Journey to the Sweetest Place on Earth

I took Monday off, as I wanted to rest and also needed to take my car for a wash and oil change. I thought that after our weekend trips, my car needed some care and attention as well. We arrived from Hershey, Pennsylvania yesterday, and until now, we couldn't help talking how scenic and beautiful Pennsylvania's Dutch Country is. Going there, we took the scenic route, and drove through quiet-looking farms, lustrous corn and wheat plantations, refreshing rolling hills, and grazing cows and horses. I was mesmerized and soon forgot about how busy life can be in DC. This was my third trip to Hershey.


We visited Hershey Gardens, a 23 acres display of spectacular theme gardens and an outdoor Butterfly House. The garden was funded and inspired by Mr. Milton S. Hershey, who in my readings and studies was a brilliant and great person, not because he invented Hershey chocolate, but because of his charity work and good deeds. As we stepped through the gardens, we were surrounded by all kinds of roses in full bloom and the air was filled with floral fragrance. Mom was excited and delighted at the site of all the roses. Aside from the roses, there were other flowers in full bloom such as black-eyed Susan, boltonia, hibiscus, butterfly bushes etc. I honestly couldn't name them all and there were other names I have never even heard of before. The photos below just shows a minute sample of roses and the really cute Kisses Fountain.

After the gardens, we drove around the town of Hershey and found the town charming. In town, you could read "Hershey" everywhere, and as you can see, even the street lights look like Kisses (photo below). We then decided to visit Chocolate World. I think that a visit to Hershey is not complete until you visit the Chocolate World. There you'd be welcomed by the sweet smell of chocolate. We decided to hop on the Chocolate Great American Tour where they showed us how a chocolate is processed from the cocoa tree to a finished product. It was a delight to see the mixing and swirling of sweet, brown milk chocolate. Then, you get to see them shaped and wrapped into Kisses, Reeses, Kit Kat, and more. While we were there, Hershey was introducing their new Hershey Bliss. It's actually really good.

At the chocolate outlet, Mom and I went a bit overboard and bought about five bags of Kisses and Hugs. I also bought two additional tin cans filled with Kisses, and Dad bought a giant milk chocolate bar. So there we were, our bags filled with sweets and happy like kids.