Not all ferry boats are created equal

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 9

Apparently my kids just wake up early on Saturdays. I don't get it, but okay.
Our first stop of the day was the Cape May-Lewes Ferry... which would take us from New Jersey to Delaware. The process of this was similar to what we have experienced in the Pacific Northwest and BC. The biggest difference was this trip was more open ocean. Which lead to more choppy water... and more grumpy (or absolutely angry) tummies.... we left our mark (enough said).
But most of it was really nice scenery and the 85 minute crossing went fairly quickly (not quite quickly enough).

Ready for the Ferry

View of the Delaware Coastline

A small stowaway

DELAWARE! A new state for all of us!
We drove through. That was about it.

Ok, so this is fuzzy. Sorry. 

Then back into Maryland... where I missed a clear shot at the "Welcome" sign... again!  They moved it to the left side and I wasn't ready to react so quickly.
I know, excuses, excuses.

Clearly I need to practice this :)

We drove through. Stopped for a snack. That was about it.

Then back into Virginia.
Our drive in Virginia was planned so that we could traverse a very long bridge/tunnel/bridge/tunnel contraption [Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel]. This wasn't my doing, and as long as I didn't think too deeply about where we were and what was over us (in the tunnel) all was fine. And we got some fun pictures, before the rain came.

What a view! 

Now into Williamsburg. We grabbed a pizza on our way to the hotel and were able to eat within minutes of walking into our room... very good.
Our room here is great... capital G Great.

Room for all of us and room to relax. Two jetted tubs, a kitchen and (sound the horns) a washer/dryer!

Oh, and this room comes complete with thunder sound effects and light effects simulating lighting... no, wait that came from outside. Wowie! All of the sudden the sky opened up.. not sure the picture will do it justice... but for a second I wondered why someone was holding a fire hose off the roof :)

Stats:

Miles today: 274

Miles total: 966

States Total: 7 (+Delaware)

A Train, A zoo and New Jersey

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 8

We have been at this for a week now! This morning the son told me it was day 9, I smiled and reminded him we left last Friday... and that today was Friday. Oh... so its day 7 (close enough... it's our 8th travel day)

We left Hershey this morning... Goodbye Chocolate. I would be sad, but we took soo much with us, it's hard to feel like we will miss it ;)

Our first fun of the day was in Strasburg, PA, with a ride on the Strasburg Railroad. This 45 minute excursion is great. Cars are nicely refurbished and the whole trip is narrated.

Our railfan, with 475 after our trip

ready to board

picture time!

please keep your hands, arms, and heads inside the train at all times :) I love this pic of him. 

From here, we were off to Philly and probably the zoo, but we hadn't decided for sure yet. Along the way we stopped for lunch. And then we had a snag... do you hear it? the music beginning to build... something is going to happen....
Well, it wasn't anything horrible... just a window malfunction. Yup, the drivers side door window wouldn't roll up. Not gonna happen. (What music do you use for a goofy mishap?) Anyway, there we sat, with a completely workable car.. not an emergency by any means, but.. we also couldn't leave the vehicle. Hmm, this would need to be fixed, and today!

So we worked our way through the maze of the phone system from the unnamed car rental company (names are being withheld, until the author has decided how she feels about said company) and hubby connected with a real live person! In chatting they decided we should buzz over to the local rental office and just swap out cars. It was only 20 minutes away.. sounds like a fairly easy fix.

Only slightly wind-blown, we arrived at the office, located in a strip mall. The agent just happened to be in the parking lot when we got out of our car and was quite surprised the company sent us to him.... and didn't tell him we were coming (nope, I am still not naming names). He and hubby went inside to talk options and where we might be able to swap vehicles, preferably along our route today. Well, hubby is a charmer ;) and a few minutes later they emerged with a new set of keys. He had a car we could have... grated it was one "size" down from what we had, but all the windows worked and it was much newer... which means bluetooth and more cupholders. (Never underestimate the value of cupholders on a road trip with kids)
We took it! Moved all our bags over and where off.

We decided to hit the zoo after all. And had a nice couple of hours wandering through it. The Philly Zoo has a 360 theme, so several of the animal exhibits even have animals walking over you... amazing. We didn't see any of the big cats using these walk ways, but they are pretty cool.

You can see the overhead walkway the lemurs use.... maybe even the black and white lemurs inside.

Shows the larger cat walkway... also overhead, can you image looking up to see a tiger!?

Okapi, one of my favorites

Great exhibits for pictures

Maned Wolf... these are new to me, our zoo just got a pair. 

Look up... its a bear! 

On our way out of Philly we drove past Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
And I picked up the Philadelphia Starbucks You Are Here Mug... mug count for this trip: 2.

Independence Hall

More to come! 

In an attempt to catch as many states as possible on this trip we are overnighting in New Jersey.
Good night.

Stats:

Miles today: 186

Miles total: 692

States Total: 6 (+New Jersey)
Starbucks Mug Total: 2

Chocolate World

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 7

Our plan today: Hershey's Chocolate World

We went through the website last night and booked a few things we knew we wanted to do.  We had to jump through a few hoops to get our tickets printed out... as we rarely travel with a printer. But hubby is a genius and has the patience of a saint - so it all worked out.

We breakfasted here at the Lodge - Chocolate was consumed for breakfast. Some had in it the coffee (that would be me) and some had it in the french toast, others had chocolate chips in pancakes and others had chocolate pancakes with raspberry drizzle... hey, when in Hershey!

