RV LIFE Podcast

RVing to the Hershey RV Show: Explore PA from Hershey to Philly

• Patti Hunt • Season 4 • Episode 140

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America's Largest RV Show, Hershey RV Show and want to explore the area? Here's your ultimate guide from Hershey to Philadelphia.

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Speaker 1:

Heading to Hershey, pa, for the largest RV show. Let's turn your trip into a full-blown adventure. I'm Patti Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast From chocolate to history America's largest RV show in Hershey, pennsylvania, and great adventures in between. Now, I was born and raised in Philadelphia, so this area is my backyard. Seven years ago, I moved to Las Vegas when COVID hit and that's what started the full-time RV life for me. For those of you who have not listened to the podcast before, I went full-time RVing four years ago now when my husband, during COVID, said let's sell everything and buy an RV and travel the country full-time. What an amazing experience it has been. Over the last year, I have been solo, as my husband is in a nursing home. He did get ill and I'm going solo now. I'm still traveling. I want to provide adventures and things for you, my RV listeners, to do across this amazing country. Today's episode is a solo. I am going to talk, like I said, all things America's Largest RV Show. It's often called the Hershey RV Show. It is in Hershey, pa, so we are going to talk about the show and how to navigate it. We're going to talk about what there is to do when you come into the area. So everything from Hershey, pa, to the Philadelphia area, and I'm also going to talk about the RV Life Pro Suite of products, which includes RV Trip Wizard and some features some new features they have. The RV Life podcast was created to entertain, educate and explore the RV lifestyle and it is my mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest. For those of you looking for some incredible campgrounds, open Road Resorts now has seven parks campgrounds in Idaho, Nebraska, new Mexico, texas, wyoming and New Orleans. They have highly favored parks. All of these parks are highly favored by you, the RVer, on the RV Life Campgrounds site, and you go to campgroundsrvlifecom to see what RVers have to say about these parks that have made them highly favored. Okay, let's talk about it. You are planning your trip to Hershey, pa, for America's largest RV show and that show is in September. This year it's always in September. This year is September 9th to the 15th. When you are at the park you are going to see there is the Hershey Chocolate Factory Tour and the Hershey Park.

Speaker 1:

I wanted to get on today to talk about the things that you can do in the area, like I said, navigating the show. We'll talk about that, as well as the new features that you will find on the RV Life Pro app that'll help you to get to these places that I'm talking about Today. I'm going to mention some places, these places that I have been to and have experienced, and other places that I thought I'd let you know about. I'm not going to dive in deep to each place, but what I am going to do is try to put a link to all of the places that I've mentioned. I'll put a link in the show notes so if you hear something, you could just go to the show notes to find out all about what is in that area or that specific place. So let's dive in.

Speaker 1:

First of all, if you are in Hershey, like I said, there is Hershey Park, which is a great place for the kids and adults. It is an amusement park. They have rides, they have food, they have attractions all kinds of things in this park. Hershey Park is a very large adventure park, I would call it. They also have the Chocolate Factory Tour. I did this many, many years ago and it was a really cool tour and I remember at the end of it I got a Hershey kiss. I think they still give you a chocolate treat at the end. Like I said, it's been many years since I've been there. I am all about chocolate, so I am partial to this type of factory tour. Now in the area is also Harrisburg, and they have many parks and restaurants. It's on the Susquehanna River. There is history in Harrisburg. There's a lot to do in the Harrisburg area.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I am now going to move on to just. It's probably about 30 minutes or less from Hershey, but you have the Lancaster PA area and this is also called Pennsylvania Dutch area, so it's referred to as a Pennsylvania Dutch country area. In that area, some things I'd love to do is the Amish village tour. That's the specific one I went to and that's in Bronx, pa, which again is in this area. They take you through a whole tour. They talk about the Amish and what they do in their everyday life, their belief system, how they raise their kids. It is a full tour through a home that was one of the homes of the Amish and they show you exactly what they have and what it's like. It was really interesting. Obviously, people are interested in the Amish way of life. That's why there was a TV show that was very popular and I highly recommend the Amish way of life. That's why there was a TV show that was very popular and I highly recommend the Amish Village Tour Again in the area.

Speaker 1:

There are a lot of different Amish tours to go to. There's a lot to choose from. Just being in the area and driving down the streets you'll see the Amish on horse and buggies and it's just really cool to check out. In that area is the largest buffet. It's called Maple Shade Smorgasbord in East Earl, pa. It's a hard word to say but you get what I'm getting at. It is incredible. I have been there several times. Make sure when you go you are really hungry, because there is pretty much every food you can imagine in this place. You want to go online and check out, if you need reservations, what the costs are or will all be on the website and I'll put that in the show notes. The other thing I did and I did this just a couple years ago and it's in the area when I say in the area, for us RVers traveling 30 minutes, 45 minutes, it's usually not that big a deal. The Turkey Hill experience is also not far from this area. It's in Columbia, pa, and the Turkey Hill experience anybody not from the East Coast.

