Hershey, Pennsylvania
The Sweetest Place on Earth

I wouldn't describe myself as a complete chocoholic. I can resist the racks of candy at the grocery checkout, and I think that Godiva is for snobs. Just because the fob on my key ring is a Hershey's Kiss and that I've been known to pounce on people carrying boxes of Whoppers Malted Milk Balls doesn't mean anything at all.

Ok, face it. For someone like me, visiting Hershey, Pennsylvania is very close to a religious pilgrimage.

There's a special quality to the very air in Hershey. Some places have that. Gardens carry the scent of blooming flowers; the ocean has a salty tang; a bakery is filled with the aroma of warm bread.

In Hershey, it's the rich, intoxicating, wonderful fragrance of chocolate. It's not overwhelming. It's carried lightly on the breeze, there just enough to tease your nose and remind your taste buds that this is the town that chocolate built.

Even if you have a cold or are wearing perfume you can't miss the chocolate connection. The street lights in town are all shaped like Hershey Kisses. The main streets have names like Chocolate Avenue and Cocoa Avenue, while the smaller roads are named after varieties of cocoa beans.

Milton Hershey built his factory in the rolling Pennsylvania countryside because he knew this was where he could find the most important ingredient in making his special chocolate - milk. The pastures around here are dotted with black-and-white heifers, each one busily grazing away so she can make her contribution to satisfying America's sweet tooth.

Actually, the cows come along fairly late in the chocolate-making process. To see how chocolate is made, visit Hershey's Chocolate World. The trip starts with a short stroll 'through' a tropical rain forest plantation, complete with lighting and sound effects, and a video showing how cocoa pods are harvested.

Then there's a ride through a simulated factory tour. You'll see what happens from the time the beans arrive in a sack at the dock to the final product being wrapped in the silver foil that contains "The Great American Chocolate Bar."

It's a cleverly designed trip with lots of demonstrations of equipment - the mixers gently stirring great vats of chocolate; the 'squirters' that drop semi-liquid chocolate into perfect kiss shapes; the machines that wrap each piece of candy. At the end of the ride, you become a quality control supervisor as a smiling attendant hands you a Hershey's Bar.

That's just a preview of what's waiting in the adjacent gift shop. Here is the world's largest collection of Hershey-themed souvenirs, gifts, t-shirts, plush toys shaped like Hershey's candies, even Christmas tree lights shaped like Hershey Kisses.

And, of course, you can buy chocolate souvenirs here, too. This is the candy world's answer to outlet shopping. I didn't realize all the candies that Hershey's makes. Not just Hershey Bars and Kisses, but Milk Duds, Mounds, Almond Joy, York Peppermint Patties, Twizzlers, and Whoppers. If you bake or cook you can stock up on chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut flakes, raspberry chips, toffee pieces - all of the things needed to whip up great cookies, cakes, and brownies. They're all at a discount, of course.

While thinking about a regular meal might be a little difficult in Chocolate World, don't bypass the Chocolate Town Café, It's a bright, cheerful restaurant with several meal plans for groups.

The Hershey Museum is next door to Chocolate World. It tells a lot about Milton Hershey, and the town and company that bear his name.

He was not an overnight success. After failing as a candy maker in Philadelphia and New York, he finally struck it rich making caramels. Then he sold his caramel business to devote himself to making what became his world-famous chocolate.

Knowing that his factory and his business depended on his employees, he paid them some of the highest salaries for factory workers. The town he established was a model for middle-class workers, with large homes, parks, amusements, and schools, all paid for or underwritten by Hershey. The museum has some artifacts from the town, including one of the old fire engines.

The museum teaches a lot about the development of the candy industry. One of the more fun displays compares the time line of the Hershey Chocolate Company with what was happening in the rest of the country and the world. There's a full-sized mockup of an early candy kitchen and candy store (without samples, unfortunately), and a collection of candy molds, boxes the candy was shipped in, and some of the early chocolate-making machines.

Milton Hershey was very interested in the people who lived in the immediate area. He collected many artifacts from Pennsylvania German life in the mid-1800s. Displays show off Pennsylvania Dutch foods, schools, farms, weaving, linen-making, and other facets of life.

His other interest was in Native Americans Over the years, he gathered an extensive assortment of clothing, pottery, and ceremonial objects. Instead of just showing the collection, each display explains how and why they were used and gives a frame of reference for how the pieces fit into the Indian culture.

Milton Hershey and his wife, Kitty, traveled extensively. After one trip to Europe, Hershey decided to build a hotel that would rival anything he saw overseas.

The Hotel Hershey immediately became a landmark in the town. More accurately, it's a landmark above town. The Spanish-styled building sits on the hill overlooking the valley where the town of Hershey, the factory, Chocolate World, and all those pastures filled with cows are poised like a miniature village in a model train garden.

Step into the hotel lobby and you've left Pennsylvania far behind. You're standing in the courtyard of a Spanish hacienda. Water splashes from a fountain in the center of the room, velvet-upholstered chairs and carved tables form comfortable-looking conversation areas. The famous ceiling is painted sky blue with a few puffy clouds 'drifting' by.

The hotel's Circular Dining Room is also famous. The story goes that Milton Hershey wanted all of his guests to have unobstructed views of the gardens and reflecting pools outside the hotel, so he designed the dining room himself. It has no pillars or corners to block the view from any table. Special lunch and dinner menus let groups enjoy the ambiance, views, and award-winning food.

Hershey Gardens started with the thought of a nice rose garden for the residents of the town to enjoy. On the first day, the 3 ½ acre garden welcomed over 20-thousand visitors. Hershey immediately began expanding the garden. Today, it's a 23-acre oasis of not just roses, but daffodils, flowering cherry trees, magnolias, cedars, sequoias, and dozens of other plants, flowers, and trees.

A special feature is the outdoor Butterfly House. It's a carefully planned and tended habitat for over 25 varieties of North American butterflies. Open from mid-June to mid-September, a walk through the Butterfly House is a visit to a magic place where you can't help but smile.

Of all of his accomplishments, Milton Hershey was most proud of the school that bears his name. The Hersheys had no children, but they were deeply concerned about disadvantaged youth. They started the Milton Hershey School in 1909 with an enrollment of four boys.

In 1915, Kitty died after several years of fighting chronic illnesses. Three years later, Milton turned over his entire fortune, worth $60-million dollars, to the school. He did it so quietly that the public didn't learn about it for nearly five years. The Trust he established for the school means that the Hershey Company exists primarily to benefit the school. Since its founding, over seven thousand children have attended the school.

Visitors are welcomed at the imposing Founders Hall Rotunda. It rises abruptly from the open fields and is clearly visible from many roads near town. The largest rotunda in the Western Hemisphere, it's 137 feet from the floor to the top of the dome. In the center of the room is a statue of Milton Hershey with his hand resting on the shoulder of a young boy. Commissioned to celebrate the school's 50th anniversary, the inscription on its base reads: His Deeds are His Monument; His Life is our Inspiration.

In the Heritage Room, a video called The Vision tells more about the school and its mission. After watching it, you'll have a hard time resisting the urge to buy a Hershey Bar whenever you see them for sale. After all, since the proceeds all go to charity, isn't every purchase a tax deduction?
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