This is going to be an on-going report. We left the house this morning prior to 4:00 AM to catch a plane out of New Orleans. We flew to Houston and then to BWI (Baltimore). Funny, we had to stop in Houston, and we live a little less than half way to Houston so we could have driven there, but it was cheaper to go New Orleans-Houston-BWI than to go Houston-BWI. Go figure!!!

The drive and all the flights went perfect. We arrived in Baltimore exactly when the ticket said we would arrive and in 30-minutes we had our champagne colored Toyota Rav4 and we're on our way to Hershey. We arrived at about 6:00 and were in our beautiful 2-bedroom condo at 6:10.

We ate dinner at a fabulous Italian Restaurant named Fenicci’s. The prices were more than reasonable and food fantastic. I told Suzie, our server, a couple of things on the menu that looked good, and then told her I was tired and she should pick what ever was best and surprise me. A few minutes later she brought me out simple Garlic Bread with lump crabmeat on top, baked with a cheese topping and served with an Alfredo dipping sauce. WOW!!! Joni had a spaghetti and Heather had fettuccini alfredo. All were fabulous so we will return to Fenicci’s before we leave Hershey.

We drove around and got a little familiar with Hershey. Then we stopped at a Giant Food and got a few things for the condo. We are now relaxing in a cool condo, having a quiet evening with just our family.

Did I mention that it is in the mid-70’s today!!! It was 102º at home yesterday?

One first observation about the people in Pennsylvania. At home (Louisiana) we take pride in being a friendly people. I’m not Cajun, but I can say that the Cajun people in the area where I live are as friendly as anyone. The people here are amazing. They are just like Cajuns – they will start up a conversation with a total stranger in the grocery store check-out line. We pulled over to the side of the street to allow a car to pass us tonight. The car stopped and a wonderful older couple asked if we were lost. Nice, Nice and Nice!!! The people here are great!

One other observation about Hershey. This city is beautiful. The yards are all neat. The grass all full and green and the city buildings are older, but perfectly taken care of by someone, and believe me, Hershey can’t take care of everything.
 

This is obviously farm country. There are miles and miles of green fields. You pass on farm, see a few houses and a business or two, and then more beautiful farms. When I think of the "Heart of America" this is the picture I have in my mind. There is a beautiful simplicity in the way the people here live. You can't help but relax!

Heather wanted to visit a shopping village that he had gone to on her school trip last November.  Her reaction was kind of funny when she saw the thousands of people out on this beautiful 4th of July. When they visited in November they pretty much had the entire place to themselves. The people all seemed to stop and take in a few tunes from this little trio of musicians. Stop, relax, and share a story or two, was the theme of the day.

From where I was standing to take the picture of the band, I walked about 20 yards and the picture on the right is what I saw! More beautiful farms! There was also a certain freshness in the air that has become harder and harder to find.

The root beer was great and the pretzels (hand made right in front of you) were nothing short of amazing. We bought two quillows that hd been made right there at the shop. A quillow is a small lap quilt that folds up into a pillow. Heather bought one last November and we now have three. It will be nice to pull them out on cool winter nights and remember our time in Amish Country.