Speaker 1:

Turkey Hill ice cream is probably my favorite ice cream and I love this ice cream because they have one that is all natural, so it doesn't have all the additives and stuff in it. I really love their vanilla bean but, again, anybody who knows me of course I like their chocolate ice cream and the tour is incredible. It takes you through how ice cream is made. It has activities within. I think it was two stories. It's a two-story building. There's lots of activities for people to do while they're in this experience. One of the things I added on to the experience was creating my own ice cream flavor. So they take you into what looks like a science lab and they give you a pint of vanilla or chocolate ice cream. They talk about ice cream, how it's made, how they create new flavors, and then they let you add stuff to your ice cream like nuts or flavoring or gummy bears, things like that. Really cool. Now that I'm talking about it, definitely need some ice cream today.

Speaker 1:

Turkey Hill, like I said, I think, is ice cream more on the East Coast, I think, actually I think you can get it in other areas, but again, that's my favorite. The experience was incredible. So if you're in Hershey going to the Lancaster area, you're heading east. As you're heading east, there are places like Longwood Gardens. That's L-O-N-G-W-O-O-D Longwood Gardens, which is just that. It is an incredible experience. A lot of it is outside. You also go inside to a greenhouse where you walk through these incredible setups of plants and flowers and they have education pieces around it. You could tour the whole outside Like. This is a full day experience the kids could go into. There are five tree houses that were built and you can walk through them and I'm not talking like kids tree houses. These are huge tree houses that you can walk through.

Speaker 1:

Something else that you can check out while you're in the area is Valley Forge Historical Park and, as some people have listened to me know, I have never been to any of the national parks, even though when I started out this whole idea of RVing, the whole idea was to go to every national park in the country that there are 63 of them and I have not been to any. Valley Forge Historical Park is a great place to go. It's a great place to let the kids literally just run. There's also a lot about the history in the area. There is a home there. That was where Washington stayed. I'm not a history buff so I'm not going to. I don't want to give information that's not accurate. At the time, learning about Valley Forge Historical Park in the area was very cool and very interesting. This is a place you could go for a half hour, let the kids run around or spend a couple of hours there, so I'm going to put the link for that in the show notes and you could get an idea of all that has to offer If you are at the Valley Forge Historical Park.

Speaker 1:

Valley Forge is minutes to King of Prussia. In King of Prussia is the King of Prussia Mall, which is one of the largest malls in the country. I think it's now second or third. I believe it used to be the largest mall in the country and they have everything you could possibly want. There are two sides to the mall. One is your higher end, really expensive brands, and one is your lower end, less expensive brands. There's food throughout the mall. There's areas around it that you could grab food and if you need a Costco stop. There's a Costco right near King of Prussia. I know it's an RVer. I'd loved when I could find my Costco so I can fill up on food.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so if you want to head north from here, you could go to the Poconos area. These are the Pocono Mountains. There is various things to do in this area Obviously, during the winter, skiing and things like that. During the summer, they have hikes and trails, they have waterfalls and just so much to do. It's a very large area waterfalls and just so much to do. It's a very large area.

Speaker 1:

One of the things I want to highlight is a place called Bushkill Falls. Bushkill Falls is just that. It's an amazing area with lots of falls. It's actually referred to as the Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania. I've gone there with the kids and hiked around. You could do as much hiking or as little hiking as you're able to. There are waterfalls there. Again, it's just an incredibly beautiful area. I love going there. I haven't been there in a while. I'm going to put that on my list to do. It's great to do it in the summer because, as it's hot, it is cooler in the Poconos. I actually once went through Bushkill Falls. My daughter was a baby and she was in one of those sacks and I was still able to do some climbing and walking through Bushkill Falls. It's good for little kids and then, if you're more advanced, they have areas for those people that are more advanced. Hikers Highly recommend that. And again, the whole Pocono mountain areas lots of places to dine, lots of cool places to go and visit. Now we've gone up to the Poconos If you come back down and again, I'm not doing this in a specifically logical area because there's so much to do but one of the other things that I really love is Peddler's Village.

