The impetus for this trip is my family reunion in Pittsburgh from July 22nd (my birthday!) through the 24th. We priced flights into Pittsburgh, but quickly realized we could rent a car and drive for the same cost as only one flight. That's a 50% savings! When we started talking about other stops we could make along the way, we were sold. Saving money and seeing more new places? That has "us" written all over it.
So, our plan is set in motion. We will be leaving at the crack of dawn on Friday, July 22nd, and will start our trip with the approximately three-hour drive to Hershey, Pennsylvania.
We'll spend only a couple of hours in Hershey, just for a brief stop at Hershey's Chocolate World for the Chocolate Tour Ride and, if we have time, Hershey's Chocolate Tasting Adventure, where allegedly you get to taste all kinds of chocolate and are awarded a Masters Degree in Chocolate Tasting from Hershey University! You know how I love education and all, so that sounds pretty awesome. Plus, all that aside, rumor has it the whole town smells like chocolate. If that's true, I'm not sure why I don't live there. I will investigate and report back.
Hershey's Chocolate World
From there we'll drive about another hour to Gettysburg.
In Gettysburg, we plan to stop by the visitor center to pick up a self-guided driving tour of the historic battlefields, then do some exploring on our own. We debated what kind of tour to do, actually - Eric liked the idea of a segway tour (which just seemed wrong to me), and I wanted to do a tour on horseback. Ultimately we decided a self-guided tour was our best bet, just because we can go at our own pace. We can stop to take pictures where we want, and speed past parts that don't interest us as much. Hopefully, it will all work out. I know we'll be a bit rushed, but I hope we'll have enough time to at least get a taste of the history in Gettysburg.
Little Round Top
After Gettysburg we'll hit the road again, driving about another four hours to my aunt and uncle's house in Pittsburgh.
We'll be staying with my aunt and uncle in Pittsburgh until Sunday afternoon. I'm very excited to get to spend time with my family, all of whom are traveling from the likes of Cleveland, Illinois, Florida and Boston. My uncle's birthday is the day before mine, and my cousin and I share a birthday (he'll be 21 this year!), so there will be a celebration, plus I know Aunt Rachel and Uncle Mark have other fun things planned for us as well. They have offered a brief tour of Pittsburgh (although I've been to Pittsburgh many times, I have yet to see the city, and you know Eric and I are all about exploring a new place!), and they got us tickets to a baseball game at PNC Park - another new stadium for Eric, which will bring his "visited baseball stadiums" total to 14!
View of Pittsburgh from Mount Washington (except I'm assuming/hoping there won't be snow on the ground this time of year)
PNC Park
Of course, I am excited to see these crazy people (among others)!
When we leave Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon, we will drive five and a half hours to Philadelphia.
Eric and I have been meaning to get to Philadelphia for some time, knowing that there are super cheap buses that run between NYC and Philly. We thought it would be a great weekend trip, and even added it to our NYC To-Do List. So, it only seemed logical to stop in Philly on our way to or from Pittsburgh. Our visit will be brief, and there will certainly be no rest for the weary as we have lots to see and probably not nearly enough time to do it in. But hey, we'll get to what we can. Our list of "A Million Things to See in 24 Hours" includes: as much historical stuff as possible, including the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Old City Hall and Declaration House; dinner at City Tavern; the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps and Rocky Statue; a baseball game at Citizens Bank Park (another new stadium!); and cheese steaks, of course.
Liberty Bell
Independence Hall
Declaration House, where Thomas Jefferson rented a room while he wrote the Declaration of Independence (well, a recreation of the house, at least)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Citizens Bank Park - to be Eric's 15th baseball stadium!
Cheese steak. Yum.
We will stay in Philly until we have had our fill on Monday night, and then will make the approximately two-hour drive back to Hoboken.
This trip will also bring some new and exciting experiences for Achilles, who is trying a new boarder. Our usual "camp" in NYC couldn't accommodate him for this trip, so we're trying somebody in Hoboken. They'll come and pick him up and drop him off, and then he stays at their home with a couple other dogs and a nearby park at his disposal. It's cageless boarding, which I like, and he will never be left alone. I hope he likes this place! My dog is my baby I'm always nervous to leave him in the hands of somebody new. I'm sure he'll be fine, though. Right? Right?!
So that's our next trip! Not bad, right? We also have more travel planned for August, but I'll post about that another time. Are you on the edge of your seat or what?
In the meantime, in case you need more travel talk in your life, allow me to bring my new "Travels" tab to your attention. I have put links to all of our travel posts and pictures in one place, largely for my own convenience, but if you're looking to plan a trip to one of the places we've been (or just have an awful lot of time to kill), check it out!
In the meantime, in case you need more travel talk in your life, allow me to bring my new "Travels" tab to your attention. I have put links to all of our travel posts and pictures in one place, largely for my own convenience, but if you're looking to plan a trip to one of the places we've been (or just have an awful lot of time to kill), check it out!
3 comments:
I love the sound of this trip! :) Our hubbys have the baseball stadium thing in common though yours has a head start on my guy! He has seen all the spring training parks in Florida but only a handful of the major league!
That trip sounds amazing! I like how each of the places are short drives from each other (especially after all the driving we've been doing lately!) Can't wait for all the recap posts to come :)
Your pup will be fine. As for your trip, I am so jealous!!! Maybe you should drive one state over for a OH visit :)
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