Seeing the sights

Ward and I took a break from our everyday routine and spent a couple of days exploring central Pennsylvania this past weekend. As we do most on our trips, we made sure we had a place to stay, snacks and sandwiches, and a few ideas of what we might want to do. We also thought about how we would work around the weather on this trip, which was predicted to have temperatures in the 90s and the threat of severe storms. However, timing was everything, and we managed to avoid any real problems. Here are some highlights from our trip.

We visited the Hershey Gardens in the morning before the stifling heat of the afternoon.
The temperatures were not too hot, but we did have a bit of rain.
Notice the Hershey's Kisses on the signposts. This is in the town of Hershey, where everything is related to Mr. Hershey and his chocolate enterprises. 

The gardens were established in 1937, so there were many mature plantings.

Many of the spring flowers were finished blooming, and the summer ones, like this allium, were starting.

In addition, to the outdoor gardens, they had a butterfly atrium. (Although, this is a moth.)

The gardens were host to many school field trips, but we managed to maneuver around them with no problems.

After the Hershey Gardens, the skies were darkening with severe weather threats, so we weren't sure what we wanted to do. Proceeding with uncertainty, we headed to Hunter Mansion in Harrisburg. As we explored the park along the Susquehanna River associated with the mansion, the rain began. With a mad dash, we were able to make it under the cover of the mansion porch before the heavens opened. And as luck would have it, there was a tour guide waiting, and we then had our own personal tour of the entire house.

Ward especially enjoyed our private tour because he could look at the
details of the woodworking, some as old as 200 years old, as long as he wanted.

After the rain stopped, we explored the grounds
before heading to the hotel and having an early dinner.
This is an ice house they filled with ice from
 the river in the winter. It lasted most of the year.

The next morning, we explored the back roads on a barn quilt tour. But after a couple of hours, we decided it was too hot and headed for home.

But along the way, we stopped in Gettysburg at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Historic Site. We had explored the battlefields in Gettysburg but had never been here before. Unfortunately, we saw that the house didn't open for tours until next week, but we decided to scope it out for another time.

But luck was with us again when we found a ranger who spent an hour or so with us telling us about the house, farm, and President Eisenhower. Eisenhower bought this farm after he retired from the military, and it featured prominently during his presidency. The afternoon was hot, but under the shade of a big tree with gentle breezes blowing, it was an enjoyable afternoon. And interesting. I learned many things about Eisenhower that I didn't know. 

We were able to make it home before another rainstorm, and much to our delight we saw that the electrician had finished the lighting in the kitchen. Slowly but surely we are getting there.

Until next time...