Day Three: Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Day three of our vacation was a no-travel day.

It was also J's 37th birthday!

So we decided after two long days of driving and it being his birthday that we would schedule a day of no driving.

It was fantastic!

After we enjoyed some donuts and coffee at the hotel we headed to Chocolate World.

If you ever find yourself in or near Hershey, you have to go and visit this place. It was very very neat.

For starters, Chocolate World itself is FREE. You go visit and there is a tour/ride that you go on that goes through the entire process of how Hershey's chocolates (and candies) are made. At the end of the ride everyone gets a sample chocolate and after seeing the process and watching the ingredients and even smelling the cocoa, it's pretty much the best piece of chocolate you've ever tried.

Some of us may have ridden the ride more than once.

There are some other attractions there that you can do that you pay for. A song and dance show. A trolley ride to the actual Hershey museum. A huge, huge amusement park. Make your own candy bar.

We opted to do the "package your own Hershey Kisses" with the kids for several reasons. It was a little less expensive than the Make your own candy bar and the wait was about two hours shorter. {No joke!}

When we got back to the hotel that afternoon, we went and played in the pool. We had it to ourselves and we made the most of it.

The birthday boy with his girls.

T.

M.

H.

And of course E got in on the action...

We checked out the mini-golf, ate a birthday dinner in the hotel restaurant and got to bed early so we'd be ready for a short drive to DC the next morning.

I am so glad we had this day of no-travel mid-roadtrip. It was nice to be settled in one place, enjoy the amenities and the locale.