Take a Ride on a Steam Engine Train at Williams Grove Railroad

The Williams Grove Railroad is part of the Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association located near the towns of Mechanicsburg & Dillsburg in Pennsylvania. The association was founded in 1959 to preserve and operate historic steam powered equipment, such as steam engine pulled trains. Over time, that has expanded into vintage steam powered farming equipment too.

They offer passenger train rides at their location from May through October at scheduled times and during special events. You do have to pay a fee for a train ride, but it's extremely reasonable. I believe we paid $4.00 per person on the day that we went. Their hours of operation varies and if there is bad weather, rides will be canceled.

We visited back on September 4th, 2016 during their annual Fall show and had a really great time. There were a lot of people there for the event, but the crowds moved along quickly. We were there on a Sunday, so the "extra" crowds were from their Sunday Flea Market which is open year-round from dawn to 2PM EST. There is FREE admission into the Flea Market to buy items but if you want to sell items, you'll have to pay a vendor's fee.

On the day that we visited they had a schedule of events:

* Tractor Pulling - which started at 12:00 noon.

* Parade of Steam Engines & Tractors started at 6PM.

* Borderline (band) started playing at 7PM.

During the event you could pay a fee and take a ride on the steam engine pulled passenger train which was really cool. I had never been on any type of train before, so I really enjoyed this and so did my grandchildren. Once they open up the train station for rides...they continue running them for hours or until the crowds die down. We didn't have to wait too long for our train ride and while we waited, we walked around and checked out some other activities.

They had rows upon rows of old vintage farm tractors on display. Many of these were the old steam-powered tractors from yesteryear and then you did see some of the more "modern" types from the 60's through the 80's on display too. My grandson was super excited to see some John Deere tractors on display which are his favorites!

It was really interesting to walk around and see all of the old farming equipment on display. Since I don't know much about that subject, it would of been nice if there had been some signage up or a "guide" that you could purchase to tell you more about the items you were looking at. With that said, I did run into a guy who was pretty well-versed on these things and he shared a little bit of his knowledge with us.

During the event you'll find several food vendors set up, so you can grab something to eat and drink. When we were there, they had at least a dozen of them selling all kinds of different things. We saw hot dogs, cheeseburgers, cheesesteak sandwiches, soft pretzels, ice cream, cold beverages, hot drinks, pizza and all sorts of other things.

This is a great family-friendly activity in south central Pennsylvania that's affordable too! You can go and walk around for FREE and if you want to take a train ride or grab something to eat, you'll have to pay extra for that. Overall, we had a great time and will definitely be visiting the Williams Grove Railroad again! 

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Visiting the Gettysburg Lincoln Train Museum

No trip to Gettysburg would be complete without a visit to the Gettysburg Lincoln Train Museum located at 425 Steinwehr Avenue in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. The museum is about a 5 to 10 minute drive from the downtown business district and within walking distance of other tourist attractions located on Steinwehr Avenue.

When you visit the museum you will learn about President Lincoln, a little bit about his family, the death of his young son Willie and of course...the death of President Lincoln himself. One thing this museum really focuses on is the funeral procession of Lincoln's body by train from Washington D.C. to his final resting place in Springfield Illinois.

Once you enter the museum you'll be standing in their gift shop where you'll pay your admission. They let you into the museum portion in groups, so if you need to wait, feel free to do your souvenir shopping ahead of time. In the gift shop you'll find all kinds of cool souvenirs like hoodies, t-shirts, toys for the kids, jewelry, collectibles, housewares, candy, beverages, train items and more!

We only had to wait 10 minutes before the group was allowed to enter and once in the hallway you will be greeted by President Abe Lincoln and several television video screens. An actor who plays him will give you some history about the president, his family and his death. The screens walk you down a hallway which is lined with photographs & collectibles. This portion only takes about 5 minutes to go through.

After you are done with that, you'll enter the train museum and will be escorted to some benches in front of a large train display and video screen. A film comes on that lasts about 10 minutes and tells you about the funeral train. Where it started, the major cities it goes through, the millions of people who showed up in each city to pay their respects and then it's arrival in Springfield Illinois. As the video plays, the train goes around the track and stops in various major cities. This gives you a good perspective on how beloved President Lincoln was and how long his funeral procession lasted (by train) going through all of those cities.

Once we were done watching that, they gave us about 15-20 minutes to roam around the train museum to check out all of the various displays. We saw hundreds of different trains, collectibles relating to the railroad, some artifacts & collectibles from the civil war and even some collectibles from the 1970's and 1980's. Hubby loved seeing their very small collection of items from the movie Star Wars!

