East Coast Explorations - Part 4 - The End

Day  9 - 10.

Next stop: Gettysburg. Best place the start? Why, the visitors center of course. My iPhone leads us there in no time flat. Only it’s an abandoned building. Search it again. Three wrong turns. Update search. More backtracking. Recalculating. Finally, the visitor’s center looms ahead, taunting us with its accessibility.  We run in, grab a CD and map, plug it in and head out to the battlefields. As our car slowly meanders through the fields the narrator simultaneously describes the history, tragedies, and victories of the sights. It’s hard to connect the gorgeous, rolling green fields and hills with a quiet, peaceful aura to the bloody, heart-wrenching scenes we know took place more than 100 years ago. The place of our countries greatest division, where brother fought brother, comes to life in a subduing realization of the horrors of war. We finish the tour and leave the sunlit beauty of historic Gettysburg and head towards the next Pennsylvanian experience: Amish territory. Or so we thought. Apparently Lancaster’s visitor’s center is not in fact open on Memorial Day. Who would have thought? And none us have the foggiest idea of what roads lead to the heart of Amish country. Just a small 30 mile detour, but Hershey calls, and the sweet smells of chocolate city bury our unrest. Hersey, Pennsylvania welcomes us with lamplights masquerading as kisses and a Fuddruckers next to the hotel.  Ah the wonderful world of Fuddruckers burgers. We will visit this place again soon. As in the next night…Our hotel is in an adorable setting, all tree-d in and hushed, seemingly ignorant, or maybe just defiant, of the theme park nearly next door. While the hotel is the best one we’ve encountered yet, hesitant thievery seems to be a problem, as my flip flops get stolen only to be returned a few hours later.

Gettysburg, PA

Day 11.

A leisurely drive into Lititz fills our morning, where we not only discover America's First Pretzel Bakery, but get down and dirty in dough in order to be bequeathed an official “pretzel maker” certification. The Moravian influenced town harkens back vague knowledge of ancestors from that heritage, and a drive through the countryside brings the past front and center as horse and buggies amble down the road and bonnets and straw hats become mainstream. Amish peanut butter, freshly made hot pretzels and lemonade, and shoe fly pie mark the culinary highlights of the day.

Now to make a 180, and find some adrenalin because the historical portion of our trip is at an end, and the theme park is waiting. Dad rides a monster coaster with us only to be sick afterwards and swear off of such contraptions. Ben, however, is hooked. The rest of the day is spent at Hershey Park, and after sweltering heat, blisters on feet, roller coasters, water rides, chafing shorts, squishy flip flops, and Ben obsessively riding the same coaster 3 times in a row,  Dad and I decide we are too hot and hungry to go on. Thunderstorms stop all rides and cancel shows for an hour, allowing us time to breathe. Dinner involves the repeat trip to Fuddruckers where we get almost exactly the same things as before. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Day 12.

The last day has come, and the feelings of euphoria towards our experiences mix with homesickness and exhaustion. We drive towards Baltimore to catch our flight out and stop at a restaurant on the way there. Yeah you guessed it: Chick-fil-a.  Mom however, is unable to partake in the feast, as she has contracted a case of the spews and is making retching noises due to overactive pain meds for a sore tooth. Her mouth is literally swollen to the point where it appears she decided suck on a golf-ball-sized jawbreaker.

The last lag of our journeys begins, as we arrive at the airport and suffer through a somewhat painful flight home involving a small plane, occasional turbulence, and too many hours. SeaTac comes into view around 10pm (1pm our time) and another long ride home beckons, this time in a car. Our beloved driveway comes into view around 1:30am. And after an enthusiastic greeting from the pair of loving golden retrievers,  we all scatter to our owns beds to dream of the vacation that we’ll never forget.