Hershey, Pennsylvania: Beyond the Chocolate

This is my ninth post about our adventure traveling through Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. You can find the first post from this trip here and links to all the other educational US travel our family has done here. 

Because I blog about educational travel, I received free admission tickets, discounts, media rates, and other benefits for some of the hotels and attractions we visited throughout the trip. Many attractions we toured are free to everyone. I paid full price for the rest. This has no bearing on my reviews. Everything I'm sharing is something that I whole-heartedly recommend. If you notice any gaps in my narrative, it is because I didn't love a particular hotel, attraction, or restaurant enough to recommend it to you, regardless of how much I paid or didn't pay.

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Hershey, Pennsylvania

While chocolate is the main reason to visit Hershey, there's more to the area than just the theme park, Chocolate World, and The Hershey Story. Hershey is just minutes from Harrisburg, the state capital.

We couldn't pass up the chance to tour the Capitol building, the fourth (and final) of this trip.

  

What a great way to learn more about The Keystone State!

We had an excellent tour guide who taught us so much about the Capitol building and the history of Pennsylvania.

   

My favorite part of the tour was when she showed us the artwork in the Supreme Court Chamber. Can you make out the hidden words in Violet Oakley's 'Divine Law'? 

Pennsylvania's is one of the most grand Capitol buildings we've visited. That's my mom, Trevor, and me standing at the top of the steps as Steve takes our picture from the balcony one floor up. 

Like New Jersey, Pennsylvania's Capitol has a really cool Welcome Center. That's a giant LEGO statue in the center, with interactive games in the floor surrounding it. 

Each of the walls had kid-friendly learning stations, too.

The fountain at the back of the Capitol was dyed pink for October.

We were disappointed not to be able to see more of Harrisburg during the trip. I especially would have liked to visit the State History Museum, but we were in town on a Monday and Tuesday, the two days the museum is closed. A future visit, hopefully. 

I've already shared the fabulous activities we did in Hershey, but the only meal I mentioned was the one at our hotel. I have two more recommendations for you. We enjoyed a delicious meal at The Chocolate Avenue Grill. 

And then there is Duck Donuts. I discovered it during my pre-trip research and was intrigued by this donut shop where all the donuts are made fresh-to-order. 

There is a handy form to fill out when you order, specifying what glazes, toppings, and/or drizzles you want on each of your donuts. As soon as they take your order, they drop dough into the hot oil. You watch as they fry the donuts, then glaze and decorate them. 

The finished donuts are a work of art. 

We (the three of us plus my mom) ordered six different donuts and split them in fourths so that we could each try them all. How did they taste? Amazing. Heavenly. Best donuts ever. You really can't beat fresh, warm donuts made with your favorite toppings. Thumbs up all around!

In fact, we loved them so much that we had six different donuts the next morning!

And here's the true testament to how good they are: we had them a third day in a row as we headed out of town toward our next destination! This time we got five for the three of us to share, since Grandma wasn't with us. They were fantastic. That one on the bottom right, lemon glaze with a raspberry drizzle, was my absolute favorite among all 17 I tried. 

Hershey is a charming town, with lots to see and do. I love all the details, like the Hershey Kiss lights that line the street. Every other Kiss is unwrapped. It's adorable. 

While we could have stayed longer in Hershey, it was time to head to our next destination... nicknamed The Factory Tour Capitol of the World!