Thanksgiving! Thankful for Harry Potter & Chocolate at Hershey'sChocolate World

Hershey's Chocolate World decided to open its gates for chocolate lovers at 4 pm on Thanksgiving Day.

The Carlisle-Harrisburg Holiday Inn is a good place to stay at - they are pretty fancy and they have a great continental breakfast included in the package! They have a pancake maker pouring out super soft pancakes! O, and the syrup is sugar-free! The bread selection had wheat slices, perfect! There were bagels, and two types of muffins banana-nut and blueberry. A separate hot plate cinnamon swirl serve was there, and the coffee counter made me fall in love! The Smart Roast coffee is so, so delicious! Unlike others I have tried at hotels, it is not crude. So we stuffed ourselves with cinnamon rolls, pancakes, and muffins!

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ABC Family did us a huge favor and a Harry Potter movies marathon weekend started playing! That is how we spent the rest of the morning. You can never gt tired of watching the HP saga. Each time I watch it, it feels new. I found myself hooked the minute I saw Tom Riddle, inflicting misery on Harry, setting the basilisk free on him. That was one stunning movie moment. 

Mum commented that the credit for bringing the brilliant world of HP alive goes to the movie makers! I agree! But then, J.K. Rowling is a mastermind! I salute her each time I watch an HP movie. Then, there is Warner Bros that brought the book to life. To make things super awesome, Universal Orlando created the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

I really didn't wish to leave the room, really, but alas ... I had to leave Hermione transformed as Bellatrix and at Gringotts.

Anyway ...

Lunch was at Zahrah Restaurant, probably the only Halal eatery in the vicinity. Lunch was fantastic! The kababs were super juicy! The garlic naans were super fluffy and really buttery! I was one happy lunch-er, if that's even a word. I dined like a 100-day hungry warrior out there. Whoosh! Probably watching Hogwart feasts brought about that reaction.

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Lordship Gibbs and S.I.L. decided to take a detour in the spare time left until Hershey's Chocolate World to open. They decided to drive us to Penchot state park and show us a lake. I'm not a nature person, okay a little, but I liked the lake. It was super freezing (temperature wise) and with trees beginning to get bare, the scene looked pretty sinister. I did dip my finger intro the icy cold water - creepy weeds swayed to and fro underneath. 

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Hershey's Chocolate World was a mini wonderland at night. The best part about it is that it is free! For three hours you get free parking as well. Also, free, is Hershey's Great American Chocolate Tour. Moving four seater carts take you through the Hershey's chocolate manufacturing tour. Animatronics and robotics have been used to recreate parts of the chocolate factory. Sherris and I were cracking up when the tour started and three cows began to sing the Hershey's Milk Chocolate song. The ride reminded me of the boat ride Willy Wonka took his guests on to show them around the chocolate factory. Of course, there was no Johnny Depp Wonka around! So there was no chance of me getting a chance to own the factory and hitting on him. The ride was divided into sections according to the manufacturing processes. It began from sorting the cocoa bean, to crushing it, making a paste, and then we saw chocolate goodness being made. Sherris and I were going bonkers! We were two seconds away from grabbing a fake chocolate from the conveyer belts. But, for chocoholics like us, they'd already mentioned that they'll be handing out free samples - so Sherris and I hung on!

We did get our free samples! Rolo minis! 

The exit led us into a planet of Hershey's shopping.

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