A Hauntingly Merry Journey (10/17-11/8)-updated 12/11

[ddluvsdisney]

The train reminded me a little of the Hogwarts train. Maybe it’s the color?
Those trains are really impressive. I’m starting to get why your DS loves them so much.

 

[rdkeim]

Very impressive train! Really makes a statement.

 

[mickey916]

The train reminded me a little of the Hogwarts train. Maybe it’s the color?
Those trains are really impressive. I’m starting to get why your DS loves them so much.

Oh I can see the similarity with the Hogwarts train. The trains were something to see!

Very impressive train! Really makes a statement.

It was a beauty!

 

[liamthompson]

I just caught up and am taking notes on all things Hershey and lancaster county! Instead of train enthusiasts, I have car enthusiasts (husband and 4yo, I'm just along for the ride typically, ha) and our plan is to head up to AACA museum in hershey for a show in the spring and tag on hersheypark, chocolate world and the strasburg railroad so your trip report is super informative.

Now I am looking at your food pics from your DIY food tour day and also adding this to my list!

I enjoyed your rollercoaster rankings. I am thinking husband and I might be able to childswap for one or two coasters so I've been trying to figure out which are good priority. We just got back from universal/WDW and 4yo is not keen on being separated from dad but by our last day, he understood the procedure and told me to go ride first, ha.

...and your dinner at corduroy inn...I could see why you thought you might be on a hidden camera show!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

This train can reach speeds of 100-110 mph.

That is an impressible speed! Was this a diesel engine?

 

[mickey916]

I just caught up and am taking notes on all things Hershey and lancaster county! Instead of train enthusiasts, I have car enthusiasts (husband and 4yo, I'm just along for the ride typically, ha) and our plan is to head up to AACA museum in hershey for a show in the spring and tag on hersheypark, chocolate world and the strasburg railroad so your trip report is super informative.

We went to that museum many years ago and enjoyed it. When we passed it on this trip I was telling DH we should go again some time. Glad my info is helpful!

Now I am looking at your food pics from your DIY food tour day and also adding this to my list!

You should definitely check out both marketplaces in Lancaster. Very fun and interesting! We parked in the King Street garage and it was only $6 to park.

I enjoyed your rollercoaster rankings. I am thinking husband and I might be able to childswap for one or two coasters so I've been trying to figure out which are good priority. We just got back from universal/WDW and 4yo is not keen on being separated from dad but by our last day, he understood the procedure and told me to go ride first, ha.

Sounds like my boys too! They love being with Dad! But, since Dad isn't a coaster fan, they were always stuck riding with me, lol.

...and your dinner at corduroy inn...I could see why you thought you might be on a hidden camera show!!

So strange...I was expecting that guy from What Would You Do? to pop out at any minute.

That is an impressible speed! Was this a diesel engine?

No it's a steam engine from the 1950s. Unfortunately due to track restrictions it couldn't go that fast on our trip. I have read however that since it was restored in 2014-2015 they have been able to run it on some tracks up to 100 mph. I would love to see that!

 

[mickey916]

10/24 Continued...What's a Pupusa?​

DS got a list from a co-worker of good restaurants to try in the area so we decided to check one out for dinner. His co-worker’s favorite one was Gloria’s Pupuseria in downtown Staunton, so we headed there.



We were very hungry so we started our meal with chips and queso with chorizo.



The chips were freshly made and the queso was creamy and delicious with the added chorizo.

We’ve never heard of pupusas but they sounded a lot like arepas or empanadas.

It was suggested that people order 2-3 pupusas per person so we each ordered three. Here’s the menu for the full descriptions of what we ordered.



I ordered one shrimp, one veggie, and one chorizo. DS and DH both ordered one loca, one veggie, and one chorizo.

They all came out looking the same since the fillings are inside so here’s one picture:



You can see that the curtido is pretty much a vinegar based cole slaw. I prefer a vinegar cole slaw so I liked it. We all enjoyed the pupusas a lot. They were little corn cakes with fillings. My favorite was the chorizo one. DS and DH liked their loca one best.

We also weren’t sure how much food it would be so we ordered some sides as well. DS and DH got a side of rice.



They thought it was okay. Just a bowl of well cooked white rice.

I got a side of Yuca Frita.


T
hese were very good. Nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with a spicy dipping sauce.

We also shared a side of Plantanos Fritos (sweet plantains).



These were very good as well.

It turned out we ordered way more food than needed. Two pupusas per person would’ve been more than sufficient. We ended up going home with leftovers that sadly we never found time to eat later in the trip.

We were very glad we tried this restaurant and gave it a B. It was very good but not a “must do everytime” restaurant.

After walking around the downtown for a bit, we stumbled upon the Split Banana, a gelateria. We each ordered two different flavors in a dish.

DS ordered one scoop of peanut butter caramel and one of chocolate ancho



DH ordered one scoop of peanut butter caramel and one scoop of cinnamon



I ordered one scoop of peanut butter caramel and one of pumpkin pie.