Speaker 1:

Peddler's Village is north of Philadelphia and it is not far from Hershey I want to say it's about 45 minutes, but it is a whole day that you could spend in Peddler's Village. Again, there are things to do and see, places to eat for everyone. If you have kids with you, there's a place called Giggleberry Mountain. My grandkids love it there. You could spend an entire day there. And then Peddler's Village is just that it's a little village and you walk around their shops, their restaurants. During the summer Actually all year long they have special events that they hold there and you could check them out by going to their website and seeing what they're doing. But there's always it's just always a nice place to walk around, get something to eat, like I said, keep the kids active.

Speaker 1:

Going to Giggleberry Mountain it's called, and that is a play place that is I can't even describe it. Go online and see it. It's like adults could walk through this place and it's for kids pretty much of all ages. There's climbing, there's slides. It is deep. Think of the McDonald's play places like, but 100 times bigger. It is incredible. And then they have games in there and they have activities actually for really little kids in there as well.

Speaker 1:

If you're in the Peddler's Village area, new Hope is not far from there and this is a really cool town that you could walk through. It's different. I don't know that there's as much there for little kids. They have cool restaurants, cool activities. It's got a very different vibe and let's see what else is there. You could quickly from New Hope go over to La Haska, new Jersey. You could actually walk over on a bridge, so there's a walking bridge. You walk over or drive over and, again, this is a cute little area to go check out shops and walk around restaurants and there are things to do, events that they hold during the year, so great place to check out there.

Speaker 1:

Also, if you're in New Hope and you want to experience hot air balloons. So I was in at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and met a gentleman I don't know the name of the company off the top of my head. I will look it up and put that in the show notes. This is a gentleman I have gotten to know over the last three years. This is a gentleman I've gotten to know over the last three years and he has a company that will take you on a hot air balloon ride. If you choose to check that out, if you don't get the opportunity to go to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, or if you want to see if you're prepared, just go on a hot air balloon. It's an amazing experience that I highly recommend. So I will put his information in the show notes and that is something he launches from that area there in New Hope.

Speaker 1:

Well, I've taken you through some areas that I hope you'll find value in, but let's talk about Philadelphia. Before we get to all that, I want to talk about those people who are either looking for their new RV, their next RV, or service. Blue Compass RV is the place that we at RV Life recommend, because they have over 100 locations coast to coast, more than 15,000 new and used RVs and over a thousand service bays and, as we all know, those service bays are only good if there are technicians, and they do have more certified RV technicians than any other dealer. Blue Compass RV is the place to go, and you can visit bluecompassrvcom today.

Speaker 1:

Again, philadelphia is where I was born and raised. There is so much to do. Obviously, it's a huge historical area with so much to do, and you could see things like the Liberty Bell, independence Hall, the Betsy Ross House I just heard a piece on the Betsy Ross House because they just redid it. They have tours that you can go on or you could take yourself on a tour. They're self-led tours.

Speaker 1:

There are many ways to experience Philadelphia. If you're in Hershey, philadelphia is about an hour and a half away it's a straight shot, an easy shot, to get there. Right in the Philadelphia area, there's not really places to park an RV, so if you're thinking about going in an RV, you have to plan that out a little bit. I recommend using the RV Life Campgrounds app. So going to campgroundsrvlifecom will help you to find a campground in the Philadelphia area so you can park. Like I said, though, if you're coming from Hershey and you want to take a day trip, it is easy to get to Philadelphia from Hershey, pa.

Speaker 1:

Other things that you could do if you go to the Philadelphia Art Museum. The famous Rocky statue is there. Yes, people run up the art museum steps. See if you can run up all of the steps without being out of breath. I cannot at this point do that. I'd have to work up to being able to try to do that again. There's so much to do in the area. If you're at the Philadelphia Art Museum, you can tour the Art Museum. There is the Police Touch Museum. Not far from there there's the Franklin Institute. There is the Science Museum, academy of Natural Sciences Museum. As I'm talking about an area honestly, guys, I didn't write all of this down but as I'm talking about an area, I'm thinking of all the other things that are in the area.

Speaker 1:

Now I will say Philadelphia obviously, is known for its steak sandwiches. Yes, when you go to these other areas and they say original Philadelphia steak sandwiches, I've been all over the country and have rarely been able to find a steak sandwich like what you find in Philadelphia. So if you're looking for the foods of Philadelphia steak sandwiches hoagies, not subs, they are called hoagies, soft pretzels, and make sure it's a real Philadelphia soft pretzel. Italian ice is also a big thing, but if you are looking for a steak sandwich, my favorite skill to this day is Pat's Steak and that is near where you're going to be if you're touring the historic areas. It's about 15 minutes 20 minutes depending on traffic, but Pat's Steak is the place to get a Philadelphia cheesesteak. There are lots of other places, check them out. Love to hear from you If you try a steak sandwich and you find one like.

