Friday, February 14, 2014

A Day in Hershey

On Wednesday, Mom and I spent the day together in Hershey, PA.  She had a gift card to use for a delicious local restaurant called The Hershey Pantry, and so we decided to make a whole day of it.  We started at The Hershey Story - a relatively new museum in town.  It's a big, beautiful building that houses exhibits that tell the story of Milton Hershey's life and the birth of the town of Hershey itself.  My favorite section was the area that displayed the various advertising paraphenalia that Hershey used to promote his products through the years.  The artwork and quality of the past ads were quirky, quaint and lovely.  After an hour of touring, we walked into the adjoining gift shop.  Not four feet into the store we were pummeled with the overwhelming scent of chocolate - Hershey still knows how to market!  I left with a bottle of dark chocolate/peppermint syrup for the boys to add to their mugs of milk, and Mom bought packages of Valentine candy for my little nephews.

From the '20s, 25 lb. wholesale buckets of kisses 
With rumbling stomachs, we headed down the street to The Hershey Pantry.  If you ever visit Hershey, treat yourself to a deliciously unique meal at this quaint little restaurant with teapots lining the windowsills.  We both enjoyed incredible sandwiches of toasted cinnamon bread with turkey, Swiss cheese and cranberry spread.  Mom ended her meal with Caramel Corn French-pressed coffee and a huge slice of Red Velvet Cake.  I went for Pecan Pie and French Vanilla Hot Chocolate.  Wow.

On the way home we stopped at a library we don't get to very often.  I borrowed a biography on L. M. Alcott entitled, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen.  Two herbal books came home with me as well - The Herbal Yearbook by Gillian Haslam and Book of Herbs by Country Home.  These I found in the library's small, used book shop among a welcome display of lots of gardening books.  The green hues of the books in the display made it look like Spring had found its way to the library!

Not sure about healthy, but LOVE the ad!
Our last stop was one of our favorite thrift shops in a neighboring town.  The score:
* One flower-shaped notepad
* A rubber-banded package of 5 vintage notecards with this printed on the back of each: Busy Housewife Notes
* Three old postcards - one a Currier & Ives scene called Winter in the Country/A Cold Morning and two of scenes from George Washington's life - hoping for some inspiration to use them in some way for his upcoming birthday?
* A devotional from 1981 by Mab Graff Hoover called God Still Loves My Kitchen: Devotions for Homemakers
* And The Lavendar Issue of Herb Companion from June/July 2000

Before she headed home, Mom presented me with two red-sprinkled shortbread hearts that her friend had made and passed along.  Perfect to finish the day with a hot cup of tea in a warm house.  Brr!

4 comments:

Brianna said...

THat sounds like so much fun!

Lori in Texas said...

Hi Julie... it always sounds like you're describing my kind of field trips!! Libraries, used books, thrift stores!
We would stay at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Oxford called The Log House. An older couple, the Hershey's (yes, related) were godly folks -- I believe she was Brethren. This was early 2000s and she was mid-70s then so not sure she is still in this ministry.
We are back to our Texas spring February with 74* for tomorrow. I will clean up leaves in my herb garden... I absolutely loved the Reppert herbal you recommended. I am beginning it all over again to take notes this time. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I'll have to check those places out next time I am in Hershey for a convention/conference. Have you even stopped at the thrift shop in Mifflintown about 2 miles down the road from Sheetz? It is really clean and ran by a church I think.

Sandy

Julie said...

It was VERY fun, Brianna!

Lori - So glad to hear you enjoyed the Reppert herbal. There are SO many great ideas in there and written in such a delightful style - enjoy taking notes!

Sandy - I DIDN'T know about that thrift shop but have made a note in my outings folder for future reference. Thanks for the tip!