The Sweetest Place on Earth

A day in chocolate world...Hershey, Pennsylvania!!!

The first thing on the agenda was the tour of the candy making process from the cocoa bean to the packaging.  We boarded little moving carts that took us through each step.  These lovely little ladies sang about how fresh milk made the difference.  They used to use wax as an ingredient.  Yuk!!

Next we took the Trolley Tour of the town.  All aboard!!  By taking this tour, you find there is more to the story than CANDY.  We learned a little bit of the man, Mr. Milton S. Hershey himself.  He started out making caramels and failed several times before his success.

This is Hershey's boyhood home.  Both ends of the two story house have been added.

A view of the Hershey stacks, a part of the candy factory, with some of the flood waters left over from all the rain they have had.  This area was under water for a while.

All along Chocolate Avenue you will find Hershey kisses street lights.
During our tour on the trolley, candy was passed around.  When we disembarked, we each were given a chocolate Hershey bar.  Our guide was very knowledgeable.  She said, "Hershey can give hugs and kisses,  but our competition can only give snickers".

What impressed us the most was Mr. Hershey himself.
He built the town and his legacy lives on.

We made a stop at Founders Hall.  A beautiful building on the grounds of the school Mr. Hershey built for orphaned boys.  It now accepts both genders from kindergarten to graduation and is for underpriveledged children.  It is a trade school.  On the grounds are million dollar homes built to house the students.  They have house parents, and there are strict rules they have to abide by.  I could go on......

This is their middle school.  Up on a hill looking down on the town.  It looks like a castle!!!  I thought it surely must be the Hershey Castle.

But this was their home.  "Kitty", his wife died early in life.  They were each an only child and had no children of their own.  He never remarried.  When asked if he would remarry, his comment was "I like little old ladies and little children, and nothing in between".

Mr. Hershey had little education, but he learned a trade.

During the Great Depression, no one in Hershey lost their job.

What an inspiring story.