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Unique Family Places in PENNSYLVANIA this Holiday
By Michele Zavatsky

Holidays have always been a unique and wonderful time for families to experience the special spark of the season. Some advance planning is necessary…especially around the holidays when your kids are anxious and full of extra energy. Many parents have expressed that they want to focus on easy, inexpensive day or weekend trips, so here are some ideas that can fill that need.

How about some traditional, holiday season favorites? You know…the kinds of events that your children will cherish, and will probably take parents “back in time” to their childhood.

Catch some kitchen “elves” at the “Sweetest Chocolate Factory Tour south of the North Pole” ( www.wolfgangcandy.com,  York, Pa). When you enter the Bavarian-style shop, it will take you back to the 1920s candy shops of old. Notice the antique delivery truck the family used to sell chocolate candies door to door. Look through the colorful baskets full of yummy treats. Smell the wafting allure of fresh-dipped chocolates at the soda fountain. At Wolfgang Candy Company, you can tour a REAL factory donning a hair net. Their original corn starch machine is still in use. Smell and taste samples as you go. This time of year, full production is in swing. It’s exciting to watch the workers busy preparing treats for boys and girls across the world!

Next, see your favorite snacks being made as “Chipper”, the Herr’s Potato Chip ( www.herrs.com  , Nottingham, Pa.) mascot, guides your family on an educational and fun tour. Watch huge hoppers of potatoes being peeled (how does a machine do it?), sliced, and baked or fried. See how technology is used to watch the chips (looking for any burnt ones) flying off the conveyor into the spinning bagging carousels. The aroma in the air is simply delicious. Chips and snack foods are everywhere you look, and “Chipper” is so cute! Most factory tours are also better to experience in the colder weather since the manufacturing processes produce a lot of heat.

How about watching your kid’s eyes “light up” at a Festival of Lights? You can ring in the holiday season right after your tour of Herr’s. The company’s four-acre headquarters is transformed into a winter wonderland of gleaming lights every November. The free driving tour incorporates more than 180,000 sparkling lights. Classic family favorites include oversized falling snowflakes, delightfully hung Christmas balls, a nativity scene, “Big Red,” and the famous 12-foot wreath and giant bow adorning the snack factory warehouse. The crisp air and sparkling lights will make this “village” feel like you are in Santa’s workshop. Light Festivals are growing in popularity and an increasing number of communities are sponsoring them. These events are a delightful way to spend an evening sipping hot chocolate or hot cider, eating cookies or snacks, singing holiday songs, and preparing for the extended family fun times. You’ll also find festivals in charming places such as museums in Lancaster, Strasburg and Bernville. All events include thousands of lights and holiday and storybook characters. Most events are held daily in the evenings with a small admission or a carload price.

If you’re still longing for adventure and whimsy, check out Roadside America ( www.roadsideamericainc.com,  Shartlesville, Pa). Kids lose their breath as they enter the enormous and wonderful train village. It’s the largest known indoor miniature train village. The creator began as a young boy whittling blocks of wood into different models of buildings he saw around him. Kids are enchanted by the moving trains (over bridges, through tunnels), trolleys, bubbling fountains, and the aircraft as they swoop and dive through the air. Parents relive childhood dreams playing with toy animals, people, and machinery as they examine all the details. Kids’ favorites are the 50 plus pushbuttons that make trains or figures move. Don’t leave until you’ve seen the Night Pageant.

Entertaining children shouldn’t be so hard. Regardless of the ages of your kids, or how much you can spend, there is a practical side of planning a holiday excursion around Pennsylvania that can lead you to all the wonders the state has to offer. 

This article contains the kind of details you can find on more than 600 places and events included in KIDS LOVE PENNSYLVANIA –A Family Travel Guide to Exploring “Kid-Tested” Places in Pennsylvania…Year Round! You won’t find all of this information and personal kid-tested reviews anywhere else. To find out more, visit www.KidsLoveTravel.com