New York & Pennsylvania

My aunt and uncle and two cousins live in New York. Since we were all small, we've alternated going out there and them coming here to visit. This was our turn to go out there.

On this particular trip, we did something we meant to do years ago, but vehicle issues prevented us from actually doing it. You'll have to keep reading to find out what that is, although, if you follow me on Instagram, you've seen it in my Stories already :)

First, New York. We did a lot of talking and laughing. My dad and his brother are so fun when they are together (they're fun when they're not together, but you know what I mean). When we are all in one place, there are a LOT of nerdy conversations, because the guys and my cousins are all very smart and science-y. My mom, aunt, and I just do our own thing when they go off into theoretical realms.

We showed them Jackbox.tv and played all the games we have. If you don't know what that is, you should go check it out. It's very fun. My favorite game is Quiplash. Fair warning though, get packs that have Family Friendly filters. Otherwise there is some, shall we say, interesting content.

We found out that Paul Rudd (Marvel's AntMan) owns a candy shop near where my family lives, so we had to go visit. Someone famous owns a candy shop? It was super tiny but cute. Kind of looked like someone raided an antique store (or my Oma's basement) for the decor.

Just down the street from the candy shop was the oldest inn in America - The Beeckman Arms. It. Was. So. Cool!!!! Established in 1766!!! I love old things and I just could not believe it was still here. I was in a building that was around over 200 years ago!

(Side note, we found a building painted purple and gold, which happens to match the colors of the team my brother played for in high school. My dad was wearing the shirt and we made him stand in front of the building for a picture, but he didn't really want to. His expression made my mom bust out laughing and then we were all laughing. It was really amusing).

Then we went to Hershey's Chocolate World. We were going to stop several years ago, but our "extra" days went to sitting around for repairs to our motorhome. It didn't particularly care for the Pennsylvania mountains.

When we first walked in, I experienced a bit of sensory overload. There were so many lights and colors and it was just a lot. Children with autism might have a hard time there. We did a full roster of activities: Hershey's Academy, where we learned about chocolate and the "proper" way to eat it using all five of our senses; a 4D movie about chocolate (I sat that one out); a trolley tour of the town, learning all sorts of neat things about Milton Hershey and how he got started; a tour of "the factory", detailing the process of chocolate making (you can't go in the real factory, so they have models and things set up that show you what happens in the factory). Lastly, we got to make our own candy bars!

It was a full day, with lots of chocolate eating and buying. When we were standing in line for lunch, Dad was wondering which came first - the chicken nugget or the chicken tender. The guy behind us said the tender; it comes from the tenderloin part of the chicken. He told us several cool things about chicken (like how the wings used to be thrown away until someone decided to try frying them) and it turns out, he was a chef! The people you run into.

We tried cacao juice. It was... different. Not bad, but not like anything I've ever had before. I think I could grow to like it. It's so weird putting something up to your mouth, having no idea what to expect.

This is getting rather long, so I'm going to save Penn's Cave for another day! Stay tuned for part 2!