Wilbur Chocolate

 Our last day in the Hershey area we spent in this town.  We went looking for a nice family cafe for lunch but were unable to find one.  This historic village has grown into a city with a trendy historic downtown designed for tourists.  We ate at Burger King.  I really wanted something nicer for Duane's birthday, but he was happy to postpone his birthday dinner in favor of a burger and fries.

We stopped in the visitors' center to see if there was anything else of interest in Lititz besides our main objective--

this chocolate factory.  I liked the clock too.

We had never heard of Wilbur chocolates and I decided that in all fairness we needed to give them a taste test.  Here I could smell the chocolate outside the factory.  Yum!!!

The bottom floor of the building housed the Wilbur Chocolate Candy Americana Antique Collectibles showroom and Candy Store.  The tiny museum held hundreds of old cocoa tins, antique candy molds, original artwork and 19th century advertising slogans.  There was a large collection of rare chocolate pots (pitchers) from around the world.  The museum was tiny and none of the displays were marked.  I didn't take a pic of the chocolate pots because I didn't understand their significance.  I thought they were just china pitchers.  The information given above I got from their informative brochure I picked up at the visitor's center.  

We watched a short video of the chocolate making process from the growing of beans through the final steps of production.  In the candy kitchen we watched one woman hand wrapping chocolates and one making chocolate covered animal crackers.  

Some chocolate creations

Themed chocolate sets train and school teacher--scissors, ruler, stapler, bus, apple.

Now that's what I call a candy bar.

Lititz main street in the historic downtown.  The steepled building is not a church but a town hall.  We thought it interesting.

Further side of town

Every town we visited had a lot of the old Federalist houses.  They look like two saltine boxes on top of each other with a chimney at either end.  Very versatile, I think.  If you need more room, you add an ell to either side.  I like the look of them.

Just at the edge of town I finally found my elusive close line!!  We managed to get turned around, found a wide berm to stop, and a clear shot of the whole thing.  The pulley lets you stand in one spot, then raise the line to catch the breeze higher up.  Genius!  Sorry, I guess you have to had to hang clothes to appreciate it. 

Long curving hills, even on the main roads

A beautiful day for a beautiful ride.

Another Federalist house.

Home again--the gate house and drive going into the park.

Back at the house we had our taste test--Wilbur dark chocolate 'buds' against Hersey Special Dark Kisses (formally known as buds).  Duane liked the buds best, but I reminded him that the kisses had less sugar.  We decided they were both very good.

Next up, Alexandria, VA.

Louise and Duane