Cousin Fun in Lititz

 Lititz has always been one of my favorite small towns to visit, and it's no wonder why it makes the "Top Ten list of small towns in Pennsylvania."  The historic streets are well preserved and the shops and houses are are beautifully kept.  So, it seemed the perfect destination to visit with Joshua for two reasons:  to share some of its unique history, and second, to visit the Wilbur Chocolate Store which helped to make this town famous. And let's face it.....who doesn't like chocolate?

To add to the day's excitement, we were able to share the experience with Joshua's cousins whom he rarely has an opportunity to see outside of FaceTime.  So, Stacey reserved a time slot at the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery on the edge of town to start out the fun.  

For those of you unfamiliar with this story, Julius Sturgis was the first man to design the process for baking hard pretzels to sell to the consumer.   He built the brick ovens into the back of the building that served as the operational bakery as well as a store, and his residence as well.  He had 14 children to help with the process that resulted in the first commercial pretzel bakery in the United States. The original building still stands along the historic street just at the edge of the town limits.

We arrived a bit early, so we walked up the street a few blocks to the Lititz Historical Society where we admired the gardens in the back.  Look closely and you will see two ducks basking in the sun.

And, looking closer....I spied this cute little frog hanging out on a rock.

There were some lovely gardens

and, true to form, some interesting decor on the porches of some of the houses along the street.

Soon it was time to return for our pretzel tour. 

So, we met up with the cousins and headed inside for the tour.

The tour guide explained the history behind the house, and the process of making the pretzels back in the 1800's.  Then, everyone was given a ball of "dough" and instructions on how to make the perfect pretzel.

I'd say that did a fabulous job!

She also showed the baking ovens and explained more modern techniques, but I didn't take any photos of that.  After we were finished, we all went outside for pretzel photo.

It's not easy getting them all to smile at the same time, particularly when the sun is shining in one's eyes.  But, hey, we got most of them!

We walked down to the park, where a red caboose stands along the train tracks.  Marty took Joshua into the caboose for a tour.  Apparently the man inside was thrilled to finally have someone stop in and take a look.

The rest of us waiting in the park, entertained by ducks.....lots of them!

And it seemed an eternity before Marty and Joshua exited that train!  Marty said the man was thrilled to have the audience and it was hard to break away, but Joshua was fascinated by the information, so it was definitely worth stopping in.

Just across the way there is Lititz park, where the kids could have a fabulous time playing on swings, slides, and in this case, a wooden train.

It was loads of fun.  We all lunched on a picnic that we had brought with us, then headed over to the Wilbur Chocolate building, which was limiting 15 people at a time inside the store.  Marty and I decided to forego entering, but the kids enjoyed seeing the women dipping the pretzels in chocolate through the glass window.

Treats were purchased.

And, obviously, enjoyed.

We then decided to stop at one more place before heading home.  There is a new playground called the Tree House in Lititz, and that was our destination.  How awesome is this?

The kids all were SO excited to see it and eager to enjoy its many fun features.

Everyone had a slide....or two or three....or, perhaps ten or more?

And there was a special area set up just for little tykes.

which this one thoroughly enjoyed.

Let's just say.... there was a LOT of fun had by all.

But the heat got the better of us, so we called it a day, parted ways, and headed home.

Another fabulous adventure made even sweeter by Wilbur Chocolate.  You just can't beat that, can you?

Hershey: How Sweet It Is!

Some of you might remember my travel blogs featuring trips to Bristol, Virginia in the past, as I like to highlight our adventures spent there among our travels.  Our grandson, Joshua, tries to plan every second of our visit with some kind of exciting opportunity for fun.  After all, he only gets to see us a few times a year, and this past one, was even less.  

So, you can only imagine his enthusiasm when he discovered that he and his momma would be spending at least an entire week visiting us!  One of his wishes was to visit Hershey so that he could see the "kisses" on the lamp posts that are featured on the main street.  So, yesterday, our gallivanting adventures took us to the Hershey Zoo and Chocolate World.   It was a glorious sunny day, and the temperature was just perfect. 

When we arrived, I'll have to admit, I was pretty surprised to see that the parking lot at the zoo was already full at 11:00 in the morning, but someone was leaving as we pulled in, so we managed to get a space right at the entrance.  And, although the lot was full, the zoo was big enough that we didn't really notice many people around.  

If you've been to this zoo, then you know that it is relatively small, with no large animals like giraffes, elephants, hippos, rhinos or such.  There just isn't enough land for those type of creatures to be comfortable.  But there were certainly enough species to entertain. 

The Southern Swamps featured a spoonbill

alligator

and various snakes, which I was not keen on photographing.

Moving on, the interior desert held fast moving roadrunners

along with some slow-moving turtles.

The bear exhibit was lacking a bear, but offered entertainment nonetheless.

A sea otter delighted us with his quick moving antics.

A pair of bald eagles made Grandpa's day.  (He loves bald eagles!)

There were white tailed deer

and mountain lions sunning on top of a rock. They were kind of difficult to spot, but we knew they had to be there from the sign.

There was a huge mound, with many holes that were home to prairie dogs, but we never saw even one, despite waiting for a bit of time for at least one head to pop up.  I suppose it's much cooler below ground.  But, that was about enough for this nine year old boy, so we headed over to chocolate world to take the free tour.

But, first, we needed a picture next to the kiss mobile.

We walked the long trail up the ramps to the area where we embarked on the car for the ride.

Personally, I found the talking cows to be quite amusing. 

and there was the surprise of the piggy popping up from the hale bay to add to the fun.

Candy bar holograms explained the process of making Hershey chocolate,

going through the step by step procedure.

which even featured how the bars go through the packaging.

We were wished a fond farewell by a hershey kiss,

and, after debarking from the car, we were each handed a mini Hershey bar as a treat!  I must say....that really hit the spot!

Down in the shops, Joshua opted to fill a bag of candy with as much as he could stuff in that thing.

There were many varieties to pick from.   (Not sure if he picked them all.)

Marty decided to stick with the standard Hershey bar

but the store was filled with a multitude of delights.

And, obviously, beer...from Troeg's brewery which is located just down the road.

On the way out, we got a photo with some candy bars 

and we took a brief walk through Hershey's chocolatetown.  I was amused by the bell tower which held a kiss shaped bell.

As you can see, this guy had quite a bit of fun

and, how lucky are we that the weather was so accommodating?

A perfect day for a sweet adventure!