We visited Hershey in May 2019, as part of our trip to Acadia National Park.

Our first real target destination on our road trip to Acadia was J’s mom’s house in Beverly, MA, but we didn’t want to do the drive from VA to MA with the Airstream all in one day. Hershey, PA sits approximately on the route, is not too far from halfway to Beverly, has a brewery, and is a vacation destination for lots of people, and I like chocolate… so we picked it for night #1.

One night there was enough for us. The main drag through town, of course named Chocolate Avenue, is kind of cute, but it’s full of chain stores and restaurants. I did love the Hershey’s Kiss-shaped streetlights. Hersheypark, the area’s main tourist attraction, is located in the downtown area. We thought it was neat that the park and the town are intertwined, but really it seems like there’s not much reason to visit Hershey unless you’re going to Hersheypark and make it a whole chocolate-themed trip (which seems like a good idea to me).

Campground

We parked the Airstream at Thousand Trails Hershey RV & Camping Resort, just outside Hershey. Our main criteria were proximity to our target brewery, and a clear view for our DirecTV dish to suck down the penultimate Game of Thrones episode! Priorities, people. The park was big and pleasant, with a little pond and a secluded field for Bugsy to run around in.

Hersheypark Camping Resort is closer to downtown Hershey, but has a two-night minimum.

Food and drink

Well, we didn’t explore the food and drink scene in Hershey very much. We had dinner and beers at a single location: Tröegs Brewing. The taproom is huge and interestingly industrial–it’s a former Hershey manufacturing space–and bustling!

Connected to the taproom is a fun little walk past brewing equipment and educational displays, ending in the gift shop where we bought Bugsy the green toy above to assuage our guilt for leaving her in the Airstream while we played.

Our first beer sampler included an oat pale ale, 2 IPAs, a brut IPA, and a DIPA; we liked the oat pale best of this batch. Next we tried a few sours: an apricot farmette, a raspberry tart, and a boysenberry tart. Of those, I preferred the apricot farmette, while J pretty quickly returned to the oat pale.

We didn’t expect to have dinner at Tröegs, but we couldn’t resist their impressive snack bar menu. The carrot hummus, pork belly lettuce wraps, and salmon toast were fantastic. The beertender also recommended dinner at Primanti Bros., a Pennsylvania chain known for their giant sandwiches piled high with meat; or Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, the “most award-winning brewery east of the Mississippi,” whatever that means, with locations around the mid-Atlantic, and randomly, Greenville, SC.