Speaker 1:

If you compare Pat Steaks to another steak sandwich, let me know what you like or don't like On that note of Pat Steaks. So I like my steak sandwich with onions and Pat Steaks is famous for putting Cheez Whiz on their steak sandwich with onions and Pat Steaks is famous for putting cheese whiz on their steak sandwich. Now, I don't eat cheese whiz any other time, but on your Pat Steaks you need to try the cheese whiz if you like cheese. If you could eat cheese, the cheese whiz on your steak sandwich. Trust me on this one and please on the show notes on social media. If you've ever had a pet steak or there's a steak place you like better, please let us know. Go to RV, like Podcasts, on Instagram or Facebook and let us know where you've had the best steak sandwiches.

Speaker 1:

Whether you're looking to try a steak sandwich, I want to hear from you. So okay, you're in Philadelphia. There is still tons to do that I haven't even mentioned. If you're in the Philadelphia area and you want to travel from Philadelphia, the New Jersey Shore Now, when I say the New Jersey Shore, we used to say we still do we're going down the shore. That was the terminology which I've realized once I left the Philadelphia area. People did not understand. But the New Jersey shore has many, many shore towns and from Philadelphia it's anywhere from 60 to 100 miles, depending on which shore town you're going to. So there's Atlantic City, down to Cape May, new Jersey, and there's just different. There's Wildwood and all different Seattle city.

Speaker 1:

The shore town that you go to really depends on, if you have kids, what you're looking to do, but a lot of them, no matter where you are, you could go, you know, easily get into another one of the towns. So if you're looking to head from Hershey to Philadelphia and then go from there to New Jersey, there's lots to do. Philadelphia to New York City. So if you're in this area again, you could get to New York City. It is 94 miles away. I do not recommend driving an RV into the city at all. I don't even know that you'd be able to. But if you want to go into New York City when you're in Philadelphia, you could take a train and be there in about an hour and a half. That's an easy train ride to New York City. Okay, we've covered a lot and I have been nonstop on that. I really hope this is helping you guys and again, my Philadelphia is coming out, because that's you guys in Philadelphia. I have some more things I want to cover.

Speaker 1:

I want to talk about the Hershey Show, but let's talk about some things that are coming up. Like I said, the Hershey Show is actually the 10th to the 14th RV Life Hershey After Party, september 11th. So September 11th at 6 o'clock, from 6 to 10. This is the fourth annual RV Life Hershey After Party. It has been an amazing event. It gets bigger and better every year. Because of that, it quickly sells out. So this party, once it is open for you to buy tickets, you will see it on RV Life Podcasts and Instagram and Facebook. It'll be promoted in other places, but if you go to RV Life Podcasts on Instagram and Facebook and hit follow. Then you will find out when you can buy tickets to the Hershey, the RV Life Hershey after party. Like I said, that is September 11th. There is free wine, free beer, food giveaways. It's just an incredible event. This year we decided to do background music so you guys could all talk to each other and meet new people, and it's just a fun, incredible event.

Speaker 1:

And I want to talk about RVers Top Talent and this is the first ever nationwide talent competition. If you have a talent and every time I say that, people say I don't have a talent, I don't feel like I do either, to be honest. But any talent you have storytelling, juggling, yes, singing, dancing any talent you have make sure you click on the show note and submit your talent because you have a chance to win the grand prize, which is $5,000. $5,000 grand prize. So RVers top talent definitely want to check that out. Okay, while you're in Hershey, there's a lot going on.

Speaker 1:

When you are at the Hershey RV events, planning is key. Number one comfortable shoes. It is huge there. You are going to walk a lot. I suggest you go to America's largest RV show website. If you type in Hershey RV show. You still get there, but if you go to the website, check out all the vendors, what I'd like to do is make a list of the vendors I want to see before I get there and plan my time. So, deciding whether you're going to be there one day, two days, five days, whatever it is, plan what you're going to go see the RVs, the manufacturers, the dealers that are there you want to plan that out too, again, because sometimes they are far apart. So planning is going to be key. Comfortable shoes, a t-shirt, but bring a jacket. So weather has been anything from it's hot and I'm sweating to it's chilly and I need a jacket. So always having that combination.

Speaker 1:

They do have food and drink there that you could purchase. You can bring in your own food and drink. They do not stop you Absolutely no problem Buying your ticket online before you get there, and there are some discounts they offer which will be on the website. The other thing to do while you're at the Hershey RV show is to come visit the RV Life booth, which is always downstairs. So this is a, I believe, a hockey arena if I'm not mistaken. So when you walk into the building, you walk downstairs into the bowl and once you walk downstairs, if you go to the left, we are always RV Life booth is always on the left side, so go into the booth, say hi to the people there. Nobody is going to try and sell you anything.

