A Weekend of Amusement

Ok, here's the post about this past weekend that I've been alluding to for a few days.

I was convinced by K.C. to take Friday off from work so we (with Lilly of course) could get in some end of summer amusement park fun. Sounded good to me, so that's what we did.

First stop was to be Hersheypark, in (of course) Hershey, PA. Well...actually the first stop was to the post office, so K.C. could mail some of her orders, to Giant Supermarket to pick up discounted park tickets, and then to the Wawa to get gas. Okay, errands done, off to Hersheypark!

"Dad, stop pumping gas - I want to go!"

We arrived in Hershey around 11AM, parked the car, and did a quick tour of the park just to get our bearings. K.C. & I had visited Hersheypark a few years ago, but we really didn't remember it all that well.

I think Lilly was a little overwhelmed at first (which is odd, because she's been to amusement parks before - even Disney World) but settled in after a ride on the carousel.

After a few more rides, we stopped for lunch over at the Hatfield Grill in Pioneer Frontier. The only reason why I specifically mention this is that it's kinda hidden in a corner of the park that didn't seem to get much traffic. It was a nice find.

The rest of the afternoon was kind of a blur, watching Lilly go on ride after ride after ride. We did make a quick stop in ZooAmerica, but Lilly got bored by the animals pretty quickly, and wanted to go on more rides!

Monorail, Trailblazer, Convoy, you name it...she even went on her first "grown-up" roller coaster, The Comet, but (and she won't admit it) I think it scared her. She kept saying her tummy felt funny, but at least she didn't cry. What a trooper, give her a year or two and she'll be on the SooperDooperLooper!

Exhausted, we packed it in around 7PM, checked into the Days Inn on Chocolate Avenue (which in terms of location couldn't have been better - would recommend it), for a quick rest before we went out to dinner. We went to this retro diner in nearby Hummelsville called the Soda Jerk Diner.

For what it was, it was great - clean - good service - good diner food. After that, it was back to the hotel and time for bed!

The next day, we woke up, grabbed some breakfast in the lobby of the hotel, hopped back in the car and headed over to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. This one might have been a stretch for a 4-year old, but we decided to give it a shot anyway. Lilly is in a "princess phase" and said she wanted to go.

When we got there, we found out it was also "Pyrate Weekend," so not only were we transported back in time to the time of knights and castles, but evidently pirates were invading "the Shire" as well. I was personally shocked by how many visitors (non-employees) showed up wearing extremely authentic looking medieval costumes; where do folks buy this stuff?

God Save the Queen

Well...Lilly wasn't really feeling the Faire. She's got this phobia of "characters" coming up and trying to talk to her. Even somewhere as mild as Chuck E. Cheese, Lilly runs the other way when she sees that mouse mascot coming her way. Needless to say, she wasn't too thrilled when peasants or gypsies came over to say 'hi' with odd sounding accents. To their credit, they were all great and extremely friendly.

Lilly did seem to enjoy the shows. We watched a trained dog show as well as a joust. She was really into both of them; laughing at the dogs and cheering on her knight.

The Hippogriff ride might have been the highlight of her day.

In the end, I think we were all a little tired from the previous day, so we packed it in a little early and left around 4PM.  It may have been tiring, but it was definitely a fun weekend. Lilly has already said she wants to go back to Hersheypark...the Renaissance Faire...well, maybe when she's a bit older.

Here are some other random pictures from the trip:

Convoy!

The Chocolate Factory

Some BIG carp in the Hersheypark waters!
(As seen from above riding the ski-lift)

Lilly petting Blockhead - yes, that was the dog's name