For Memorial Day weekend I decided to take a trip to Pennsylvania on the spur of the moment. I had 4.5 days off of school and needed to get out of the house. So I spent 3 days travelling to/from and mostly through Eastern PA. Who knew that state had so much to offer! Plus added bonus, 2 more states checked off the list: #28 New Jersey and #29 Pennsylvania.
After a 5 hour drive I stopped in Valley Forge, PA. This is where George Washington and the continental troops spent the winter of 1778-9. They wanted to keep an eye on the British army that had recently took over Philadelphia 20 miles away. It was a beautiful area of green fields. The pictures do not do it justice at all! It was very hot and humid too. Almost 90 with the humidity when I visited. The cabins below are only replicas but thousands were built all over the countryside to house the men in the army. It was interesting that every state had their own area and very different standard of living. The army was not united yet as it is today.
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| Fields of Valley Forge - where General Washington wintered his troops in 1778-79 |
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| Cabins (replicas) build by Continental Army in Winter 1778 |
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| Monument at Valley Forge remembering Washington |
After Valley Forge I headed west through Amish country in Lancaster County. The Amish live without electricity and drive around in buggies. It was so cool to see them. It was Saturday so many people were out and about. It looked to have become a bit touristy so that was disappointing but still pretty cool to see buggies pulled by horses alongside the cars on the roads. I couldn't get many pictures while trying to drive but here is a blurry one.
I continued on to Harrisburg, PA where I stayed two nights. It was a central location, only 45 min from Gettysburg National Park which was my main interest in going to PA. However, it was also close to Hershey, PA, the birthplace of chocolate. Or so it seemed. Hershey was very very touristy but I still went. There was a free ride showing how they make chocolate which was interesting along with quite a lot of other activities that I did not partake in. By this time I had been on the road for over 12 hours (only 6.5 driving) and was ready to crash for the night.
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| Hershey Chocolate Factory in Hershey, PA |
Day 2: Gettysburg National Park
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