10 Behinds the Scenes Tours Kids Will Love

I’m “back” from all of our virtual tours from the past month- we figured it was safer to stay home and explore places online than in person. If you missed them, here are the links to our curated lists of virtual tours for National Parks; art museums; children’s museums, zoos, and aquariums; and Disney related activities.

While my family is still staying home as the country slowly starts to reopen, we’ve been reminiscing about past trips and many themes have emerged. We’re written themed posts before, like our posts on Indoor Fun in New England, East Coast Cities with Nearby Neighbors, Private Homes We’ve Toured, Sports Halls of Fame, and Free Things to Do in New England. Some new themes have recently emerged and today we’re sharing a post on “inside scoops” of famous locations and companies. We love learning about how a place works and seeing the behind the scenes stuff that most people don’t get a chance to see. It has recently become more popular for places to share behind the scenes access, even if guests cannot physically go inside the manufacturing plant or production studio.

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10 Places We Love in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a big state- over 46,000 square miles, over 12 million people, and several popular cities. I remember the first time my husband and I, pre-children, drove a lengthy part of Interstate 76 to get to Pittsburgh (one of the first baseball parks we visited); it felt like the road went on forever. Many years later, we have travelled through most of Pennsylvania (and traveling 330 miles in one day is now a breeze- our record is 710 miles in one day!) and found a lot of spots we love! Although there are many more places we have yet to visit, here are our top 10 family friendly spots in Pennsylvania:

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Four East Coast Cities With Nearby Fun

Large cities like Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and DC are popular for good reason: There are historical sites dating back hundreds of years, tons of museums and galleries, and a seemingly endless variety of cultural events and ethnic food options. However, many of these large cities cast a bit of a “shadow” on nearby neighbors that can hold their own with visitors! We’ve spent some time over the past couple of years exploring some “smaller” cities within a short drive of well known metropolitans and we wanted to share many places to explore if you find yourself in town with an extra day or weekend.

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10 Things to Do with Kids in Hershey and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Hershey, Pennsylvania may be known as a chocolate lover’s paradise and a dreamland for thrill seekers. Indeed, a visit to Hersheyland amusement park is a MUST when you are in town, but there are also many other places to explore in both Hershey, a town originally named Derry Church and changed to honor the man who created thousands of jobs and industry in the 20th century, and nearby Harrisburg, the capitol of Pennsylvania. As you drive through downtown Hershey, check out the streetlights- 55 of them are dressed up as wrapped “kisses” and 52 streetlights are dressed up as unwrapped “kisses.”

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10 Things Every Kid Should Do at Hershey Lodge in Hershey, PA

On our first massive (almost) cross country trip in 2012, we stopped in Hershey, Pennsylvania for lunch. My daughter still has a Hershey kiss pillow that she purchased on that trip. We only had a couple of hours for lunch but vowed to return and spend some time in the chocolate capital of America! We made good on that promise this spring break.

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