I decided to use Hershey as our base as it was the most central town for the areas we want to see but also because there will be an endless supply of chocolate and I am a chocoholic!
I have booked in a day to learn about the Amish by visiting Intercourse (!), the heart of Amish country. There are a couple of tours we could do (the Amish Experience, the Amish Village and the Buggy Tour) and I think we will just wait until we are there to see which one we prefer. My preference would be the Amish Buggy Rides. Asides from it sounding far more fun riding in a buggy than walking or driving around different sights, they are run by the Amish people themselves so you'll be getting first hand insight into the history and way of life from those living it.
Another great way to see Amish country is the Strasburg Rail Road. I really hope we have time to take a trip on the open air carriage through the Amish farmland. It's only 45 minutes long (4.5 miles each way) so squeezable into the schedule.
One of things I love with the USA is the random stuff you can find at the roadside and in Pennsylvania I have found a good'un which is only an hour's drive from Hershey - Roadside America.
"Roadside America is the world's greatest indoor miniature village. Spanning more than 7,450 square feet in scale and over 200 years of American history, this massive work of craftsmanship is unlike any other"
Beats the world's largest ball of twine!
Another cool plan I have planned for Pennsylvania is Centralia. Centralia is a ghost town but unlike many of the other ghost towns we are seeing on our trip which were abandoned when they were no longer needed, this one caught on fire in 1962 and has been burning ever since! The town used to be a coal mining town and it 1962, a fire broke out in one of the underground mines. Attempts have been made in the past to extinguish the fire but it is still burning and the authorities have now given up. The fire is thought to have spread over 400 acres to date and has enough fuel to continue burning for another 250 years! I hadn't really considered whether it was going to be dangerous visiting this town until I started typing this entry so I did a quick google check and there are a couple of major roads which still go through the town. There are also areas closed due to the toxic gases, roads which have collapsed into mine shaft and areas where smoke is coming through the ground. That being said, there are still 10 residents living in the town refusing to leave. I think we will leave it until we're in Hershey to decide whether we visit this place or not and if so, where is safe to visit.
There are some great pictures here of the town, including the more dangerous areas!
The plan:
| State: | Pennsylvania |
| Towns of Interest: (FB) = Firebreak | Hershey Intercourse |
| National Parks: | N/A |
| State Parks of Interest: | N/A |
| Places of Interest: (N) = Night Stay | Hershey (Nx3) Hersheypark (Established as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey Chocolate Factory, today the park is a one of the top Hershey attractions) Hershey's Chocolate World (guided chocolate tour of the Hershey’s factory, create your own personalized Hershey’s chocolate bar, watch a 4-D movie about the ‘Mystery of Chocolate’ and sample as much Hershey chocolate as you can eat) The Hershey Story (interactive museum that follows the story of Milton S. Hershey) Hershey Trolley Works (tour company located on Park Boulevard inside Hershey’s Chocolate World. All of the trolley tours start and end at the trolley depot which is next to the front door of Chocolate World) Founders Hall at the Milton Hershey School (stately monument dedicated to Milton and Catherine Hershey for their contribution to society) Giant Center ( Home to Hershey Bears ice hockey team) Troegs Brewing Company (Visitors can enjoy a self-guided tour of the brewery, which begin in the Tasting Room with a beer and follow the path of the beer-making process, from fermentation and filtration to kegging, bottling, and barrel-aging. Informative signage along the way explains the brewing process and equipment) Adventure Sports in Hershey (Adventure Sports Family Entertainment is an activities park that offers video arcades, batting cages, bumper boats, go-karts, outdoor laser tag, miniature golf) Intercourse (Heart of the Amish Country - center where many Amish come to shop, bank, and conduct their business) Amish Buggy Ride (Amish people take you on a buggy ride around the Amish farms explaining the history and way of live) Amish Experience (Amish farm, school and house) The Amish Village (Similar to Amish Experience, suggest just choose one) Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the Strasburg Railway (Ticket for train obtained at the Ticket Office at the Rail Road, not at the Museum) Roadside America (Worlds biggest indoor village) Centralia (Ghost town on fire - check route before visiting to see what is safe) |
| Routes of Interest: | N/A |
| Where to Stay: | Hershey Rodeway Inn & Suites ($69) Simmons Motel ($48) Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Hershey Chocolate Avenue ($127) Econo Lodge ($49) |
| Useful Links: | http://amishbuggyrides.com/ http://amishexperience.com/ https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/ http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ |
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