One of the things we really enjoyed seeing was their large train display that sits in the middle of the room. This display is really large and you can interact with it by pushing varying buttons to get trains to go around the track, to get buildings to light up, carnival rides to move and all sorts of other things. This display was great for both adults and children.

If you have small children or grandchildren along with you during your visit, you'll find a small play area where they can sit down at a table and play with some Chugginton Train Toys and have some fun. I noticed that several families would let their kids sit and play as they walked around and looked at the various exhibits and items on display.

After we explored the various collectibles and items they had on display, we boarded their "mock" train car for the next part of our our. This train car was set up to resemble the kind of car that Lincoln's body would of ridden in until he got to his final resting place. The car has several benches in it, a faux coffin and video screens on the wall. You sit in the car and a video comes on giving you information about his funeral procession by train. As the video plays, the car does rock back & forth and up & down to assimilate what a real train feels like. My husband thought this was really cool. This part of the tour lasts about 10-12 minutes and was very informative.

Once we were done...we headed back out into the gift shop and did a little bit of souvenir shopping. We found their prices to be extremely reasonable, so I picked up a few items for our grandchildren while we were there. After you go outside, you'll find a train car to the right of the building and you can the kids can climb in there for a little bit of fun.

Overall, we really enjoyed our visit to the Gettysburg Lincoln Train Museum in Pennsylvania. It's open daily April through November and then December through March they are open Thursday through Monday. You can visit their website for hours of operation, driving directions and to obtain information about special rates that are available to groups.

Note: All photos are copyright Pennsylvania & Beyond Travel Blog. These photos are clickable, and if you click on each one, it will open up in a new window and in an enlarged size, so that you can view the smaller details up close.

5 Great Places to Get Ice Cream in Wildwood

When you visit Wildwood you'll find hundreds of different places to get ice cream. Some of these places are right on the Wildwood boardwalk and some are sprinkled throughout the island itself. Many of them offer the classic flavors and others will offer 100's of different combination flavors along with various toppings.

Visiting the Jersey Shore just isn't complete unless you try out some icy-cold treats and today, we are listing five of them for you to consider. Here are our Top 5 Great Places to Get Ice Cream in Wildwood New Jersey.

1. One of the most famous and BEST places to get ice cream is from Kohr Bros who has been in business since 1919. They have some of the creamiest and smoothest ice cream and frozen custard on the entire east coast! You'll find them at several different locations in Wildwood & Cape May. If you ask my husband, this is his favorite place to get a classic chocolate cone!

2. If you're looking for a fun family experience we recommend that you check out Cool Scoops which is a Doo Wop style ice cream parlor. They have a lot of different flavors of ice cream and offer sundaes and milkshakes too! My grand daughter loves this place because of all of the different toppings that they have to offer. What makes Cool Scoops super fun is the adorable vintage-style car seats that you can sit in while enjoying your icy-cold confection. Aren't they adorable?

3. Hassles Ice Cream Parlor is definitely on our top 5 places to get ice cream when visiting North Wildwood. This parlour has a lot of your classic flavors & popular flavor combinations that are rich, creamy and delicious. You get really nice portions with Hassles and their prices are decent too. After you've enjoyed your ice cream, you can take in a round of miniature golf which sits right behind their parlour! Looking for bike rentals? They've got those too.

4. Rounding out our list is Ken & Mary's Ice Cream and More which is located on the boardwalk. While they don't look like much, their ice cream is good and super affordable. In addition to the icy-cold treats, they offer your classic-style soft pretzels and cold beverages too. They're not fancy here at all but it's a great place to the kids.

5. The Seashell Ice Cream Parlor is located in North Wildwood, about 1 1/2 blocks back from the boardwalk. They offer your classic flavors, mixed flavors and you can get milkshakes here too! My little grand daughter likes coming here due to their bright decor colors & she likes that we will sit outside at one of the tables or on a bench to enjoy our ice cream. Their's is pretty good when it comes to taste and we find that their prices are affordable too.

6. Lizzy's Ice Cream Shop is located on Jersey Avenue in Wildwood, a few blocks back from the boardwalk. We decided to add this one to our list after visiting Lizzy's twice in the past few months. They offer a wide variety of different ice cream flavors, sundaes, sundae toppings and milkshakes. The reason we've added them is because they're really affordable as compared to other shops in the area. As an added bonus, they're ice cream is really good too!!!

