Evans Escapades at Gettysburg

The drive over to our Thousand Trails Park near Gettysburg was lovely. . .

only an hour and a half from Hersey. . .so a wonderful, easy travel day!

it’s called Gettysburg Farm ~ Outdoor World for a reason. . .

all these animals are on the premises. . .

you can even buy feed at the store and feed them yourselves. . .

the kiddos in the park love it!

now.. .to the reason for our stop. . .

Gettysburg National Military Park. . .

the Visitor Center. . .privately ran by the Gettysburg Foundation

is really great. . .we highly recommend the all in one ticket. . .

all three for $12.50 pp. ..well worth it!

The four pics following are from the Cyclorama

which is a diorama or mural in the round. . .

you can move around the platform

as the action unfolds. . .

you don’t realize how many details

you are missing until they are spotlighted. . .

really, really great. . .

you really need to see it all in person to get the full effect. . .

on Wednesday we wanted to continue touring the Gettysburg Battleground

following our Auto Tour CD we had purchased in the bookstore. . .

but alas. . .as we all know. . .all the National Parks are closed down. . .

so instead we enjoyed a scenic drive in the countryside. . .

checked out the fall colors and

the most historic covered bridge in Pennsylvania. . .nice!

as I was walking along a trail for a better vantage point of the bridge. . .

this charming little creature crossed my path. . .

I’m told it’s a garter snake. . .I was rather proud of myself

for not going into the screaming banshee

that I normally do. . .but he was real little. . .

and just went off into the woods minding his own business. . .

that’s the way I like it!

the apple orchards are loaded. . .

and the farm stands are just loaded with apples and pumpkins. . .

had to have a few. . .which I promptly turned into baked turnovers. . .delicious!

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

Off We Go to Another State Capitol and to Philadelphia PA. . .the City of Love or Something Like That

 

Trenton has the honor of being the Capitol of New Jersey. . .

so off we went to see the State House. . .

this is by far the most difficult State House

we have EVER tried to photograph. . .

there is nowhere you can stand to get it all in. . .

 

The pediment across the front blocks the view of the dome. . .

so we went around to the side to get a shot of it. . .

just beautiful. . .but not original to the building. . .

in fact the BACK of the building. . .seen here. . .

is the original State House. . .

the Dome forward is all an addition. . .

the docent explained all this to us. . .

and said that is why the building is so close to the street in the front. . .

we almost didn’t get to see this beautiful rotunda area. . .

I guess because New Jersey has such a high profile governor. . .

the security is very, very tight. . .

we’ve gone through metal detectors in other State Houses. . .

but these NJ guys wanted to see ID’s and the works. . .

AND

you are not allowed to roam around and explore. . .

you MUST be with a tour guide at all times. . .

 

Since we had not arrived at a time of a scheduled tour

one of the security folks were kind enough to escort

us in to photograph the rotunda only. . .

and then escort us back out. . .

but hey. . .they gave us pencils with

Governor Christie’s name on them. . .

I was gonna show you a picture. . .

but I can’t find them. . .I’m sure they are in a very safe place. . .oops!

Philadelphia. . .which was sort of on our way

back to the RV park in Hershey was our next destination. . .

 

We just wanted to hit the highlights,

and have a Philly Cheesesteak so that’s what

I’m gonna show you. . .just the highlights. . .

driving in the neighborhood where the cheese steak shops were

was quite the experience. . .can you imagine this

with eight feet of snow piled up. . .aii yaiii yaiii. . .

how do these folks cope? ? ?

and here they are. . .

the illustrious Geno’s and Pat’s Cheese Steak Sandwich Shops. . .

Dave went to Pat’s. . .I went to Geno’s. . .

I brought my sandwich back over. . .

and we split them so we could compare. . .

now on this particular day. . .I must say that Pat’s had the better sandwich. . .

Geno’s could have definitely used some seasoning. . .very bland. . .

 

Okay. . .that’s done. . .what’s the next tourist stop?

a beautiful view of the Penn Building. . .

and a close up

LOVE Park. . .lovely!

let’s go stand in line to see the Liberty Bell. . .

it moved really quick!

and there it is. . .

Independence Hall. . .definitely want to explore it further next trip. . .

and the United States Mint. . .no samples today. . .we always miss free sample day. . .

 

It was a whirlwind of a day. . .

we SHALL return to Philadelphia to explore further. . .

and next time. . .I believe

we may go on the weekend when all the working folk are not down there. . .

it was packed. . .parking was pricey. . .and I’m sad to say

it really was not that enjoyable of an experience. . .

 

but. . .I do want to see it all in a more leisurely fashion,

so we shall return at a later date. . .not sure when. . .but later. . .

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

 

Evans Escapades in Hershey Pennsylvania

the sweetest place on earth. . .

does it get any better than this?

our first chocolate adventure

the outfits were so great. . .

our friend Donna told us to swan dive into a vat of chocolate. . .yum!

 

making sure our candy bar is being made correctly. . .

the funniest part. . .one child in the entire group. . .

all the adults lined up with our faces against the glass. . .

our next Chocolate World Adventure. . .a simulated factor tour. . .

the singing cows were great. . .the tour was even better. . .

and the highlight of the day. . .a tour of Hershey. . .

highly recommend. . .fabulous tour guide. . .

and the Milton Hershey story is really great. . .

the Original Hershey Factory

Hershey Park – Seven Roller Coasters. . .nope. . .don’t think so!

the original Hershey Hotel – built in 1933

Hershey USA

Famed Hershey Kisses Avenue – wrapped and unwrapped

famed Hershey Smoke Stacks

Hershey Dairy Farms

and the perfect ending to a wonderful day. . .

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

see the rest of our Hershey Pics here