The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

 

Palma Vecchio, "Assumption of Mary," 1512-14 (Image: Web Gallery of Art)

Rose and Joe's Road Trip: Pennsylvania

This 24-day itinerary, planned and tested personally by Joe & Rose Herrmann, is a driving tour of the mid-Atlantic, including nine nights near Hershey, Pennsylvania.  This trip begins and ends in San Antonio, Florida.  (All quotes from Joe Herrmann's correspondence.  Facilities open in 1970 may be unavailable today.)

Day 1 (526 miles): North on I-75 past Gainesville and on I-85 past Atlanta to Tugaloo State Park "on the shores of Lake Hartwell" where "everything is peaceful and quiet" and there are "no gnats, mosquitoes, or flies."    [Taking U.S. 129 and U.S. 441 through Athens (and bypassing Atlanta) saves 29 miles but adds 4 minutes.]

Day 2 (365 miles): North on I-85 through Charlotte and Durham to South Hill, Virginia.  Stay at the KOA Campground at Lake Gibson, where the campground has a swimming pool, although "the lake is clear as crystal and should be a good place to swim."

Day 3 (311 miles): North on I-85, I-95, and I-83 through Richmond, Arlington, Washington, Baltimore, York, and Harrisburg to Hershey ("Chocolate Town, U.S.A."), which is part of Derry Township.

Day 4: Visit Hershey, including the Hershey Hospital, and the surrounding countryside. 

Day 5: Visit Hummelstown, the Hershey Motel, and Cocoa Avenue, "where all the street lamps are made in the shape of chocolate drops."

Day 6: Ride the Hershey Monorail, visit the Hershey Chocolate Factory, which "is a quite interesting trip, showing the highlights of chocolate and cocoa making and the packaging and canning of the many products put up in this plant."  Have lunch at the Cocoa Hotel Restaurant and visit the Hershey Community Theatre, the Hershey Department Store, and the Hershey Museum.

Day 7: Visit the Airstream Rally talent show and hobby show.

Day 8: Driving tour of the countryside, with "wild flowers of every type, color, and description all along the roadways."  Visit the Hershey rose gardens, the Hershey Hotel, the Hershey Homestead, and Catherine Hall.  Attend concert at Hershey Park.

Day 9.  Visit the Dutch Country Store in Middletown and tour Indian Echo Cave, which is "a cool 52 degrees." Attend ball at the Arena.

Day 10.  Watch parade, attend photo, painting, and flower arrangement displays.  Visit Hershey Park and ride the roller coaster.

Day 11.  Visit Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church.  Attend the amateur skit program.

Day 12 (148 miles): West on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, lunch at the top of Blue Knob Mountain, then north to Altoona, "a rather large town" where "the streets are mostly narrow and lined with duplex houses."

Day 13: Visit Horseshoe Bend, "where the engine almost meets the caboose, and trains are going both north & south at the same time."  Drive up the mountain to Gallitzin.

Day 14: Hike up the trail and admire "many gorgeous wildflowers of every size and color" and pick some blueberries.

Day 15 (173 miles): North to Tyrone and then south "thru miles and miles of coal strip mines" to Shartlesville.

Day 16 (20 miles):   Visit Roadside America ("It is truly fantastic what one man and his family can do, when they set out to do something worthwhile").  South to Reading. 

Day 17: Visit the Bavarian Summer Festival at the Lakewood dance hall in Barnesville, the "theme being BEER, B E E R, B E E R, and more BEER, as long as it is Bavarian beer." 

Day 18: Visit Stony Creek Mills.

Day 19: Visit the Caloric factory in Topton, where they make "150 to 180 gas ranges each hour."  Drive through Pottstown, "where Mrs. Smith has the largest Pie Factory in the country," have lunch in Phoenixville, and visit the Linette Candy Factory in Reading, where "tender loving care goes into every part of the process."   Have supper at Zinn's Diner, with Pennsylvania Dutch home cooking.

Day 20: Rest.

Day 21 (74 miles): South to Bel Air, Maryland.  Visit Ephrata Cloisters.  Have lunch at the Pennsylvania Farm Museum.

Day 22 (419 miles): South "thru the Tobacco Belt of Maryland and Virginia," with "a great many unpainted tobacco barns," to York Hill, North Carolina.

Day 23 (226 miles):  South on I-85.  Visit the South Carolina Tricentennial Exposition in Greenville.  Spend the night in Commerce, Georgia.

Day 24 (495 miles): South on I-85 and I-75 to San Antonio, Florida.