Hershey Lodge and Hersheypark

 "Hersheypark" really is spelled that way, just so you know. As a copyeditor, I had to look it up to be sure. I think it's a little weird, but I'm sure they have their reasons. 😊

We'd been to Hershey nine years ago, and the boys had been again since, but it was my first time back in nine years, and it was good to be back! I'd been looking forward to it.

We stayed at Hershey Lodge, where we met Miss Kiss and Mr. Reese('s) soon after arriving. 

We went to Chocolate World, where we encountered the world's LARGEST Hershey bar! 

We got to go to Hersheypark on Friday evening instead of just on Saturday, which is when I'd bought our tickets for. It was an unexpected perk of staying at Hershey Lodge. So we spent a nice couple of hours at the park that evening and went on a few rides.

Including THIS RIDE. ^^ Candymonium is Hershey's tallest and fastest coaster, and it's a newer one. Sam was excited to go on it and really wanted me to ride it too. "You'll like it. It won't scare you that much." Sam knows me and my tastes well when it comes to coasters, so I trusted him and thought it couldn't be too bad. Well, I was wrong, and so was he. IT WAS TERRIFYING! It was so high, the drops were very steep, it was really fast, and it scared the heck out of me! The boys loved it and rode it multiple times that weekend. My mom liked it too. As for me, it was my first and last time on Candymonium!

Look at me! I was so scared. 😂😱😂 

This picture makes me smile every time I see it. It shows the boys' glee and utter lack of fear, and my reaction on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. But at least I did it!

Post-ride picture. I survived, and I'll never go on it again. 😄

Here we were on Saturday morning after eating breakfast, before leaving to spend the day at Hersheypark.

The shuttle bus service was so convenient.

I took these pictures on the Ferris Wheel with my mom right after throwing up into a bag after getting sick on the above ride, Laff Track. 🤮 It was an indoor rollercoaster, and I like those, but I was backward too much and it literally made me sick. Going in circles and going backward both make me very nauseous. Fortunately, I felt back to normal after puking my guts out in the privacy of my Ferris Wheel car. 😃

Lunchtime

We also have a picture of us in front of this fountain and statue of Milton Hershey when the boys were little.

We went back to the hotel for awhile in the afternoon and John went to the indoor waterpark there. I asked him to do the "lily pads" which he used to be a pro at doing, but he didn't make it very far. 😆He's gotten a little rusty on the ninja warrior skills!

Down he goes!

Waiting to get on the shuttle to go back to Hersheypark for the evening.

Log flumes are always one of my favorite rides.

I'm not scared in this one!

I love a good old-fashioned carousel! This was the last ride we went on our way out of the park.

Carousel selfie

The next morning, we ate a nice breakfast in one of the hotel restaurants.

The boys horsed around (which mostly consisted of John pinning Sam) before we checked out.

Pretty flowers in the lobby.

We went for an excellent and informative trolley ride around the town of Hershey that morning. Our guide was really good and we found out a lot about Milton Hershey and how the company started and what life was like here decades ago. I'm a great admirer of Milton Hershey; he was a successful, hard-working, and generous businessman and a great example of capitalism at its best.

Next post--Hershey Gardens!

Taking John to College

 We ("we" being me, John, Sam, and my mom) left on the drive to take John to college on a rainy Friday morning, August 18th. Before we left that morning, his best friends from church (who are also his best friends in general) came over to say goodbye. They'd been out together late the night before, and John had gotten up early to go work out with some of them. They can't get enough of each other! Writing this over a month later, I can say that they miss him a lot, and John misses them too.

Fortunately, it's really easy these days to stay in touch and see each other virtually, which they do frequently.

Surprisingly, the car wasn't stuffed as full as it could have been. John is pretty low-maintenance and didn't have a ton of things to bring for his dorm room.

The drive went fine and was a nice one through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. We took a route that avoided going close to NYC. We drove halfway to Virginia and stopped for a day and two nights in Hershey, Pennsylvania. 

😎😂

We got to Hershey Lodge by late afternoon, checked into our room, and then went out for dinner followed by an unexpected couple of hours in Hersheypark, which I'll write about tomorrow. Stay tuned for a hilarious picture of me on a terrifying ride that I unwittingly went on that evening! 😱😆

Cape House Randoms, Summer 2023

Sam and my mom on their phones, a common state of being, especially for Sam!

My friend Jen's kids started painting seashells last summer when they rented the house and left them out on the tree stump in the back. It's a great way to liven up a tree stump!

As close as I get to having an English garden...

This guy who lives up the street has always taken such pride in his house and in his car collection.

I finally got a "gurgle pot," a classic New England staple that I didn't even know about until recently. (And I call myself a New Englander!) It's a fun water pitcher that gurgles when you pour from it.

And it's in navy blue, one of my favorite colors!

One of the disappointments of moving to my new place is that I can't have DISH satellite TV there. I love DISH and I miss it and its beautiful monthly Dishscapes. But at least I've still got it at the Cape house! 

Me and the August Dishscape 💖😊

I took updated pictures of the house and yard for my Cape House blog post that I send to people who are interested in renting. Because of all of the rain we had this summer, the grass was nice and green, so I was able to replace the old yard pictures that had fried brown grass in them with these nice new ones. 

It's great having the fire pit set at the house now. I'm glad I didn't have to sell it when I moved.

Even though it was a huge pain in the neck to transport these and get them in, I'm really glad that I still have my navy blue front loaders too! I replaced the old washer and dryer that didn't work the best with them.

I replaced three of the fence rails in August. You can see two of them here.

I love the Cape house and I'm so grateful that I still have it. It's a blessing that I don't take for granted. I'm in the process right now of paying off the mortgage completely, and then it really will be mine, all mine! Unless I remarry (and maybe even if I do), I plan to move here permanently sometime after Sam graduates from high school. Oh, and I have a new nickname for the house: "Cape Coddage." (Get it? Cape Cod + cottage? I know, I'm a genius. 😉) I'd like to get a plaque with that on it to hang by the front door. I have a number of home improvement ideas to do at some point, but for now I continue to enjoy it and love it just as it is.