Hershey, Pennsylvania

Saturday, October 15, 2011 - Sunday, October 16, 2011

So, here we have the debut of 'Team Happily Ever After'! This was the first race that Jill and I did as a relay team. Left on Saturday morning, driving straight through to Hershey. Stopped at the expo to pick up our race stuff (bib, tech shirt, cool bag with the usual coupons in it). Tried to walk around there for a bit, but considering it was outside at Hershey Stadium and the wind was blowing at about 40 MPH, we decided to cut our trip there short. Drove over to Chocolate Avenue where we had lunch at the Chocolate Avenue Grill. Another good find in this tiny burgh!

Our race packets included tickets for 'Hersheypark in the Dark', so after lunch we headed back to the park and found that it was packed! As many people there for this weekend event as there are in the middle of the summer it seemed! We did what rides we could (including the SuperBooperLooper of course, and the Whip!) before we had had enough of the crowds and bratty kids.

For our 'carb up' dinner, we found a place called Piazza Sorrento which was across from the Hershey Medical Center. We sat at a table in the bar area, and had a good pasta dinner in preparation for the race. After dinner, we made our way to our hotel for the night - the Comfort Suites on Milroy Road in Hummelstown. Newer looking hotel, very nice staff, a definite keeper!

Sunday was race day! A cold race day at that! I ran the first leg of the relay, and Jill was waiting for me on the golf course somewhere shortly after the mile 6 marker. Nice course, warmed up as we ran and the sun came out, quite a few hills to contend with (last two halfs for me were relatively flat, so this was a learning experience to say the least). Great medal at the end, as well as another goody bag with snacks (including, of course, a Hershey's chocolate bar!). There was even a 'chocolate stop' at mile 9 for Jill where they were handing out Hershey Kisses to the runners (along with water and Gatorade of course).

The low point of the entire weekend was when we tried to get out of the parking lot. It was clear the organizers hadn't thought this part of the race out all that well, and it was literal gridlock throughout. Luckily, they opened another exit behind us and we were able to scoot out that way, but it still took us a good half hour to just get out of the parking lot - bad planning on their part.

Back to the hotel, checked out, and then off to find some post race eats! Jill searched out a little gem of a whole in the wall - the Boro Bar & Grill was just what the post race doctor ordered! Cheap pints of beer, wings, and a great chicken philly - a keeper! After lunch, we stopped at the Outlets at Hershey for a bit and then made the drive home.

Trip Notes: