The Pilgrimage

Preface from the Author: Thank you to those who emailed and left comments regarding a verb tense issue raised in my last post. To summarize: the verb should match the subject. Now, all join in a chorus of: DUH! One helpful reader noted the superfluous use of the term "very". I have considered this issue, and shall try really hard to avoid its use.

Of all the really significant places on the East Coast, Taylor wanted to visit the Hershey Chocolate factory first. So, yesterday we undertook a pilgrimage to Hershey, Pennsylvania to worship at the Chocolate Altar. The weather cooperated with really sunny skies despite predictions of snow. We paid for it, though, by way of a really cold wind.

The Hershey attractions consist of several really, REALLY gigantic parking lots, a cheesy amusement park, and a tourist trap called Chocolate World. Taylor was really disappointed to learn that the public is no longer allowed to tour the chocolate factory. The public gets to go to Chocolate World, which is essentially a really huge candy store plus a consolation ride through a reenactment of the chocolate making process. For those of you who are familiar with DisneyLand, imagine what would happen if "Mr Toad's Wild Ride" and "It's a Small World" got together and had "Mr Hershey's Chocolate World".

After learning all there is to know about the Great American Chocolate bar, we wandered over to the amusement park. I was really content to stroll around listening to the Christmas tunes piping over the PA system and trying not to freeze to death. But Taylor wanted to go on a ride. Shortly, we found ourselves on a choo choo train. It took us on a really short trip around the park at about 2 mph, except when it stopped for ten minutes to fix brake problems. During this time, I finished freezing to death whilst wondering why a train that tops out at 3 mph needs brakes at all.

On our way out of town, we drove down main street in Hershey to admire the really famous Hershey Kiss street lamps and sniff the renowned chocolate air. For our final hurrah, we took a loop around the actual factory, savoring the Hershey aroma. And outside a warehouse door, I saw a couple of Oompa Loompas taking a smoke break.

Really.