Vacation
Hershey Story Museum (Hershey, PA)
Learning about the Hershey Chocolate Company
Our family recently visited Hershey, PA. It was a short visit, but we had a lot of fun. The Hershey Story Museum was very interesting. It was neat learning about Milton Hershey and the history of the Hershey company. We made delicious treats in the Chocolate Lab, took a stroll downtown ,and went in a few small shops. Thankful for the an opportunity to visit this beautiful area. Maybe next time we go through town we can check out more fun family activities.
Mr. Hershey’s deposit on his Titanic ticket, he ended up not going because a business matter came up.
Inside the Hershey Museum is beautiful especially around the Holidays!
Hershey’s Cut Glass Torchere
Hershey’s for Health anyone!?
You can get tickets for the Chocolate Lab and make delicious chocolate treats!
Pick up a tasty treat at the Santry Cafe at The Hershey Story Museum!
It was cool clear day so we took a stroll in downtown Hershey.
You can see the Hershey Amusement in the background behind Chocolate Avenue!
The street lights are giant Hershey kisses!
Hershey grounds complete with bushes!
Atalaya Castle (Murrells Inlet, SC)
Hallway through the center courtyards, the water tower is in the middle
During our stay at Huntington Beach South Carolina State Park our family visited the Atalaya Castle. There is a small fee to tour the house, if you want you can purchase an audio tour for an additional fee. We choose to do the tour on our own.
Atalaya has a neat history! It was built by Acher and Anna Huntington during the Great Depression. Archer was their philanthropist from New York City and Anna was an artist. They built the house in South Carolina as a place to stay during the winter after Anna was diagnosed with tuberculosis. They designed the house after Spanish and Moorish architecture. The house has 30 room with a center courtyard full of native plants and a water tower. The Huntington’s insisted that the house be built by people from local community to help boost the economy in that area during the Great Depression. The house was once on 9,000 acres of land.
If you are in the area and have some extra time we recommend stopping by for a visit.
One side of the inner courtyard
Touring the castle
Anna was a sculpture and she designed these wrought iron pieces to cover the windows. They are both decorative and serve as protection from hurricanes.
Entry doorway
Vine growing up through the window
In the kitchen….
My crew!
Outside of Atalaya Castle
Marshes & Campground at Huntington Beach (Murrells Inlet, SC)
Peaceful
We had nice walks along the boardwalks near the marshes at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. The boardwalks went out over the marshes where you could see a variety of wildlife and enjoy the beautiful weather. There was at one point a nature center, but it was currently being rebuilt when we were there. It will be another great addition to the park once it is complete. There were not a lot of bugs in the evenings when we went for walks which was really nice. It was a good place to visit, explore, and spend time together with the family.
The Huntington Beach campgrounds were nice. We had electricity and water hookups at our campsite. There was only one trash dumpster in the whole campground and it is near the visitor center / gift store so depending on where your site is located you may have a good hike to get rid of your trash. The bathrooms only had 2 showers and there were not a lot of bathhouses on the campground. We went after school started so it was not the busiest season but there were still lines to get into the showers most days. Overall it was a great park and we enjoyed it. The biggest improvement would be in the bathhouses, they could have been a little cleaner and larger.
Sunsets were beautiful
We stayed at campsite 111. It was gravel and level
Nice walk at dusk through the marshlands
Awesome boardwalk that takes you through a good bit of the marshes
Sun is going down
The clouds looked pretty neat
Enjoying the last few rays
Sunset reflecting off the clouds
Quiet day at the marshes
Last rays of the sun going over the horizon
Huntington Beach State Park Chairs
Love this sign!
Beach Fun at Huntington Beach State Park (Murrells Inlet, SC)
Enjoying the rain on the beach!
We had a wonderful time on the beach at Huntington Beach State Park. It was a mix of sun and rain! The rain didn’t stop us from heading to the beach for some fun in the sand and water. We stayed at the Huntington Beach Campgrounds, it was a nice walk to the beach. Access to the beach wasn’t too far from our campground and it was pretty quiet. Only a few families were on the beach near us. If you walk further down the beach it got a little bit more crowded especially on the nicer days. Thankful for an opportunity to get away together and enjoy some time at the beach.
