Get it? Philly Cheese Steak… Misteak? We loved that sign! Colleen here, here being Pennsylvania. I dragged myself out of a dream this morning (in our hotel just outside of Hershey, PA) at a ripe old hour of 8:30 (our next few days are pretty low key) in which Mark Wahlberg was pouring me a 
beer at a pub… I think it’s a sign that we’re going to see famous people any day now! We ate a quick breakfast (pretty bleak spread, even for Days Inn!) and hopped into the bat mobile for a quick ride over to Hershey, PA. We took an amazing moving cart tour of the fabulousness that is Chocolate World twice because it really was that nice (imagine these 3 adorable cows singing to you, the word that would come to your mind would be: fabulous, right?!), did a chocolate tasting in 
which we all earned masters degrees in chocolate tasting, and watched a hysterical little 3D movie on the history of chocolate. The 3D movie necessitated some pretty sweet glasses that we hope you’ll love, too, and was full of seat moving, rain falling, and mouse to toe swooshing (fake mice, silly). The only possible thing it lacked was actual Hershey Kisses falling on the audience, which we were pretty sad about, but hey, it had EVERYTHING else we imagined 3D would! I was very proud of my recent visit to Ecuador where 
I was invited to visit a friend at his cocoa farm/ banana farm/ animal rescue center and got to see cocoa plants in every stage of growth. His daughter (who is a manager at the farm/center) picked a cocoa pod off a tree for us, cracked it open and shared with us the goodness that is the pulp around cocoa beans. And here you thought it was just cocoa beans that were good! We learned, in Hershey University, that monkeys taught humans about cocoa beans when they would open the pods and eat the pulp, spitting the bitter seeds to the ground to ferment and turn into what we today call cocoa beans… They probably used to call (and still do, for all I know) them oooh ooooh ooooooooooooh eeeeeehs, or something equally 
monkeylike. Hershey University also taught us that in a proper chocolate tasting you have to 1) Look, 2) Listen, 3) Smell, and 4) Taste. T*Star took this awesome pic of Nancy listening to her chocolate and I decided T*Star should look at mine. You know, since it's one of the steps.
After our Chocolate World enjoyment, we hopped back into the bat mobile and drove a couple more hours on to Philadelphia. En route we saw a sign for Starner Road, which happens to be the last name of one of our fabulous four road trippers, and so we made sure to pass off the tiara (yes one of the other road tripper had the tiara on in the
car and in Chocolate World, Eva aren’t you proud?!). Nancy’s crackberry apparently isn’t as big of a fan of PA as we are, and it has blocked internet for the last 24 hours. She was finally able to call tech support this evening and in her 45 min call with “Terrance”, she discovered that he a- lives in Virginia just outside of DC, b- will be her official road trip phone boyfriend, and c- recently saw the latest Transformers movie. T*Stars boyfriend, who we lovingly refer to as Fleak (the Fly as he is what is commonly referred to as a house fly), was kicked out of the car after he a- slept with T*Star/on the wall in our hotel room, b- snuck into the car and got a free ride almost all of the way to Philly, and c- was shooed out the window after tickling Colleen’s toes in typical mosca fashion.
After settling into the hotel we headed to South Philly to see the cheese steak competition between Geno’s and Pat’s, noting that Geno’s had a shorter line, so we ate dinner there. It was pretty darn good, mostly because of the secret ingredient: whiz… cheese whiz. We’re pretty stoked to be able to compare the two restaurants with a trip to Pat’s tomorrow for lunch as they are both Philly Phamous! After our filling dinner, we walked around downtown looking at all of the statues of Ben Franklin (they’re a bit obsessed with him around here… he must be *kinda* a big deal) and all of the fun artsy statues. Artsy Statue #1 on our tour: LO (over) VE. Very happy lil statue, and very well loved by all tourists and even locals! Artsy Statue Series #2: Monopoly pieces such as the iron, top hat, and wheel barrow! Artsy Statue Series #3: Sorry pieces, both yellow and red! Artsy Statue Series #4: Dominoes!! Artsy Statue Series #5: BINGO. Artsy Statue Series #6: Chess Pieces. It was the most fun you can have with statues if you luuurve board games like we do!
