Tanks for the Memories: His and Hershey's
- Lindsay Britts
- Sep 28, 2017
- 3 min read
Getting inspired to do a little cruisin’ of your own? Ready to hit the road for a weekend ride to a place you’ve never been before? We can show you the best trips in your neck of the woods and you won’t even have to stop to fuel up. Each week, we pick a starting city and plan a getaway to some of the most charming, energetic, and just plain fun places that you’ll only need one tank of gas to reach. When it’s all over, you’ll be able to say… TANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
Starting City: Philadelphia, PA
Destination: Hershey, PA
Distance: about 95 miles
It’s about a month before Halloween howls into our schedules like the gusty autumn winds. Have you decided your costume yet? All over the country, kids look to fill their bags and stomachs with sugary treats. But what’s the primo candy that everyone looks for in their plastic pumpkin bucket or repurposed pillowcase? Chocolate. And if you’re in Philadelphia, you are just one tank of gas away from a chocolate wonderland that would make Willy Wonka shatter his Gobbstoppers: Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Source: Bronayur at the English language Wikipedia The town of Hershey is an unincorporated community in Derry Township near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Milton S. Hershey, the founder of both the town and the massive confection corporation that bears his name, actually started out revolutionizing caramel production before he switched over to concentrating on chocolate. He built a chocolate production plant in his hometown of Derry Church, Pennsylvania. The town slowly built up infrastructure and places with the Hershey name, and in 1906 a post office branch officially designated the area as Hershey, PA. Though not without some disagreements-- a violent workers’ strike occurred in order for a union to be formed-- Hershey’s factories still operate in the town as well as myriads of attractions that bear the Hershey name. One of the biggest attractions in town is Hersheypark, opened in 1907. It currently has 70 rides and just over a dozen roller coasters, although the town’s first ride was a simple carousel. Halloween activities on weekends in October as the park turns to Hersheypark in the Dark, include trick-or-treating in the park, which I know I would have loved to do as a candy-greedy kid. There is an in-park zoo called ZooAmerica that houses North American animal exhibits. You can visit its newest additions: four pronghorn fawns born this year and a black bear named Murphy. Next door to the park is Hershey’s Chocolate World, a chocolate lover’s paradise. You can make your own chocolate bar, learn how to taste chocolate, and buy gigantic candy bars that would last several Halloweens if you didn’t love chocolate so much.
Source: Wikipedia
The sweetness of the town is carried through not only in its chocolates but its philanthropy, a priority for Mr. Hershey from the very start. You can learn about the town’s origins at The Hershey Story, a museum dedicated to the Hershey legacy that also houses a permanent collection of American Indian and Pennsylvania German artifacts. Perhaps one of his most famous acts of charity is the Milton Hershey School, a boarding school for underprivileged children established in 1909. Today there are over 2000 students that attend the school. If you’d like to catch a taste of Appalachian fall colors and learn about a small town with a big history, it’d be a sweet treat to head over to Hershey! Happy Cruisin’!
STRETCH YOUR LEGS: Right along the route to chocolaty goodness is the farm that remembers you as well as you remember it: Pepperidge Farm. Denver, PA’s best-known farm has a bakery and a company store that is open in the mornings, offering all their delicious goods as well as discounted items. Nothing goes better with Hershey’s hot cocoa than a Mint Milano.
LEARN MORE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hershey,_Pennsylvania
http://www.hersheypark.com/
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