Digging in the sand and watching the little critters
On the run
Fun on the beach
Birds, Sand and the Atlantic Ocean
Sand art
My crew
All smiles
On the move
Atlantic Ocean
Dusk walk on the beach
Sun is going down and the rain clouds are moving in now.
Enjoyed our time at Huntington Beach
Kit Carson County Carousel (Burlington, CO)
Kit Carson County Carousel Wooden Token
This is the second time we have visited the Kit Carson Carousel. It sits on the edge of the Kit Carson County fairgrounds in the small town of Burlington, Colorado. The first time we visited the carousel we were driving Interstate 70 from Colorado to Kansas to visit family. We were looking for a good place to stop for a little bit and stretch our legs. It was such a neat place to visit we told other family members about it and the next time we were driving through we stopped to share the experience with them!
The carousel was #6 of the 74 carousels made by Philadelphia Toboggan Company. It was made in 1905 for the Elitch Gardens amusement park and was used until 1927. In 1928 Kit Carson County purchased the carousel for $1,200 (the price included shipping).
The carousel animals are stationary with three animals per row. The original Wurlitzer band organ has been restored and plays music when the carousel is in motion. The carousel is inside a 12 sided framed building on the edge of the fair grounds with a museum and small gift shop beside it. It is the only antique carousel that still has the original paint on both the panels and animals. Most modern carousel go approximately 8 mph, however, the Kit Carson one goes a whopping 12 mph.
The carousel has quite an interesting history. During the Great Depression the carousel spent several years in storage. They local town stored grain inside the building that housed the carousel. At one point 3 of the animals were stolen and later found in another state. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1978 and National Historic Landmark in 1987.
If you are in the area or driving through on I70 we would encourage you to stop and explore this neat carousel. It only costs 25 cents to ride the carousel and $1 to visit the museum.
Riding the Kit Carson County Carousel
Flowers at the Kit Carson Carousel
Going for another ride on the carousel!
All smiles!
Kit Carson Carousel building
Other side of the wooden token!
On the Road Again: Where Were We?
If you guessed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri you are correct! We have actually been in St. Louis 4 times already this month. I have seen the Arch many times driving through St. Louis, but a couple years ago we actually went up in it. It is a great place to visit with some neat history. There is actually a museum in the bottom of the arch.
Did you know?
- Arch is 630 feet tall
- It is made of Steel and Concrete
- Eero Saarinen was the Finnish-American architect who designed the Arch
- From the top of the Arch on a clear day you can see up 30 miles in either direction
- Tram ride takes 4 minutes to go up and 3 minutes to go down
- There are 1,076 steps inside the arch, however, they are only used for maintenance and emergencies
- It was originally called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial now it is the Gateway Arch National Park
- The Memorials to Thomas Jefferson, for his role in opening the West & Dred Scott who sued for his freedom in the Old Courthouse
- Directly across the Mississippi River from the Arch on the Illinois side is the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park where the Gateway Geyser (the tallest water fountain in the U.S.) and the Mississippi River Overlook can be found
If you are going through St. Louis, Missouri and have extra time I encourage you to check it out.
Wild Animal Adventures (Stanton, MO)
The 2 tigers were together in the pen, we got to see them interact, swim, play, and relax.
After the girls got out of Cub Creek camp in Missouri we went visited Wild Animal Adventures. It is outside of St. Louis in Stanton, Missouri. It was a smaller establishment, but the animals were well cared for. We went at busy time and their parking lot was full (they had a trailer blocking part of the parking lot which made it a little inconvenient) but after a few minutes we got a spot.
They have an indoor section with aquariums, touch tanks, birds, reptiles and more. Outside the have both farm and wild animals in different sections. The workers seemed to enjoy being there, interacted well with the animals and were happy to share stories about the animals.
