in the US where the majority of people would use a tumble dryer.

We headed to Stoltzfus Meats in Intercourse for lunch, a lovely family run shop, deli and restaurant that sells local produce and was very popular with locals. We both had really tasty sandwich and enjoyed a stroll around the store afterwards look at all the local pies, meats and salads, many of them homemade by local Amish families.

After lunch, we had planned to learn more about the Amish through one of the tourist attractions (Amish Experience, a buggy ride or the Amish Village) but when we arrived at these attractions, we just found them too touristy and tacky that we both decided we didn't want to do them. So instead, we drove around the Amish villages, stopping off at the Dutch Haven, an Amish crafts store also selling locally produced including "America's best ShooFly Pie". The pie (a molasses crumb cake baked in a pie crust) was very yummy and despite all the cream, not too sweet which was a good thing as our slice was huge!

We eventually ended up in downtown area of Lancaster, a small city located in Lancaster County. This was the most built up area we had seen all day but compared to the countryside we had just visited, we were a little underwhelmed so after a drive through the middle, we headed back to our hotel in Hershey.

After a quick nanna nap and a freshen up, we headed out of the hotel to find some dinner. As we reached the main street, we saw the police had cordoned off the road and then noticed a huge party going on. We had to check it out! It turned out to be the annual Hershey Halloween Parade. We had missed a good hour of the parade already but we stayed to watch the rest of the procession. An hour went past and it didn't look like it was ever going to end. Our tummies were rumbling so we decided to search for some food.

We had seen a play called the Hershey Biergarden on the way to the parade, so went in to see what was on offer. It turned out we had stumbled into Hersheys largest craft beer selection with 12 craft beers on tap and over 250 different beers in bottles and can. Lee was just disappointed that we had only come across this place in our last night at Hershey. They had just stopped doing food as we arrived so after trying only a couple of beers, we decided to head back to the hotel to order a take away.

It was going to be one of those nights! When we arrived at the hotel and asked for the menus for local takeaways, we were told that it was unlikely they would still be delivering food as it was nearly 9pm. We noticed that Americans like to eat earlier than people in Europe but we were still surprised to find out that all the takeaways in Hershey stop selling food at 9pm! What do people do in Hershey after a night out?! Of course, I didn't believe the receptionist so I called around just to check and she was right.

Now very hungry and grumpy, my hangriness was starting to get out of control. I did a search for anything in Hershey that was open after 9pm and selling food. I found Fenicci's, an Italian bar and restaurant that served food until the early hours of the morning. We sat at the bar and ordered a seafood pasta and lasagna. We're used to the large portions now but the size of these portions could have fed a family of 4! A huge salad came out first which was big enough to be a main meal in itself, then the pasta dishes arrived. It was really tasty and when I asked the barman why it was so big, he told me that anyone who manages to finish eating it receives a certificate. I managed to get through about half of the lasagna before deciding that feeling this full was not worth the challenge when the prize was only a piece of paper (had it been a t-shirt or hat, I might have tried a little harder!) so I boxed the left overs to eat on another day.