Well, there you have it. Our list of 5 Great Places to Get Ice Cream in Wildwood New Jersey. Some of these places are located directly on the boardwalk and others are a few streets back.

16th Street Beachfront Playground in North Wildwood

If you are visiting any of the areas on the Wildwoods Island and looking for a free beachfront park for the kids to play in...then I would highly recommend that you check out the 16th Street Playground in North Wildwood. Out of all of the playgrounds on the island, this one is our favorite!

The playground is located at 16th Street but runs the width of a few blocks. It's beachfront and you can see the ocean from a few locations and paid meter parking is nearby. You can find free parking on nearby streets if you look hard enough for it.

This is a sandy playground with a lot of different things for the kids to do. At the northern end of the playground is a public restroom but it's only open seasonally and during certain hours of the day. Every once in awhile you will find a mobile vendor nearby with his food cart selling hot dogs, cold drinks and ice cream but they are expensive. You can bring your own picnic style lunch with you.

Every time we are down on the island we always take our little grand daughter over to this playground and she will play for hours! She loves getting on the cars, climbing all through the train, the wooden ferry and the other things that you will find there.

This playground is extremely clean! There are benches that you and can sit down on and watch the children play. It sits right on the beach and there is beach access at several locations along the beachfront playground. While there are several others on the Wildwood island...this one is our absolute favorite one to visit.

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Crystal Springs Resort – One of America’s Prettiest Fall Golf Destinations

Six great courses with color and character located less than an hour from New York City equal Autumn gold in the Northeast.

Within 30 minutes of drive time Northwest and away from Newark and the Manhattan skyline of New York City, the land formations begin to change dramatically entering the Kittatinny and Appalachian mountain ranges.

Nestled among those mountains is one of the largest golf resorts in the world – Crystal Springs Resort. Over the next month the hardwoods in the region will turn to splendid hues of scarlet, rust, gold and orange, creating one of the most beautiful fall golf destinations in the country.

September and October at Crystal Springs is a feast for the senses as the changing colors and fresh crisp air enhance an irresistible setting for a great combination of golf, luxurious accommodations, and amenities.

With a collection of six scenic golf courses, two hotels including the highly acclaimed Grand Cascades Lodge, two spas, multiple dining options including the award winning Restaurant Latour and Wine Cellar, as well as activities such as clay shooting, biking, fly-fishing, and more, Crystal Springs offers a spectacular fall golf experience unmatched in the region.

The No. 1 public course in New Jersey, Ballyowen, leads the way by offering a rich 360-degree color view over the beautiful Walkill River, and Wild Turkey provides multiple scenic views from its opening hole, as well as the 10th tee, 18th green and other areas along the course that showcase sights up to 40 miles over the mountain ranges.

Complimenting Ballyowen and Wild Turkey is one of the toughest courses in America, the memorable Crystal Springs course. The course meanders in and around a spectacular limestone quarry offering a striking contrast in color with the surrounding foliage. Black Bear is also one of the more popular courses in the region. It drapes along the Hamburg Mountain landscape providing one of the prettiest scenic fall views found anywhere.

Crystal Springs’ innovative nine-hole courses, Cascades and Minerals, both offer scenic color views, and caters to all levels of players. Golfers enjoy a variety of tee positions including junior tees, large cups, Golf Boards, Golf Bikes, and the option to play Footgolf.

Golfers looking for a destination that combines great golf, lodging, and spectacular fall color views, then make sure to check out Crystal Springs Resort. For the next month through October 13, the resort is celebrating “Golftoberfest” combining the best of fall golf with traditional Bavarian delights such as, bratwurst, knockwurst, weisswurst, German pretzels and potato leek soup paired with German beer at the Halfway Houses.

Whether it's a buddy trip, couples retreat, or girlfriend getaway, it will be a truly one-of-a-kind fall golf getaway at Crystal Springs.

About Crystal Springs Resort - Nestled among the Hamburg Mountains in Northwestern New Jersey, Crystal Springs Resort is acclaimed as the New York Metro area's most unique four-season resort. Located less than an hour from the city, it is comprised of two luxury hotels – Grand Cascades Lodge and Minerals Hotel; six championship caliber golf courses including the nationally acclaimed Ballyowen course; 10 restaurants highlighted by 4-star Restaurant Latour and its Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning (since 2006) 135,000-bottle Wine Cellar; two full-service spas; state-of-the-art Minerals Sports Club; multiple indoor and outdoor pools, including the tropical Biosphere Pool Complex with an underground aquarium, lush foliage and freeform nature pools.

