Another State Capitol and A Revolutionary War Encampment

Today I stayed in Pennsylvania but ventured out of Philadelphia. I left early to avoid traffic and headed west on I76 to Harrisburg. The drive was uneventful but nice. Beautiful scenery and not a lot of traffic made for a relaxing and enjoyable trip. I arrived in Harrisburg around 8:00am and made my way straight to the Capitol.

House Chamber

I decided to walk around the building and take a few pictures before going in and touring the inside. Everyone in the Capitol was very nice and they were just starting a tour as I got there. The woman who gave the tour was very animated and knowledgeable. The tour lasted about 40 minutes and was really enjoyable. She took us through the main floor of the building and gave us a history of how Harrisburg and this building came to be the Capital and Capitol. We then went to the fourth floor and viewed the House and Senate Chambers from the galleries. The tour guide gave us information about the murals, stained glass windows, chandeliers and furniture. We next visited the Supreme Court Chamber - it was really nice but didn't compare with the House and Senate Chambers in terms of opulence. When the building was dedicated in 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt was there to do the honors and this is what he had to say about the building . . . "It's the handsomest building I ever saw." I have to agree with him, this is my favorite Capitol so far - I have visited 32 of them. After the tour we could wander on our own. I walked up and down the halls and visited the Governors Reception Room before deciding it was time to move on with my day.

Hershey Street Lights

I originally had plans to do some letterboxing in the area but all the clues I had were at libraries and they weren't open yet so I decided to move on and I headed to Hershey. On the way I stopped in Hummelstown at the library there and found DCLS Letterbox: Green. This was an easy find and I quickly stamped in so I could continue on my way. This box was part of an eight box series at libraries in the Dauphin County Library System and from what I could gather the stamp image was the same for all boxes - just stamped in different colors. So I guess finding one of them was enough and I could of stamped it 8 times in different colors and said I found them all - but I didn't. After the box was hidden again I continued on to Hershey. I made my way to Hershey Park and was planning on visiting Hershey's Chocolate World. But the place was packed and I didn't want to wait in line just for that. So I decided to forgo the park and Thomas and I would make another trip for that sometime in the future. So I drove down Chocolate Avenue enjoying the Hershey Kisses street lights and stopped at the Palmdale Park Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail to find Kisses from Maine. This was an easy drive-by and I stamped in while sitting in the shade of the tree hiding the box. Now it was time to head back towards Philadelphia.

My next stop was at Valley Forge National Historic Park.

Val·ley Forge
The site on the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Philadelphia, where George Washington's Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–78 in conditions of extreme hardship during the American Revolution.

National Memorial Arch

I began my visit at the Visitor Center where I got my National Passport Cancellation Stamp and a map of the park. I left the Visitor Center and followed the Encampment Tour route. This took me along Outer Line Drive and Inner Line Drive. I didn't have time to stop at every marker along the way but I did stop to see certain things and to find a few letterboxes. Here is how my drive fared. My first stop was the National Memorial Arch, I took pictures and found a letter box here - Memorial Arch. I left this area and made my way to the Wayne Statue. Again I took pictures and found another letterbox - Classic 80's: Atari Logo. Next I stopped at Washington's Headquarters and took a tour and some pictures. I did not look for a letterbox here. I then got off of Outer Line Drive and took Inner Line Drive. This is where the Inner Line Defenses were camped. This is a very nice drive in a heavily wooded area - beautiful. Along this route I found three boxes - Classic 80's: MK Logo, Frogger and Q-Bert. I then arrived at the junction of Outer and Inner Line Drives and stopped at Varnum's Picnic Area. I looked for a box here but didn't have any luck. So I moved on. My next stop was the Washington Memorial Chapel and Churchyard. I drove through the Churchyard and found Resting Places XX: Washington Memorial Chapel Churchyard. After stamping in I drove to the parking area of the Chapel and checked the time. I needed to get back to the hotel to meet Thomas for dinner.

I left Valley Forge NHP at around 4:15pm with the address for the hotel set in the Garmin. It told me my arrival time was 4:44pm. I headed out of the park and soon I merged on to I76 back to Philadelphia. And things moved at a snail's pace from there. The traffic was bumper to bumper and was stop and go all the way to the junction with I676. After that it cleared and I had a quick trip to the hotel for the next two miles I had left to drive. I parked the car at 5:48pm - a good hour later than my original ETA. So a half hour drive turned into an hour and a half drive. When I got to the room I freshened up and Thomas and I went out to dinner and for a walk around the campus. It was a good day but I could have done without the traffic - oh well.