Writer's Workshop- A Day in Chocolate Town!

I've been slacking again on my blog (sorry, growing a human is time-consuming!)

 

But, I did manage to take a recent trip (just this weekend!) But I'm limited on pictures, since I forgot the camera.

 

1.) Let’s reminisce about the last trip you took…pictures please!

2.) Ask a parent to describe what you were like as a small child (under the age of 7), do you still have the same tendencies?

3.) Begin with “I wish someone told me…”

4.) Write a poem about a fight you or someone you love has struggled to win.

5.) List 10 things you love about your favorite show.

 

We went to Hershey, PA on Sunday. My husband shoots competitively and he wanted to go to a match outside of the Chocolate Capital of the World. Because of our pets, it takes massive coordination to go on an overnight trip, so we opted to just make the 7 hour round trip in one day. With a 2 year old. Easy peasy, right? Well, surprisingly, it kinda was!

 

We left home at 430am. Hopped on the PA turnpike and cruised along, all alone on the road. Because, who else is on the turnpike that early on a Sunday morning? The kidlet slept most of the way.

 

We made it 2.5 hours into our trip before I needed to pee, which I thought was very impressive!

 

We stopped in Hershey at Wal-mart to use an actual flush toilet, because the sportsman club only has portapotties and who wants to do that when you don't have to?

 

The kidlet and I dropped her dad off and headed back towards Hershey. We stopped at McD's, ate breakfast and headed to ZooAmerica! ZooAmerica is a small wildlife center that has animals from North America. Since we have a membership to the Pittsburgh Zoo, we got a 50% deal on our visit there, getting us in for a mere $6.04! We were on limited time, so we didn't linger for long periods at the animals, since we had to pick up kidlet's dad at noon. But, we made it through in about an hour and had time to stop and see all the critters and even had time to feed the ducks!

 

The biggest drawback was that their parking lot was under construction, so we had to park at the top of the hill on Chocolate Ave and then walk down to the zoo. The walk down wasn't bad, but the walk back up nearly killed this pregnant mama! Well, maybe not kill, but I was huffin' and a puffin'.

 

If you're planning a trip to Hershey, I would recommend a visit to this zoo. I wouldn't necessarily plan a trip JUST for this zoo, but it is a nice change of pace from lions, tigers and elephants that you see at traditional zoos. This zoo also put you much closer to the animals than we've experienced at Pittsburgh Zoo. One of my favorite parts was being able to see the river otters cuddled up together in their log! They also have a "Desert at Night" exhibit where all the enclosures are darkened so you get to see the nocturnal animals awake! They had ringtails, ferrets, a fox and a coati (as well as some other cuddlies and creepy crawlies!) who were running around and VERY active. I figure they turn on all the lights at night, so the critters sleep.

 

 

As soon as I lifted her up to look through the glass, she exclaimed, "Alligators!"

 

 

Bald Eagles always impress me in person. They are HUGE!

 

 

"Wake up!" The deer didn't care.

 

 

 

After we picked up Dad we went to Chocolate World and bought some factory fresh Kisses (I got coconut crème Kisses. Amazing!) There really is nothing like candy straight from the factory. I'm not a Twizzler's fan, but they are delicious from the factory. We took the factory tour ride, got our chocolate sample and started our trip back home.

 

 

I think old Chocolate Face enjoyed her trip to Hershey!