Visiting and Exploring the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia

We love to travel especially up and down the east coast. When looking for new places to visit, we like to look for ones that are rich in history, educational and fun for the entire family. You'll get all three of those when you visit the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia.

This historical and educational settlement is a living history museum that tells the story of 17th century Virginia and the arrival of the Europeans in Jamestown in 1607. It's located near the original site of Jamestown and is open year-round.

The story and history of Jamestown comes to life with this living history museum and exhibits. On-site you can dine at the Jamestown Cafe and shop at the gift shop after you've explored the settlement. When visiting, you'll want to plan to spend at least 3 hours there, so that you can see and do all of the things that this tourist attraction has to offer.

While visiting you'll learn about the James Fort, Powhatan Indians & their village, the early settlers of this great nation and you'll see replicas of the settler's ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and the Discovery. These ships are absolutely fantastic to see! It's really amazing how these ships were able to cross the mighty Atlantic Ocean and compared to ships of today, it's really fun to see them!

Driving Directions: The Jamestown Settlement is located on 2110 Jamestown Road, Route 31 S. in Williamsburg Virginia.

GPS Coordinates: 37.225069,-76.786218

On a recent trip down to Virginia Beach we decided to drive to the Jamestown Settlement and explore everything they had to offer. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there and trust me, it wasn't enough time, so the next time we are down vacationing in the area, we plan on stopping in again and this time will block off an entire afternoon.

When walking around, I really suggest that you take your time, read and look at the exhibits, and really let all of that history sink in. I took a LOT of photos while we were there and once back at our hotel, I wrote down some notes from our day, so that I wouldn't forget them. You know, as we age, we tend to forget things and I'm the type of person that likes to thoroughly document our vacations.

We are hoping to take both of our grandchildren there in the near future for a learning experience. I think it will help them when it comes to learning about the history of our great nation. This place is truly amazing and we really enjoyed our visit! Here's to looking into the future and planning a second visit as soon as we can!

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4 Beautiful Bed & Breakfast Inns in Cape May

One of our favorite places to visit at the Jersey Shore happens to be Cape May. This coastal town has a lot of Victorian charm and is a year-round coastal town with a ton of activities always going on. One of our favorite times to visit Cape May happens to be in late May or in early September of every year. The crowds are just a little bit less and the weather is still warm.

As you drive around Cape May you'll notice all of these beautiful Bed and Breakfast Inns up and down the streets. Some of these Inns are quite large, the size of million dollar mansions and all of them are quite beautiful in their decor. Most of them are decorated in a Victorian style.

Bayberry Inn Bed & Breakfast

The photo above in this travel feature is of the Bayberry Inn Bed & Breakfast located on 223 Perry Street. It has a beautiful bright yellow exterior that really catches your eye with cozy looking wicker furniture adorning the front porch. I've never been inside this place, but I can just imagine how beautiful the interior must be!

I didn't catch the name of the Bed & Breakfast Inn featured in the first photo...but when we were walking by, I was really attracted to all of those Americana buntings, banners and of course the American flag decorating their large front porch. If anyone knows the name of that B&B, please feel free to leave me a comment and I'll update this post.

Winward House Bed & Breakfast Inn

We walked by the Winward House Bed & Breakfast Inn and I loved the turquoise colored (blue colored) exterior on this one! Those striped awnings are very eye-catching too! I would LOVE to own a house some day with a big front porch like this one and the grounds are beautifully landscaped too! You'll find this beauty located on 24 Jackson Street in Cape May.

The Saltwood House Bed & Breakfast Inn is located on 28 Jackson Street in Cape May. They offer 2 guest rooms and 2 guest suites, all with private bathrooms. They're located one-half block from the beach and within walking distance to the Washington Street Mall. You can park your car and walk to local restaurants, cafes, bars & grills, shops and area attractions.

These are just 4 of the big and beautiful Bed & Breakfast Inns you'll see while driving around Cape May. One of the things I love about staying in a B&B is the one-on-one personal service that you get. Plus, you just can't beat how comfortable, cozy & tidy those guest rooms are! Enjoy your visit!

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The Fun & Exciting Wildwood Boardwalk at Night

Heading to Wildwood in New Jersey for Vacation? If so, you're going to love it there! The Wildwoods offer FREE beaches (no beach tags required) and you can find plenty of free and paid metered parking along the boardwalk and streets. Out of all of the south Jersey Shore locations, the Wildwoods have the most fun & exciting things to do!