We all really enjoyed our gelato. We tend to get ice cream far more often than gelato so we’re not the best judges of gelato but we thought it was very good.

We gave Split Banana an A-.

After our dinner and dessert we headed back to our hotel for the night.

Total steps: 10,679 (4.25 miles)

Up next..entering phase 4 of the trip…heading to Charlotte, NC.

 

[liamthompson]

I love these food pics! There's a restaurant near me that sells pupusas - I think it's like a street food so made quick. When you order, the person at the register shouts back to the kitchen and there's a lady that starts kneading them and cooking them up on the griddle. Like waffle house, but for corncakes ha

It is freezing here but those gelatos still look delicious!

 

[mickey916]

I love these food pics! There's a restaurant near me that sells pupusas - I think it's like a street food so made quick. When you order, the person at the register shouts back to the kitchen and there's a lady that starts kneading them and cooking them up on the griddle. Like waffle house, but for corncakes ha

It is freezing here but those gelatos still look delicious!

We had never heard of them before but they were good. It is freezing where I am too. We are currently in the white mountains of NH. Yesterday we woke up to -4 degrees! Definitely not gelato weather.

 

[mickey916]

10/25 Phase 4…Driving to North Carolina to drop off DS​

We started our morning with breakfast at the Fairfield Inn and started our drive to Mooresville NC. It was a pretty and uneventful drive down. We arrived in time for lunch and headed to Pikniks in Mooresville.

Here’s a look at their menu:



I was feeling veggie-deprived so I ordered the Greek salad with grilled chicken.



This was a pretty standard Greek salad. It was good. I really liked the grilled pita bread.

DS ordered the buffalo chicken sub with fries.



He thought this was fine. The bread was good. The fries were okay.

DH ordered the chicken parmesan sub.



He too thought it was fine.

This was just a small breakfast and lunch place in a strip mall. The food was fine, just not memorable. We gave it B-.

We headed over to Jetton Park to get our steps. This is a very nice park on Lake Norman that we’ve walked before. It has all kinds of picnic areas, a playground, tennis courts and a big walking path. We were surprised at how low the water was in Lake Norman, obviously they were experiencing a drought. We then checked into our hotel, Springhill Suites Mooresville/Lake Norman. We’ve stayed here before. It’s clean, comfortable, and convenient.

We went to Mass at a very nice Church, St. Therese in Mooresville. For those of you who read my last report, no lizards at this Mass, haha!

After church, we couldn’t wait to bring our son to a restaurant we discovered on our last trip, Havana 33, a Cuban restaurant in Mooresville. This restaurant is an unassuming small lounge-type restaurant in the bottom of a condo building. To start, we shared the sampler appetizer.



Starting at 12:00 and going clockwise:
Masitas de Cuerdo: Bite size crispy pork, garlic mojo, pickled red onions.
Cuban Eggroll: Pork, Ham, Swiss Cheese, Pickles wrapped in egg roll wrap
Yuca fries
Tostones: fried green plantains
Croquettes: one ham, one chicken
Datiles: Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with almonds
Empanadas: spinach, beef and chicken
Three sauces: pink sauce, garlic mojo, oregano ketchup

This food is delicious! Every single item was fresh and full of flavor. We liked all three sauces, especially the garlic mojo. Here’s the order we ranked them from top (most favorite) to bottom (least): datiles, masitas, ham croquette, chicken croquette, spinach cheese empanadas, beef empanadas, Cuban eggroll, chicken empanadas, yuca, tostones. Who knew bacon wrapped dates would be our favorite?!

Since we knew we’d be very full from our appetizer, for our main meal we each ordered a bowl of creamy corn poblano soup.



So pretty and also delicious! It was creamy and well spiced. DS said it was his favorite part of the meal. This meal was by far the best meal we had up to this point on our trip. If you’re ever in the Charlotte/Lake Norman area I highly recommend checking it out.

We gave this meal an A-.

We decided to go elsewhere for dessert and were hoping to find a Rita’s Italian Ice but there wasn’t one we could find nearby. DS found Andy's Frozen Custard which he’s heard of since they’re a sponsor of Cole Custer in NASCAR so we headed there.

We all ordered the same thing: a triple chocolate concrete: Chocolate frozen custard blended with chocolate chip cookie dough and melted chocolate chip and made it a “jackhammer” by adding a peanut butter core.



We all enjoyed this very much! It was obviously very rich but really good! We gave it an A and ranked it just under the King size shake from Hershey.

After our fantastic evening of food, we headed back to the hotel for one last sleep before Disney!

Total steps: 11,455 (4.75 mi)

Up next..entering our Disney phase of the trip after dropping DS off at the Charlotte airport

 

[GSDGlitter]

I just caught up and am taking notes on all things Hershey and lancaster county! Instead of train enthusiasts, I have car enthusiasts (husband and 4yo, I'm just along for the ride typically, ha) and our plan is to head up to AACA museum in hershey for a show in the spring and tag on hersheypark, chocolate world and the strasburg railroad so your trip report is super informative.

