Excursion 2003 – Hershey Park

Nancy, her daughter Lauren, Lauren’s boyfriend Ryan, and I went to Heshey, Pennsylvania, July 24-26, 2003. I met the three of them on Thursday, July 24, at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center on I-83 north, and after gathering some maps and “local attraction” information we headed for Harrisburg, with Nancy riding with me in the 300ZX and Ryan and Lauren following along in the minivan.

We arrived in Harrisburg in the late morning and left the Z at the hotel where we had reservations for the night. We then headed over to Hershey Park, where, once we paid for our tickets and went throught the gate, Nancy and I went one way and Ryan and Lauren went another. Not to worry, though – we all had our cell phones with us.

Now, Nancy and I both love Roller-Coasters, so we looked at a map of the park and planned the most efficient way to ride as many of the coasters as possible. They were all fun, but one in particular stands out; the “Wild Mouse” looks pretty tame from the ground, but is truly wild once you get on it. It doesn’t go very fast, but it’s really pretty high up and you can’t see anything out the side of the car except thin air. It also takes the turns – which are not banked – without bothering to slow down! With about a dozen coasters in the park, we pretty much rode Roller-Coasters for the rest of the day, with a short break to eat lunch.

After rendezvousing with Lauren and Ryan, we headed back to the hotel to check in and clean up before dinner. Then we headed out to find a nice restaurant to have dinner. We actually found a really nice place with very good food, and I wish I could remember the name of it! Anyway, a good time was had by all and we returned to the hotel completely exhausted (at least those of us over 40 were exhausted.)

We spent Friday morning and the early part of the afternoon at a local Family Fun Center (again, I forget the name, but it was pretty neat). We played Putt-Putt, some video games, Duck Pin Bowling, another bowling-like game called something like “Skoodles” or “Spoodles” or something like that which Nancy was familiar with but which I’d never seen before. Then Ryan and I each took a turn in the Batting Cage.

Pride of the Susquehana RiverboatAfter having a blast at the Family Fun Center, we went back to the hotel and all took naps before getting ready for our dinner on the Pride of the Susquehana Riverboat. The food was okay and the atmosphere was very pleasant; there was a singer/keyboardist playing requests. The scenery was good, and the ride was very relaxing. The only bad part was that there was a baseball game at the stadium which is right next to where the boat docks, and the game was over just about the same time we returned from the cruise. Now, it’s been my experience that the drivers in Pennsylvania pretty much have all they can handle just keeping their cars on the paved surface, so you should have seen them all trying to exit the local public parking area at the same time! Good grief!

On Saturday morning we headed back to Salisbury, with a detour to Alexandria to pick up a few things. One of the things I picked up, unbeknownst to Nancy, was the diamond engagement ring I’d purchased in Augusta, GA, when we visited my parents the month before. On the way to Salisbury, we stopped to have dinner at the Fisherman’s Inn, which just happens to be the place where we met for the very first time. I had invited a couple of other friends to join us for dinner there, and everyone except Nancy and Lauren knew that I was going to propose to Nancy that night. She was definitely surprised! In case you don’t already know what she said, check out Road Trip 2003 – Kitty Hawk