Good Morning,
I’m back after almost a week off for vacation. My mom came in from Missouri for a visit and we crammed in so much in such a short time. She flies, but my dad doesn’t, so once a year she makes a trip out on her own for “girl” time. And we had so much fun!
We visited Linganore Wine Cellers in Mt. Airy. It’s a winery I discovered while doing a story on the Maryland Wine Festival and it’s so worth the trip. The location is beautiful and the wine is fantastic. There’s something for everyone. Linganore has more than 30 kinds of wines. My mom likes sweet wine, and I don’t, so we never did find a wine we could drink together. But we had a ball “tasting” and took home plenty to enjoy for the remainder of the vacation:)
Over the weekend we went to Chocolate World next to Hersheypark. Mom is a huge chocoholic so she was dying to go. We took my daughter so it was a girls only adventure. We loved the Hershey Kiss lamp posts in town and really enjoyed our dark chocolate milk shakes and dark chocolate bar we devoured by the end of the weekend. But I have to say we were disappointed. The tour was short and it didn’t really show the true chocolate making process. I thought we’d get to see real people making the chocolate and come away with some great samples. But we didn’t. We go two little samples of the bliss chocolate bites. hmmmmmmm! And at the end of the tour we got dumped into a gigantic gift shop, where believe me, there were NO signs of a slowing economy. Still, it was a nice road trip and fun for us all to be together.
A definite highlight was going to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I did a story a few weeks ago on their “Little Explorers Tour.” It’s new this fall and allows parents or caregivers and their small children a chance to visit the aquarium before regular hours and get a guided tour. Afterwards we took part in the free tots and tales program and I got to read a story to the kids. It’s a great program and I really encourage parents to take advantage of it. It was like having the aquarium to ourselves and if you have a 4 or 5 year old.. they’re at the perfect age for the visit.
One last note before I go… The Purple Evening at M & T Bank Stadium on Oct. 6th. It was amazing! What a fun opportunity for lady Ravens fans. I met the nicest people that night and can’t wait to see them at the next event. Speaking as a fan and not a reporter, it’s so nice to have an organization like the Baltimore Ravens not only recognize the female fans..but truly embrace us!! I really encourage every woman who loves the Ravens to join Purple! It’s a great way to meet people and it’s a nice night out for those of us who rarely get one:) Take care everyone…and thanks for reading…Jen Franciotti
I have been to the real Hersey chocolate factory. Chocolate Kisses as far as the eye can see! I think the NUNS!!! got our samples it was something like you will end up going to HELL!!!! Vats of chocolate we were standing right next to them. Oh, I thought everybody would be FAT!! but they were probaly sick of it. This was 40 years ago.