(Apologies for the sidebar, mickey916!)

liamthompson - Adding to your Hershey + Lancaster plans might add too much sitting in the car time for a 4-year-old, but your car enthusiasts may enjoy a visit to the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum if you are ever in the Philly area. It's an amazing collection of racing cars - try to visit on a Demo Day to see a sampling of cars in motion and get up close.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I've never heard of a pupusus. They look interesting.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I was curious about the papusus as well. They look really good. I looked to see if there are any restaurants around me that have them. There are a few in Fall River and New Bedford.
There’s a restaurant not far from my school. Maybe I’ll try it.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

10/25 Phase 4…Driving to North Carolina to drop off DS​

We started our morning with breakfast at the Fairfield Inn and started our drive to Mooresville NC. It was a pretty and uneventful drive down. We arrived in time for lunch and headed to Pikniks in Mooresville.

Here’s a look at their menu:

View attachment 1030804

I was feeling veggie-deprived so I ordered the Greek salad with grilled chicken.

View attachment 1030807

This was a pretty standard Greek salad. It was good. I really liked the grilled pita bread.

DS ordered the buffalo chicken sub with fries.

View attachment 1030803

He thought this was fine. The bread was good. The fries were okay.

DH ordered the chicken parmesan sub.

View attachment 1030806

He too thought it was fine.

This was just a small breakfast and lunch place in a strip mall. The food was fine, just not memorable. We gave it B-.

We headed over to Jetton Park to get our steps. This is a very nice park on Lake Norman that we’ve walked before. It has all kinds of picnic areas, a playground, tennis courts and a big walking path. We were surprised at how low the water was in Lake Norman, obviously they were experiencing a drought. We then checked into our hotel, Springhill Suites Mooresville/Lake Norman. We’ve stayed here before. It’s clean, comfortable, and convenient.

We went to Mass at a very nice Church, St. Therese in Mooresville. For those of you who read my last report, no lizards at this Mass, haha!

After church, we couldn’t wait to bring our son to a restaurant we discovered on our last trip, Havana 33, a Cuban restaurant in Mooresville. This restaurant is an unassuming small lounge-type restaurant in the bottom of a condo building. To start, we shared the sampler appetizer.

View attachment 1030805

Starting at 12:00 and going clockwise:
Masitas de Cuerdo: Bite size crispy pork, garlic mojo, pickled red onions.
Cuban Eggroll: Pork, Ham, Swiss Cheese, Pickles wrapped in egg roll wrap
Yuca fries
Tostones: fried green plantains
Croquettes: one ham, one chicken
Datiles: Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with almonds
Empanadas: spinach, beef and chicken
Three sauces: pink sauce, garlic mojo, oregano ketchup

This food is delicious! Every single item was fresh and full of flavor. We liked all three sauces, especially the garlic mojo. Here’s the order we ranked them from top (most favorite) to bottom (least): datiles, masitas, ham croquette, chicken croquette, spinach cheese empanadas, beef empanadas, Cuban eggroll, chicken empanadas, yuca, tostones. Who knew bacon wrapped dates would be our favorite?!

Since we knew we’d be very full from our appetizer, for our main meal we each ordered a bowl of creamy corn poblano soup.

View attachment 1030808

So pretty and also delicious! It was creamy and well spiced. DS said it was his favorite part of the meal. This meal was by far the best meal we had up to this point on our trip. If you’re ever in the Charlotte/Lake Norman area I highly recommend checking it out.

We gave this meal an A-.

We decided to go elsewhere for dessert and were hoping to find a Rita’s Italian Ice but there wasn’t one we could find nearby. DS found Andy's Frozen Custard which he’s heard of since they’re a sponsor of Cole Custer in NASCAR so we headed there.

We all ordered the same thing: a triple chocolate concrete: Chocolate frozen custard blended with chocolate chip cookie dough and melted chocolate chip and made it a “jackhammer” by adding a peanut butter core.

View attachment 1030809

We all enjoyed this very much! It was obviously very rich but really good! We gave it an A and ranked it just under the King size shake from Hershey.

After our fantastic evening of food, we headed back to the hotel for one last sleep before Disney!

Total steps: 11,455 (4.75 mi)

Up next..entering our Disney phase of the trip after dropping DS off at the Charlotte airport

That soup looks delicious and pretty!
Glad you finally had an awesome meal and yay for driving to Disney.

 

[mickey916]

I was curious about the papusus as well. They look really good. I looked to see if there are any restaurants around me that have them. There are a few in Fall River and New Bedford.
There’s a restaurant not far from my school. Maybe I’ll try it.

Interesting! DM whenever you decide to go and if I'm around I'd love to join you to check it out.