Chocolate World is free to enter, the tour is free as well. They charge for parking (above 3 hours, but free if you purchase tickets for at least 3 things) and the more hands-on experiences. We enjoyed the "Chocolate Tasting Experience" - it was a medium-size group with a guide to take us through the proper way to taste chocolate with all our senses. The presentation was great, nice use of media and tech. It was fun to watch the kids try to "let the chocolate melt on your tongue" "don't chew"... Ummm? they are kids with chocolate... they really really want to chew it :) [Editor's note: The sophistication of the tasting/tour at Hershey compared to the tasting/tour at Theo Chocolate was, shall we say, similar to the sophistication of Hershey's chocolate to Theo Chocolate...]

Ready to taste some Chocolate

We also took the free tour of the factory about 5 times. This is a people mover type ride that takes you through a representation of the factory teaching you the process of making milk chocolate. There is a jingle that is sung by 3 cows... and played throughout the exhibit. I have forgotten it for the time being, but I have a sinking suspicion it will return to me at a most inconvenient time, and I won't be able to shake it. Thank you Hershey :)

We also did the 4D movie they have, and we helped solve the mystery. The kids seemed to like this. Having done Turtle Talk at Disney a number of times, I was less impressed. But I like that Hershey is trying new things and they pull it off fairly well.

Made of Twislers! 

So much chocolate...

and Peanut Butter! 

The last thing on our list for the day was making our own chocolate bars! We donned our hair nets and aprons, sanitized our hands and were all set. Each person gets to pick a base chocolate (milk or dark) then you can select up to 5 add-ons. Today's offerings were: cookie bits, toffee bits, pretzel bites, butterscotch chips, and mini chocolate chips. You could also choose to finish the top with sprinkles if you'd like.

We are ready!

The base chocolate bars... add ons to come.....

Using the barcode on your ticket you enter all your preferences and then scan your barcode again to start production. You can watch your own bar be created for most of the process... soo fun!

Bring on the add ons (I choose toffee bits and preztles) 

Cover it all in liquid chocolate 

all boxed up and ready to be packed in commemorative tins.

During the part when they are trying to cool the bars... it's much easier to travel if the chocolate is solid ;), you get to make a label... this also uses the barcode to track your stuff.
It didn't take long for all our bars to be cool, wrapped and packaged for us to take them home, with our own labels. This was considered the highlight of the day, by both kids... and maybe me to.

Our afternoon was lazy... sweet laziness.
We did have one errand to run and we picked up dinner at subway - some veggies to counteract all the chocolate.

Stats:

Miles today: 36

Miles total: 506

States Total: 5

Hershey Park

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 6

Today was dedicated to Hershey Park. Roller coasters, thrill rides, etc - as much as we could handle.
Which, as it turns out, wasn't as much as I thought I could handle - but maybe that was the heat ;)

Hubby splurged for a Front of the Line pass for himself, which allowed him to ride all the big coasters, one time, with no wait. This was a great idea... since the rest of the family would only be joining in for one..maybe two, then he wouldn't be away from us for very long. At Hershey Park they assign you a window of time for each ride, but if you miss you window, its no big deal... they will let you use the pass late, just not early.

Its a nice park, but crazy to navigate through. Even after traversing it twice, I still couldn't get my bearings. It's a very hilly park, which made the over 5 and half miles I walked today a good work out.

Kids both survived the Super Dooper Looper (the little lady even has a t-shirt that says just that) but both preferred the Wild Mouse and Trailblazer. I preferred the Looper :) Hubby liked SkyRush.

Photos from our first amusement park day:

Looking at the Map

There they go! (they are blurry, I know)

About to go!

Umm, Nope!

Yes, She is driving! And she did a fine job. 

Chatting with a new friend

Hubby was on this one... and when Google photos goes to the trouble of animating something for you,

you should share it.. no?

Stats:

Miles today: 32

Miles total: 470

States Total: 5

[Roller coasters total: 11]

Chocolate doesn't judge, chocolate understands ;)

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 5

Today we said goodbye to DC and headed a wee bit north to Hershey PA.
Our route took us through Maryland, where I almost missed the sign completely.... 

Almost got the whole sign ;)

We weren't on a big highway, so I will proclaim it wasn't all poor planning on my part ;)

On the way we lunched at Ted's Bulletin. What a tasty meal. I had a Rachel, which is a twist on a Ruben... Its turkey and coleslaw on marble rye. So good! And then we shared some Ted's Tarts, which they are known for...Homemade Pop Tarts! 

Strawberry

Brown Sugar Cinnamon

Back on the road - Pennsylvania wasn't to far away. And we got the picture to prove it. Thank you hubby for your superb photography skills.

Much better - Thank you Hubby!

We checked into the Hershey Lodge a bit before 4:00 and were told they would call when our room was ready for us. So we took our free tickets to the Hershey Story and headed out to the museum.

The museum was great. They had a nice exhibit on what it was like to work in a chocolate factory in the early 1900s. Lots of hands on fun.
And a full floor of info on Milton Hershey and the history of the company. 

Trying to push a tub used in the factory

weighing kisses

trying our hands at sorting

Having fun at the Hershey Story Museum

About the time we finished, hubby got the call.... Our room was ready! Yay!
The rest of our day was settling in, exploring and grabbing some dinner.

Oh, all the chocolate! 

Stats:

Miles today: 145

Miles total: 438

States Total: 5 (+Maryland, Pennsylvania)