Day #16 Hershey Chocolate Factory

When we planned to the trip we let the kids choose some places they want to see. Of course when they saw the map and realized we'd be driving right past Hershey, PA on our way to NY they all wanted stop and take a tour. On their website it says free "factory tours". Don't be mislead, it's more like a Disneyland ride with pictures and videos along the way of how chocolate is made, with animated cows singing to you about milk chocolate!! The kids thought it was fun. I was wanting a real factory tour, but no. So then we told them they could choose a paid tour experience- like chocolate tasting, IMAX movie or creating their own candy bar. They were all going to choose to create their own choc bar with three ingredients and they'd get to keep their 5.4 ounce candy bar. This "experience" was $15 per kid. When I joked that they should just take the $15 and go to the gift shop and they'd get much more choc for the price-- it only took a few seconds before they all realized that was the jackpot. I kinda wanted to eat my words right after I said them! So we did something we NEVER do- just let them roam the candy gift shop and fill their baskets to $15 worth of chocolate. Seriously what were we thinking!? The boys were using the calculator on my phone to make sure they got the biggest bang for their buck (our buck!) haha! Caleb and Adam each went over their allotted amount and didn't want to put anything back so they paid some of their own money. ($6 & $2) Surprisingly, the prices were about the same as at a grocery store, not like normal gift shops that are way overpriced. I kinda skimped with the girls-- just couldn't bring myself to really giving them so much junk- so Anne got a couple of things and Ruby got a box of whoppers, which Eric and I helped her eat. ;)
The looks on their faces was priceless! They really were like kids in a candy shop! I told them to live it up because it probably wouldn't ever happen again. Our fridge in the RV was full to the brim with chocolate for the next few days until they ate it down. Every time we opened the fridge, chocolate fell out! (Rough problem to have, I realize.) :)