Included with our cottage accommodations was a continental breakfast at the nearby Bear Mountain Inn. The building has been called “among the earliest examples of a monumental rustic park lodge of a type that became common in state and national parks”. The meal was entirely forgettable but not so the architecture and interior of the building constructed in 1915. Our next destination was Hershey, PA which we reached by noon. There we stopped briefly at the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum before continuing on to Hershey’s Chocolate World where we purchased some confectionary gifts for my sister, Mayela.

We reached our hotel in New Cumberland, PA well before my sister and her husband Stephen who are traveling here from North Carolina. Immediately after they checked in, Jeanine and I knocked at their door claiming to be “room service” and gave her the surprise we had hoped for. We enjoyed an exceptional dinner at Bricco, a collaboration between the Olewine School of Culinary Arts and the Harrisburg Hotel Corporation, one of the areas finest restaurants featuring up-and-coming culinary stars. I had the Calabrian braised short-ribs and it tops my list of favorite meals I have enjoyed outside of Jeanine’s kitchen.