Day 14
Wednesday
25 August 99
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - Springfield, New Jersey

From Harrisburg we went straight to Hershey, without even stopping for breakfast.   Never go on the chocolate tour without having breakfast!   We loved the tour, despite being the only people their who weren't acompanying small children.   The smells were luscious and they gave us free chocolate at the end.   I couldn't believe it was a free tour.   It was quite educational, only 20 minutes long, and something I would definately like to take my children on.   Of course, they make millions on the merchandising, and I had to have a little Chocolate Nut fudge.   I wanted to get some Good & Plenty for my brother, but they were all out, so we settled on Reese's Pieces minatures for my brother and father.

Later, we had brunch at the Gingerbread Man and then drove straight to New Jersey.   The directions we got for the hotel were horrid, and my mom got really freaked out by driving on the 22.   We did finally make it to our destination, only to find that Margaret had been waiting for us for hours.   Oh well...   Our hotel was visable from her new apartment, which was surprisingly convinient.

In the evening, Margaret took my mother and I to a lovely Italian restaurant.   We had a mildly attractive waiter named Michael who had a delicious foreign accent.   I, being vegan, had to ask various questions about the contents of certain dishes and had to negotiate to have him make my something I wanted.   Michael had to go to the kitchen to get the answer to my first question, and, upon returning, he put his hands on my shoulders, bent down, and quietly told me the answer.   I paid little attention to the incident, but my mother's and margaret's eyes got wide and they began murmuring about the dual shoulder action (my mom still calls him shoulder man).   His second visit to the table involved the same unnecessary touching of my shoulders.   My dinner companions began teasing me mercilessly.   My order was for a pasta dish with broccoli and roasted red pepers, and I said he could surprise me with which kind of pasta, since I really have no preference.   A few minutes later, he came by the table and, touching only one shoulder, said that he hoped I enjoyed my surprise (it was angel hair).   Michael later recommended several dance clubs in Manhattan at our request.   When he did not pick up on Margaret's non-subtle hints that he should accomany me one one such dancing escapade, she declared that he must be gay (which I highly doubt, but it did make me laugh).

 
Day 13 | Day 15
return to US trip '99
return to Rachel's Daily Diary