Hershey Weekend

We've returned from our weekend in Hershey. Yesterday, upon arriving, we headed for Hershey Park (home of the Super Dooper Looper - my first loop roller coaster) and the Christmas Candylane. Only part of the park was open and most of the rides were the kiddie rides. I am happy to report that my son enjoyed the rides he went on, including the Dry Gulch Railroad, which he rode twice, the second time while Daddy rode The Claw. We went over to see Santa's reindeer, which were being cared for by helpful Hershey employees. My son, however was much more interested in noting that the reindeer were "sponsored" in part by Postman Pat, one of his favorite television characters.

Yesterday evening, we went off to see the Hershey Bears face off against the Norfolk Admirals. The game was good, if you only count the last ten minutes or so. The referee never really had control of the game (in fact, I remarked several times, "You're missing a good game, ref!" Several other fans had some less family-friendly ways of telling the ref their thoughts). There were a total of 19 penalties called during the game, 12 for Hershey and 7 for Norfolk. Yet, only four power play goals were scored, one by Norfolk and three by Hershey. In fact, the only way the Bears were able to pull off the victory was that Norfolk never really played at even strength. For when they did, Norfolk was the better team. The link above is to the box score for the game, but that does not tell the whole story. The important thing to note is the shots on goal. In the third period, Hershey had more shots on goal than in the previous two periods.

Here is a story from the local paper:

• Bears Own Overtime

Today we ventured over to Chocolate World. My son enjoyed the "factory tour," especially the singing cows. Concluding with some shopping in the company store, getting some holiday gifts out of the way, we left the "Sweetest Place on Earth" and headed for home.