All you can eat chocolate - yum!

On the day before the Presidential Inauguration we decided to take a mini-vacation to get out of the DC region and the crowds and the news. We weren't boycotting the inauguration or President Obama we just wanted a break and since Matt had work off that Monday and Tuesday we went to the sweetest place on earth, The Hershey Chocolate Factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

We started our day with a breakfast at IHOP and then got on the road and drove for 3 hours in our awesome new mini-van. Did we mention we bought a new mini-van? I must have forgotten that post. It has the built-in DVD player that Maxwell can't get enough of. So traveling is a breeze now that he is occupied. I do miss the days when we were younger that we had to enjoy the scenery and not let it pass us by. My kids now may not appreciate the scenic drives as much as I loved them growing up.

Once we pulled into Hershey we went right to the most important place, to take the tour of the Chocolate Factory. It is a sit-down ride where it takes you into a pretend factory and shows you how the chocolate is made. The best part isn't the ride though, it is the FREE chocolate you get at the end. Because we went on the off-season there was no one there. We didn't have to wait in any lines. The Hershey Park was closed but we will go back this summer to the amusement park. Maxwell loved the tour so much that he insisted we go on it again and again and again. I think he ended up on it 4-5 times.

We had lunch which consisted of Chicken fingers and fries and there famous chocolate bbq sauce. I was a little hesitant to taste the chocolate on my chicken but it made it sweet and tangy. To top it all off we had the Hershey Ice Cream shakes, which Matt has been craving for 19 years. We enjoyed buying a ton of chocolate from the factory to take home to our friends and for us.

We drove into the city of Hershey to take the tour of the museum but it was not kid-friendly so we just drove up and down the beautiful little main street. The street lamps are shaped like Hershey kisses and everything is named Chocolate this and Chocolate that. I called my mom while we were there and she asked if everyone in the town was overweight because of all of the chocolate consumed. I am pretty sure if you live in the town of Hershey you are sick of the taste and smell of chocolate. They pump the smell into every building including our hotel so you can't get away from it.

After a nice dip into our hotel pool we slept soundly and woke up the next morning and drove back home. It was a nice little getaway but we did get home in time to see the presidential parade. Mallory did great on her first vacation and loved sitting in the Bjorn with dad the entire time.