beer at a pub… I think it’s a sign that we’re going to see famous people any day now! We ate a quick breakfast (pretty bleak spread, even for Days Inn!) and hopped into the bat mobile for a quick ride over to Hershey, PA. We took an amazing moving cart tour of the fabulousness that is Chocolate World twice because it really was that nice (imagine these 3 adorable cows singing to you, the word that would come to your mind would be: fabulous, right?!), did a chocolate tasting in 
which we all earned masters degrees in chocolate tasting, and watched a hysterical little 3D movie on the history of chocolate. The 3D movie necessitated some pretty sweet glasses that we hope you’ll love, too, and was full of seat moving, rain falling, and mouse to toe swooshing (fake mice, silly). The only possible thing it lacked was actual Hershey Kisses falling on the audience, which we were pretty sad about, but hey, it had EVERYTHING else we imagined 3D would! I was very proud of my recent visit to Ecuador where 
I was invited to visit a friend at his cocoa farm/ banana farm/ animal rescue center and got to see cocoa plants in every stage of growth. His daughter (who is a manager at the farm/center) picked a cocoa pod off a tree for us, cracked it open and shared with us the goodness that is the pulp around cocoa beans. And here you thought it was just cocoa beans that were good! We learned, in Hershey University, that monkeys taught humans about cocoa beans when they would open the pods and eat the pulp, spitting the bitter seeds to the ground to ferment and turn into what we today call cocoa beans… They probably used to call (and still do, for all I know) them oooh ooooh ooooooooooooh eeeeeehs, or something equally 
monkeylike. Hershey University also taught us that in a proper chocolate tasting you have to 1) Look, 2) Listen, 3) Smell, and 4) Taste. T*Star took this awesome pic of Nancy listening to her chocolate and I decided T*Star should look at mine. You know, since it's one of the steps.After our Chocolate World enjoyment, we hopped back into the bat mobile and drove a couple more hours on to Philadelphia. En route we saw a sign for Starner Road, which happens to be the last name of one of our fabulous four road trippers, and so we made sure to pass off the tiara (yes one of the other road tripper had the tiara on in the
car and in Chocolate World, Eva aren’t you proud?!). Nancy’s crackberry apparently isn’t as big of a fan of PA as we are, and it has blocked internet for the last 24 hours. She was finally able to call tech support this evening and in her 45 min call with “Terrance”, she discovered that he a- lives in Virginia just outside of DC, b- will be her official road trip phone boyfriend, and c- recently saw the latest Transformers movie. T*Stars boyfriend, who we lovingly refer to as Fleak (the Fly as he is what is commonly referred to as a house fly), was kicked out of the car after he a- slept with T*Star/on the wall in our hotel room, b- snuck into the car and got a free ride almost all of the way to Philly, and c- was shooed out the window after tickling Colleen’s toes in typical mosca fashion.
After settling into the hotel we headed to South Philly to see the cheese steak competition between Geno’s and Pat’s, noting that Geno’s had a shorter line, so we ate dinner there. It was pretty darn good, mostly because of the secret ingredient: whiz… cheese whiz. We’re pretty stoked to be able to compare the two restaurants with a trip to Pat’s tomorrow for lunch as they are both Philly Phamous! After our filling dinner, we walked around downtown looking at all of the statues of Ben Franklin (they’re a bit obsessed with him around here… he must be *kinda* a big deal) and all of the fun artsy statues. Artsy Statue #1 on our tour: LO (over) VE. Very happy lil statue, and very well loved by all tourists and even locals! Artsy Statue Series #2: Monopoly pieces such as the iron, top hat, and wheel barrow! Artsy Statue Series #3: Sorry pieces, both yellow and red! Artsy Statue Series #4: Dominoes!! Artsy Statue Series #5: BINGO. Artsy Statue Series #6: Chess Pieces. It was the most fun you can have with statues if you luuurve board games like we do!
We are a bit exhausted from such an awesome first 11 days of the road trip, so we’re hoping (ok, I’m hoping) to turn in before ten for the first time in 11 days. Hope Mark Wahlberg visits all of your dreams… or just mine… and thanks for reading! We’re also double (some call it multi) tasking and getting more pics in tonight, so be sure to look back over old blog posts after enjoying this one! Love, Crack, Pants, & Estrella (and Evabug in spirit!!! We miss you already, hon!!!!)
those photos are greaaaat! really adds flavor to the blog. speaking of flavor I'm going to add those four little steps to my next M&M tasting. I would only add one thing I've learned recently about how to make eating even more enjoyable: close your eyes as you eat. no, really, it's amazing. (and you eat slower....)love to all, keep blogging. Babs
ReplyDeleteHi ladies!! This is Kristi Driggers. I know Trish via Jon & Julia. Anyway.... I recently returned from a trip to the UP, so I'm catching up on your crazy adventures.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that you are trying/comparing Pat's & Geno's. This recently became a Bucket List goal of mine after watching some Travel Channel show about said establishments. Very cool!!
Enjoy the rest of your excellent adventure! I will continue to read your tales. :)