Alright, let's get down to specifics

Here we are in January. I had a choice today of cleaning out all my storage area or getting some information out to you and some plans solidified for the family reunion. Getting information out sounded a lot more fun, so let's see what we can do.

I have reserved a venue for us to meet on Friday night and Saturday. Our family belongs to a swim club in a little town called Hummesltown right outside of Hershey. It's a nice family oriented pool with some enclosed pavilions where we may prepare meals, have things delivered, keep things chilled in the refrigerator and just hang out if we would like. There is a large pool with four diving boards and a slide as well as a lap pool and kiddie pool. There is also a sandbox and some swings for toddlers. They also have some volleyball nets, tennis courts and shuffleboard. So, we have lots of activities that we can participate in throughout the day as well as trying to plan a few things to get to know each other again. It's a nice little place and I think it will accomodate us quite well.

Friday night, Nathan and I would like to treat you all to dinner. Nathan is currently working at BC Natural chicken and we would like to treat you to a barbeque chicken evening with sides and drinks at the Hummelstown pool. You may bring your swimmies if you would like and do a little swimming or visit and play games. It will be fantastic I'm sure. We will use this evening to get acquainted and fill you in on activities that are planned for the weekend as a group as well as other things you may want to do on your own. (I will do my best to try to post things here as well so you can be more informed before you arrive.)

Saturday morning I thought we could plan a couple of things. There is a really fun, in my opinion, Hershey tour. You catch a trolley at Chocolate World and the driver takes you around town while the tour guide tells about the history of Hershey. It's not just a narrative though. There's a fun little program that they perform and they pass out chocolate through the whole tour. If nothing else, the chocolate is worth it. This tour takes about an hour and I think would be a good way to start your time in Hershey. I don't believe the tour is too expensive, but will check on individual prices and will see about group rates.

As I mentioned, this takes place at "Chocolate World". This is a fun place that is mostly a gift shop with Hershey products and souvenirs, but there are also some neat things you can do here as well. Admission is free and there is a little ride that will take you through how Hershey makes their products. Again, fun and informational. There's also a really big 3-D show and some places to eat if you would like to eat there. They also have a fun activity for the kids to be Hershey workers...and adults can too if they would like.

If you're interested in more history, there is a brand new museum that they built last year that has all sorts of interactive things to help you learn about Milton Hershey and his quest to build a business and community for his workers. You may want to spend some time there as well on Saturday morning and I could even look into getting some group rates or possibly even sign us up for a chocolate making class, where they share even more history of the town.

Since many of the hotels are now offering breakfast as part of your stay, I thought we could be on our own for breakfast and lunch on Saturday. You are welcome to go anywhere you want, of course, during the day, but the pavilion at the pool will be available to us from 1 - 9. So if you'd like to come and just have a fun day swimming, playing and visiting, that option is open as well. We will all gather in the evening for dinner and talents or kareoke...I haven't yet thought specifically about what we will do for the evening but am open to ideas. I have a few thoughts, but would have to solidify them before I share. Dinner will be a bring your own meat and share a side meal. I know it's really casual, but I am a casual type person. My main goal is to give us all the opportunity to reconnect.

I would like to get together Sunday morning for a good-bye brunch. I would like to try to find a restaurant where we can all meet and say our good-byes. I have not figured this out yet. If the weather is nice, we could possibly meet at my house. I will bring you up to speed on that. We have a really large yard and a really small old house. We are starting to renovate our home and who knows where we'll be in July. So, we would be happy to open our yard here and have us all have a light brunch, but if the weather does not cooperate, we couldn't move the party inside since there's not quite the room. So, as Scarlett O'Hara would say, I'll think about that tomorrow.

The only cost, besides the Saturday evening meal and any snacks you would like to bring, for the use of the pavilion is $3 per person, including children, and $1 for seniors. Last year, Mary Bernice and Mike qualified as seniors and they're...what...in their fifties. So I am assuming fifty and above are considered seniors. That cost would be for each day we use it. I will just collect that money the days we are there. Sound fair?

The additional costs would be if you would like to participate in the tour and the museum. The trolley tour cost are ages 13-61 12.95, 62+ 11.95, 3 - 12 5.95, 0-2 Free. If we could buy our tokens in groups of 20 or more the price would be 13-61 10.95, 62+ 9.95, 3 - 12 4.95 and 0 - 2 still Free.

The "Museum Experience" is $10 for 13 - 61, Seniors $9 and $7.50 for kids 3-12. There are group rates available, but I would have to look further to find those out. I'll get back to you on that.

I wanted to keep our group activities pretty simple and local. There are so many more things to see if you're planning on staying longer. We do have an amusement park that's right next to Chocolate World. The best days to go there, if you want the fewest crowds, are Sundays and Tuesdays. I've never been on a Sunday, but we usually plan Tuesday visits and the hype is true. There are shows to see as well as rides to ride and a water park as well. They also have Sunday concerts. The year before we moved here, they had the Jonas Bros. and Demi Lovato perform there. The next year they were so popular that they had to be moved to the stadium and we had to buy tickets. Last year they had the kid from Drake and Josh come sing, and they have also had David Cassidy and Davy Jones perform. Those concerts are included in the park ticket price. It's more for the up and comers as well as the has beens. (I don't really know if that's how you write it, but you know what I mean.) At any rate, they put on some good concerts from what I've heard.

If you want to venture out of Hershey, we have the Amish and Mennonite villages close by, Philidelphia is a two hour drive and New York is a three hour drive. There is also the option of a train ride to any of these places from Middletown, which is about 10 minutes outside of Hershey. If any of you are up for a train ride to New York, would love to join you. It's about $90 round trip from here to New York and I believe only about $32 from here to Philidelphia. Williamsburg, VA is about a 4 hour drive, Washington D.C. is a 2 1/2 hour drive, Gettysburg 45 min., Valley Forge 2 hours...I don't know if I can name enough places. I just really love the area and there are not enough available Saturdays for us to see it all. I guess we have a while though.

Places to stay...the town is really small, so anywhere you choose to stay won't be too far from anything you want to see, including the pool where we are gathering. If you want to stick with Hershey sponsered places, The Hershey Lodge is only a three minute drive from our house and is really nice and the Hotel Hershey is really fancy. These places, of course, are some of your higher priced places. If you are more in the mood for camping, there is a Hershey Campground. There are activities there that you can participate in and buses that will take you to the different tour areas. I can reserve some spots if we have enough people who would like to do this. They have cabins as well as RV and tent spots. You do need to supply your own linens and I don't believe there are any cabins with restrooms inside, just the shared restroom. There is a Marriott Springhill Suites that's nice and across the street from an antique car museum as well as close enought to all the other sights. I've not been to the Comfort Inn that they have right off of Hershey Park Drive, but it seems to be in pretty good condition. We did stay in the Days Inn on Chocolate Avenue and it was not that great. I mentioned before that I really think that finding hotels on your own will be the least expensive way to go. There are so many good deals online that I don't think I could beat them with a group rate of any sort. Like I said, the town is small so not matter where you stay, you won't be too far from the action. In your search, Hershey and Hummelstown and possibly Palmyra will be your closest options. Harrisburg is fairly close as well, the closer you get to Hershey, the more expensive they will run. I will warn you to book early because it does get busy here in the summers.

I hope this gets you all a little excited about the Bliss Family Reuion. I know I am excited to see all of you.