Chocolate, Beer, Music... What else matters?

This past weekend, Brett and I decided to take a little road trip to Harrisburg!  Appalachian Brewing Company was putting on their annual "Winterfest" event and we decided to make the trip over for it.  We did a similar trip a few years ago for the very same reason.  And once again, we had a blast!

We hit the road Friday after work and made it to Harrisburg just in time to grab a bite to eat (and some beers, of course) before calling it a night.

On Saturday, we had lots of plans!  And these plans started with spending some time at Hershey!!  First, we spent some time at the Hershey Story museum learning all about Milton Hershey and how his famous chocolate came to be.  And THEN, we did a chocolate tasting!!  We got to try various chocolates from different regions all over the world and it was so awesome.  My love for chocolate is strong, so naturally this was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. :)  We also hit up the Chocolate World ride because what's a trip to Hershey without it. ;)

After all this chocolate, we need to take a breather before moving on to the next item on the agenda (beer!).  So we decided to head up to Hotel Hershey and walk around the grounds for a bit, since the weather was really awesome this weekend!

The sun was starting to set and we figured it was about time for some beer, so we headed over to Troegs Brewing Company (one of my faves!).  We reserved a spot on the last brewery tour of the day and it was pretty cool.  We got to go into the back of the brewery, where usually only the brewers are allowed, and learn all about Troegs and how they make their great beer.  And at the end, we got to do a beer tasting that resulted in a few free pint glasses, score!  And after the tour, of course we stuck around for a while drinking some beers and enjoying the cool vibe of the brewery.

After such a fun, jam packed day, it was time for Winterfest at Appalachian Brewing Company!  We got to drink local brews and see some great (and some not so great) bands throughout the night.  And of course, it ended with pizza. :)

On Sunday, we woke up and wandered around downtown Harrisburg for a while before hitting the road.  The sun was shining, but it was still pretty chilly.  We made the most of it though!

On our way home to Pittsburgh, we decided to make a detour visit to Johnstown (just like last time!) to take a stroll down memory lane.  We walked around UPJ's campus (where we both went & where we first met/kissed/lived/etc!), drove by our old apartment, and ate dinner at one of our favorite Johnstown restaurants (The Boulevard).

After all that fun, it was time to head home to Pittsburgh.  We definitely packed in a lot in a short 2 days.  Just goes to show that even a small weekend getaway can be so much fun!

Till next time!*

Weekend Road Trippin' - Part 2

Onward to Sunday of our mini weekend road trip.  (Man, we seriously packed A LOT into just 2 days of traveling.)

The day started with the strong need for coffee.  We packed up, checked out of the hotel, and went on a search for some morning fuel.  It seemed that nothing in downtown Harrisburg was opened except for Dunkin Donuts.  So Dunkin Donuts it was.  We each got a coffee and a bagel.  It sufficed.

(My husband loooooves when I take pictures of him.)  After breakfast, we played tourist.  It was hella windy in Harrisburg and freeeeezing, so our time walking around outside was somewhat limited.  We made our way over to the Capitol Building and decided to partake in a guided tour.  This building was seriously gorgeous on the inside.  My favorite part was the stained-glass ceilings.  They were beautiful.

By the time the tour was over, we were ready for lunch.  We made numerous attempts to find a place to eat in Harrisburg but nothing seemed open, still!  So we headed out of the downtown area and ended up finding a tasty burrito place to eat lunch at: Neato Burrito.  I mean, the name says it all!  And instead of just driving straight home from Harrisburg, we decided to make a detour to Johnstown (where we met and used to live) since we had the afternoon free.  We love going back and visiting Johnstown every once in a while.  We made some great memories there and had some really fun times.  We decided to hit up a couple of our favorite old places, starting with bowling at Richland Lanes.  We used to walk here from our old apartment and bowl all night long for soo cheap.  It rocked. 

  

We embarrassed ourselves pretty severely with our bowling scores after a few games and decided to call it quits and head to dinner before hitting the road to drive home.  We decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants in Johnstown: Rizzo's.  This place has been around forever and has the best homemade pasta and sauce that I have ever eaten.  I have yet to find a place that tops it.  

 

(Mesmerized by my pasta, obviously.)  So we're eating dinner, having a good ol' time when we hear someone walk by our table and say "holy crap, it's a blizzard outside!"  I was like "umm, say what?!"  The entire weekend was so sunny with not a cloud in the sky.  We literally walked into the restaurant just an hour before with the sunny blaring.  Not the case when we walked out.  Everything was completely covered with 2 inches of snow already and it was still coming down and fast.  We couldn't believe it.  So what we thought was going to be a nice, relaxing 2 hour drive home turned into a disastrous 3 hour drive home, witnessing numerous accidents along the way.  Thankfully, we made it home safely. 

Other than the freak blizzard out of nowhere, we had a really great time spending the weekend road trippin'.  I have a feeling many more mini weekend road trips are in our future.  And anything that involves traveling makes this girl happy.  

Now, onto the adventures of this weekend!

Have a great weekend, everyone!*