About this time of year, I always feel a tinge of nostalgia for all the good times I had as a kid during my summer vacations. My mother has been an elementary school teacher for as long as I can remember, so summer always meant something really exciting to us. I have just one younger brother and often our little trips around the country consisted of just the three of us, unless we could talk some cousins into coming along. These trips were not always easy--my brother and I really picked on each other, I know--hard to believe, huh? But today, I am so happy that my mom worked so hard to plan some amazing adventures for us. These memories will always be treasured.
It seems we all have different interests when planning trips. Some people like good hiking trails, others seek out museums and still others look for historical monuments. My mom's favorite places to visit on our trips were...FACTORY TOURS! That's right! Most often, these offered free admission to take a behind-the-scenes look at how items are made. I am wracking my brain now, but I believe I must have visited over 20 factories around the United States. Who even knew some of these factories existed? Candy factories are fun. The Sweets Factory in Salt Lake still offers free tours all summer. You get a fresh orange stick right off the conveyer belt and warm, freshly made taffy. It is crazy to see the huge sugar vats and notice how many pounds of sugar they go through each month! We Americans love our sugar. My mom also took us to the Hershey Chocolate Factory in Pennsylvania. This is one of my favorite places on earth! You get to ride a Disneyland-type car through the factory and look at cute, moving displays. The smells of chocolate and baked cookies overwhelm the senses. At the end of the ride, they offer free samples of different items like Hershey kisses and Cocoa Puffs. Mmmmm!!
We went to San Jose, CA to visit my mom's cousin when I was in junior high. Who knew that they had a fortune cookie factory there? Pretty cool.
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Vermont was super fun. I remember that we loved the free sample of their cookie dough ice cream so much that we waited in line for a second mini cupful. If you think the frozen stuff in the pots is delicious, one day you have to try out the fresh stuff. We planned our whole trip to Vermont just for this factory, the Teddy Bear factory and to get some fresh maple syrup.
Can you think of anything you'd rather have than hot potato chips off the press? It is interesting to see where the food we all consume each day comes from. I saw the movie Food Inc. and that made me want to become a vegetarian, but other than that, I usually really enjoy seeing the Behind the Scenes story to the products I use. What type of things do you seek out on family vacations?
About this time of year, I always feel a tinge of nostalgia for all the good times I had as a kid during my summer vacations. My mother has been an elementary school teacher for as long as I can remember, so summer always meant something really exciting to us. I have just one younger brother and often our little trips around the country consisted of just the three of us, unless we could talk some cousins into coming along. These trips were not always easy--my brother and I really picked on each other, I know--hard to believe, huh? But today, I am so happy that my mom worked so hard to plan some amazing adventures for us. These memories will always be treasured.
It seems we all have different interests when planning trips. Some people like good hiking trails, others seek out museums and still others look for historical monuments. My mom's favorite places to visit on our trips were...FACTORY TOURS! That's right! Most often, these offered free admission to take a behind-the-scenes look at how items are made. I am wracking my brain now, but I believe I must have visited over 20 factories around the United States. Who even knew some of these factories existed? Candy factories are fun. The Sweets Factory in Salt Lake still offers free tours all summer. You get a fresh orange stick right off the conveyer belt and warm, freshly made taffy. It is crazy to see the huge sugar vats and notice how many pounds of sugar they go through each month! We Americans love our sugar. My mom also took us to the Hershey Chocolate Factory in Pennsylvania. This is one of my favorite places on earth! You get to ride a Disneyland-type car through the factory and look at cute, moving displays. The smells of chocolate and baked cookies overwhelm the senses. At the end of the ride, they offer free samples of different items like Hershey kisses and Cocoa Puffs. Mmmmm!! 
We went to San Jose, CA to visit my mom's cousin when I was in junior high. Who knew that they had a fortune cookie factory there? Pretty cool.
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Vermont was super fun. I remember that we loved the free sample of their cookie dough ice cream so much that we waited in line for a second mini cupful. If you think the frozen stuff in the pots is delicious, one day you have to try out the fresh stuff. We planned our whole trip to Vermont just for this factory, the Teddy Bear factory and to get some fresh maple syrup.
Can you think of anything you'd rather have than hot potato chips off the press? It is interesting to see where the food we all consume each day comes from. I saw the movie Food Inc. and that made me want to become a vegetarian, but other than that, I usually really enjoy seeing the Behind the Scenes story to the products I use. What type of things do you seek out on family vacations?
You have the coolest mom! I love factories too! I'm fascinated with how things are made. Unfortunately I haven't been to very many factories at all. But your mom has inspired me to plan future vacation trips around factories as well! Good idea! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteOur family went to Oceanside California a lot to be at the beach. I love making sandcastles, digging deep holes in the sand, walking barefoot in the sand, swimming, boogie boarding and reading on the beach.
One year I protested that I didn't want to go to Oceanside again...that I wanted to go somewhere different. My family was really upset with me but asked where I would want to go. I said New York. Then they seem to like that idea - something new and different. So we went to NY and guess what happened while we were there? A huge blackout! haha! It was so weird to see Time Square completely black. But the lights went back on again the next day or so and we were able to see some Broadway plays, go shopping and see more of New York. :)
Thanks, Brittany! I showed your comment to my mom and it made her day! Haha...you will have to tell me if you see any factories in Germany.
DeleteOh, you make me want to plan a trip to Oceanside. Beaches are so relaxing--something about that water coming back and forth.
Wow, that New York incident makes for a good story! I guess we never know what crazy things can happen to us while we are on vacation.
P.S. You wrote that sometimes your vacation just consisted of just the three of you (you, your mom and brother). What about your dad? Did he have to work and couldn't join you? Or?
ReplyDeleteYou got it--my Dad always had to work. Too bad. My mom was a trooper to take us kids to places like New York City on her own. It was scary at times, but now they make for good memories.
DeleteThank you Charlotte for your replies :)
DeleteWhat does your dad do for work? That's too bad he missed a lot of family vacations. :(
That's neat that you have also been to NY. Have you been to all 50 states? I think I've only been to about 13. I really would love to see all 50 states someday. There are 16 states in Germany and I've seen 15 of them.
France has regions instead of states, right? 22? Or? What regions of France have you been to? I would like to go to the region of Brittany France someday :)
It's sad that Americans don't get that much vacation (unless you're a teacher). I think my mom only gets like 2 weeks of vacation a year.
Germans get like 4-6 weeks of vacation each year. I think I read somewhere that Italians get the most vacation and Germans come in like 2nd place with vacation time.
Germans are the world traveling champions. They spend more money than anyone on traveling (Japanese are in 2nd place).
They have so many travel agencies here it is ridiculous! I once saw 3 travel agencies all right next to each other in this one mall in Munich. There are even more travel agencies at the airports. One of the travel agencies here in Germany is called "Last Minute Travel." They have last minute deals and super last minute deals.
The Germans even have vacation deals that are offered in the newspaper and by local grocery stores! Oh and they have a home shopping channel that features vacation deals as well.
I have to block out all these traveling temptations since I have student loans to pay back. No money to travel - which is a sad reality to face when one lives in Europe. :)