Our girls did two extra interactions, playing with the foxes and the dingos. The dingos also known as “singing dogs” were tired so they were laying down and let the kids pet them. I was hoping to hear them “sing” but they were not into that while we were there. The workers allowed 4 people in at one time with the dingos. For the foxes they gave the kids “treats” aka cat food to feed to the foxes. Our two girls were the only ones other than the worker in the pen with the foxes. The foxes loved munching on the treats and were more energetic. The website lists the extra activities with a price range, however, at least one of the activities was more than their list price. They need to update their website if they are not still charging those rates.
Overall it was a fun stop for our family. The animals were fairly active and the employees were nice. If you are driving through the area it is a nice place to stop especially if you have kids that enjoy animals. We have included a sprinkling of photos from our trip to Wild Animal Adventures.
The llama had some personality.
Gorgeous colors
The kids were not interested in the pretty flowers, but I enjoyed them!
Their 3 legged white fox. He can still move quickly and nibbled up treats from the girls.
This one liked to interact and have conversations with you!
The llama was more interested in you if you had food!
Glad this one was in a cage and behind a window.
Beautiful white tiger!
Wild Animal Adventures
TrackRock Stable (Blairsville, GA)
We specifically picked Trackrock Campground as one of the places to stay so we could go to their stables. Our girls love horses. When we booked our campsite we also booked a 2 hour trail ride. They have about 65 horses on the ranch, 45 are owned by Trackrock and the other 20 are ones that people are boarding at their location.
The horses each had their own individual personalities. The trail was a little tight and steep in some places (bushes would brush up against you) and my horse, Tango, enjoyed bouncing from tree to tree. They had a lot of different trails you could ride on depending on the weather and wildlife in the area. There were bear tracks on one section of the trail and our horses were a little skittish in that area so we took another path.
We had 9 guests and 2 guides on our trail ride. We walked, trotted, and cantered with our horses. The trail went through the woods, meadows, streams and more. It was a hot day, but the majority of the ride was in the shade. At one point it started raining, however, it didn’t last very long so we didn’t get too wet. The horses were well trained yet had a lot of spunk. Thankful for the opportunity to go for our ride at Trackrock Stables. The kids LOVED it!
Karlie riding Chef
Jake on Carlos and Brina on Felipe
Enjoying the trail ride!
Our crew in one of the meadows.
Are we having fun yet!?
Trackrock Stables
TrackRock Campground (Blairsville, GA)
Our family recently had a weekend trip to the TrackRock Campgrounds in Blairsville, Georgia. We left on Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday. The campground was very nice and well maintained. We arrived after the office closed but they had our name posted with our campsite on the bulletin board.
There was a mix of retired couples and families as well as RVs and tents at the campgrounds. The campsites had enough space and trees around them to give everyone some privacy. We stayed in campsite #10 which had full hookups (water, electricity and sewer) and as a bonus wild blueberries! They were not quite ripe yet, but there were other berries around the property and a blueberry bucket in the office so they are pretty common.
They have a lake you can fish or swim in, a couple playgrounds, hiking trails, and more. TrackRock has their own stables were you can either board your own horse or go for a ride on one of theirs. They have a variety of horse trails.
Lake with the mountains in the background.
Barn with old farm equipment around it.
My favorite peeps!
Trackrock Campgrounds, Cabins & Stables
North Georgia Zoo & Farm (Cleveland, GA)
North Georgia Zoo & Farm is a great place to visit with your family, especially if your kids enjoy animals.
That turtle and zebra have familiar faces…. Thankful that the girls still occasionally “humor” me with the cheesy pictures!
Baby goats!
This porcupine has a fantastic breakfast, look at all those fruits & veggies!
The beaver is munching on his veggies too!
Beautiful animal!
Are you sure you don’t have another treat for me!?
Albino Kangaroo napping in the shade!
Singing dog, so wanted to hear it actually sing!!!
Brina loving all the animals!
Jake and Karlie waiting for the Animal Show to start
Soft….of course the girls wanted at least one when they found out that they sale them at this location
Fascinating to watch it run awhile!
A lot softer than we expected.
