Lititz, Lebanon & Hershey...

Tuesday found John aiming the hose on Rambo to find the leak over the driver’s seat before wrapping up the day on the roof of Rambo. Wednesday found us heading south to a campsite near Hershey PA… in the rain. Apparently John’s repair worked because neither the inside umbrella or the shoulder drip pan were needed for the driver. However… the leak around the back door was another story. As luck would have it, that is John’s side of the bed so I was worry free.

So why, you might ask, were we headed to Hershey? A boondoggle (is that really a word?). We “won” two nights free camping, $50 in gas and dinner for two – all we had to do was listen to an hour’s presentation on the campground. So we listened, said “no thank you” to the “membership” concept, and explored the area. Notice the goose nesting by the light next to the campground sign in the first photo – she said "yes" to the membership.

Lititz PA was our first stop. Turns out it “could” be an interesting little town. Linden Hall (photo 2) is the oldest girls’ residence school in the US, founded in 1746 by the Moravian Church. The church was built in the 1800’s (but CLOSED when we got there). The tree (I think) is a linden (if it’s not, it should be). Across the street (photo 4) is the site of the first pretzel factory in the US started by Julius Sturgis in 1861 (currently CLOSED for renovations). Next stop, photo 3 – Wilbur Chocolates (OPEN! leaving us poorer and heavier – great chocolate though). And lest you think that’s all Lititz has to offer, it is the home of Victor Mousetraps, photo 5 (CLOSED – no deals on mousetraps this trip).

Up the road is Lebanon PA. It is the home of “Loser’s Music”, Shyla Clay Pigeons, and Hershey’s “Idle Asset Storage” (John said he could relate). The real treasure was the Union Canal Transportation tunnel (photo 6). Completed in 1827, it is the oldest existing transportation tunnel in the US. It was part of the canal system so of course it is not used much. If you’re there in summer you can take a moonlight float through the tunnel (for us? - CLOSED). The first boat to use it was “Alpha of Tulephocken” (something I’m sure you’ll remember for your next trivia competition).

Running out of obvious things to do in Lebanon, we headed to Hershey Gardens (in Hershey). John particularly liked the Children’s Garden – you guessed it, photo 7. The owner of the gardens (they also have a controlling share in Hershey Chocolate) is the heir to the Hershey fortune, the Milton Hershey School. They have 1500 residential students selected on the basis of social & economic need from age 4 to 19. A VERY nice school (not that it shouldn’t be with an $8 billion endowment). Photo 8 is the outside of their rotunda (my dinky camera was overwhelmed by the inside). In 1970 when it was built it was second in size only to St. Peter’s at the Vatican.

Wrapping up our trip we met a friend at the Hershey Hotel for a very decadent lunch and gained a few more pounds by sampling every chocolate dessert they had (lobby photo 9 – the hotel is also owned by the school). John did, however, have enough energy to “tiptoe through the tulips” before we headed home. Back in NY it was comforting to see a sign for a new business – “Rita Mae’s Flowers & Worms”…