You'll find all kinds of arcades, gift shops, apparel stores, fudge & candy shops, home decor stores, restaurants, pizza parlors, ice cream shops, jewelry stores, boutiques, a few tattoo joints, coffee shops, miniature golf, old-time photos, etc. lining the boardwalk! There is definitely something for everyone to enjoy here!

During the daytime hours you'll find it less crowded, because most people are out on the beach, in the water or running around the island doing various activities. During the nighttime hours, the Wildwood boardwalk really comes to life!

You can walk from one end to the opposite end in just two to three hours if you're taking your time. Of course if your a jogger or riding a bike, it can be done in less time. If you have trouble walking, you can pay a small fee and take a ride on the Famous Sightseer Tram Car. They charge $3.00 for one way, a total of $6.00 for a round trip.

Thousands of people head to Morey's Piers (there are three of them on the boardwalk) to have some fun on their amusement rides, splash around in their waterpark or to play some fun carnival-style games. We love checking out the rides and get on a few of them every time we visit. We don't go overboard with the rides though, because we find them to be pretty expensive to enjoy.

There are hundreds of different places where you can grab a bite to eat. We love buying our french fries from Curley's along with our lemonade...they have the best! If you're looking for some great pizza, check out Sam's Pizza Palace for that! If fudge and saltwater taffy are your thing, we like buying our's from The Original Fudge Kitchen. Looking for some delicious chocolate-dipped fruits? You'll want to visit Laura's Fudge for that!

If you're a gamer and enjoy playing arcade games, carnival-style games, skeeball, video games & slot machines...you'll find a ton of fun arcades up and down the boardwalk. My husband loves to play those cranes to try to win stuffed animals for our grandchildren and I have to admit, he's pretty good at it. A few weeks ago we came home with 9 of them for the kids!

The Wildwood boardwalk really starts hopping with fun & excitement around 8 PM in the evening and is still going strong to midnight. A lot of your regular stores will close around 11 PM but others will remain open until midnight or 1 AM for you to enjoy.

While other south Jersey Shore locations have boardwalks and/or promenades, we find that the boardwalk in Wildwood has the most things to offer. If you're planning a visit to Avalon, Stone Harbor, the Wildwoods and/or Cape May in New Jersey, you definitely have to spend some time on the boardwalk at night!

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Dining at Guy Fieri's Mt Pocono Kitchen

We had the pleasure of dining at Guy Fieri's Mt. Pocono Kitchen a few weeks ago. His restaurant is actually located in Mount Airy Casino Resort on 312 Woodland Road in Mt Pocono Pennsylvania. You don't need to be staying at the resort to enter his restaurant and enjoy some great tasting food.

Once you enter Mount Airy Resort you'll want to head on up to the Casino floor. Once your on the casino floor, follow all of the signs pointing to Guy Fieri's and you'll find it. It's located around the perimeter of the casino floor, along with the other restaurants & gift shops.

On the evening that we visited, they weren't crowded at all. We were immediately greeted by the hostess and seated. Within 5 minutes we had a menu and drinks in our hands. If you love burgers, especially gourmet burgers with your classic or unusual toppings, Guy's is the place you want to be. In addition to burgers, you'll find some great appetizers too! While we were there, Guy was doing a "Meet & Greet" with his fans and that was pretty cool to see.

My husband ordered one of the burgers from the menu that was topped with macaroni & cheese. Wow, what a combination for sure! His burger was quite larger and after just a few bites, he was raving to me about how good it was. He ordered seasoned french fries and a beer to go along with his meal.

I decided to dine "light" and ordered a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup. One of the things I loved about Guy's chicken noodle soup is that it was made with elbow macaronis instead of noodles. My soup was served alongside a piece of artisan bread. The soup was very delicious and surprisingly, very filling. I was totally full after just one bowl! My beverage of choice was a tall glass of iced tea.

If you're looking for $2.00 and $3.00 junk-style fast food burgers, you won't find them here. You'll find tasty gourmet burgers made with the best-quality beef. Sure, it's more expensive to dine here than your local fast food burger joint, but frankly...you get what you pay for. Our meals were cooked to perfection and arrived piping hot onto our table lickety split!

To learn more, you can visit Guy Fieri's website to learn more about Guy Fieri's Mt Pocono Kitchen (restaurant) located in Mt. Pocono Pennsylvania. We enjoyed our meals and will definitely be dining there again.