Speaker 1:

If you have questions about the RV Life Pro Suite of Products, whether you're already a member or you're looking to become a member, you could talk to them. If you do not have the RV Life Pro Suite of Products and you're planning your trip, let's talk about that. There is a 25% discount that I have in the show notes. So one of the things that the RV Life Pro Suite of Products does is it helps you with your trip planning, and that is Trip Wizard. Trip Wizard will help you plan your trip from wherever you are to Hershey, pa, to Philadelphia, wherever you're going. I love the RV Life Pro Suite of Products. My husband and I started using it four years ago, before we ever started in our RV, just to check it out. I love that I could do all my trip planning. I can circle in and find what is in the area, as well as campgrounds, and when I go to that campground and look at reviews, I know they are authentic views. I'm only giving you the tip of the iceberg as to what the RV Life Pro Suite of products provides, because there is so much. Again, there's going to be a link in the show notes you could check it out 25% discount if you are a new customer and you get a seven-day free trial so you could check it all out.

Speaker 1:

Rv Life did just make a lot of upgrades, so when you go on to the RV Life website or the app, you could see the upgrades that they made. Some of the upgrades include the link to Hardest Host. They have different ways to help you navigate. A lot of upgrades and they are still upgrading. So when you go on, if you are an existing customer, it will lead you to looking at the new platform. If you don't want to use the new, updated platform, you could stay with the original. If, when you go on, you could also go to a YouTube video that shows you how to navigate with ease through the different steps Again, all of this will be in the show notes you could go to the RV Life website to see all the new upgrades and features.

Speaker 1:

There are so many of them I honestly can't remember them all. For those of you that are going to be in the area. Like I said, there are going to be days that are hot. A lot of the campgrounds, you have full hookups, so running your air conditioner isn't a problem. But if you're looking to make your air conditioner run more effectively, cool RV has an upgrade. Cool RV has an upgrade, an RV air conditioner upgrade which creates cooler air, more airflow and keeps the sound of your air conditioner down so you can sit and talk. You could visit them at CoolRVcom Again.

Speaker 1:

I just wanted to touch on some of these topics, some of these things that could help you navigate while you're in this area. Hershey RV Show is every year, so if you need to refer back, if this year you are not going to attend the show or be in the area, if you are going to attend, please, like I said, send us a message on social media, put a comment in one of the posts, let us know you're going to be in the area. Let me know if you have questions. I say as I have a team of people that manages my social media, but I personally answer every question and respond to every comment. So, in the show notes for the podcast or on social media. Please reach out and let me know if there are other things that you have questions about, things in the area you'd like me to share with you. Like I said, this is my hometown, so I'm happy to help.

Speaker 1:

It is now time for the campground of the week, and this week's campground is West Omaha, ne Lincoln, koa Holiday, and that's in Granada, nebraska. This is a family-friendly, amenity-rich RV park just 30 minutes from Omaha or Lincoln, nebraska. It's got 90 sites, full hookups, cabin rentals and it has a solid 7.9 rating on the RV Life campgrounds, with 242 reviews, and those reviews come from you, the RVer. None of the reviews are from anywhere else but from RVers, and that is why I love the RV Life products. You could check out this campground by going to campgroundsrvlifecom, typing the name in, and then you'll be able to see all the photos, all the amenities this campground has to offer. Everything that you need to know that's in and around this campground will be on campgroundsrvlifecom.

Speaker 1:

As I said, this is part of the RV Life suite of products and if you are not already a customer, you can get a 25% discount by clicking on the show notes. That discount is given to you at checkout. Rv Life Campgrounds is the most comprehensive source of RV parks, campgrounds and resources, as well resorts sorry about that as well as city, state and national parks, and they have so much more. I mean, just go visit campgroundsrvlifecom, just check it out. You don't have to be a member to go check it out. And, again, the discount code will be in the show notes. The whole suite of products is $65. So, with the discount, we're talking less than $50 a year. So it is absolutely worth checking out.

Speaker 1:

As I already said, I am looking forward to hearing from you. Please ask questions. If you have specific things that you want to know about in the area, reach out on social media, at RV Life Podcast on Instagram or Facebook. I answer every message and I really want to hear from you, my listeners, to see what it is you're looking for, and I want to thank you, my listeners. Remember life is a journey. Live each day to the fullest, without regrets. I'm Hattie Hunt and you have been listening to the RV Life Podcast.