Is it me or does the winter make you want to hibernate? Well my family and I were determined to make the best of the start of the cold season and so we booked two short get aways for the end of November.

Hershey, Pennsylvania is known as The Sweetest Place On Earth!

My family & I, along with my nephew and Ryan’s best friends family headed there for an overnight stay at the Hershey Lodge for a day/night of rides, lights and…. well – chocolate of course.

The ride up is a little less than 3 hours from North Jersey and thanks to Mazda, we drove in style and comfort in a 2018 CX-9. This test drive came at the perfect time since we are in the market for a new SUV. The Mazda CX-9 is a mid-size, three-row crossover SUV that caters to families with seating for seven. The destination possibilities are endless thanks to CX-9’s all-weather capability from its optional predictive i-ACTIV all-wheel drive and class- leading fuel-ef ciency. CX-9 provides a premium driving and passenger experience, courtesy of an award-winning SKYACTIV-G 2.5T engine that delivers excellent performance in everyday driving scenarios and an interior cabin that is pleasing to the sight and touch. This SUV was one of the top safety picks and all the safety features are amazing! Another one of our favorite features is the 3rd row option which is perfect for a growing family.

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 As soon as we arrived in town we headed to Hershey Park! During the holiday season they transform the park into a Christmas dream filled with lights for their Christmas Candylane event. Theres more than 50 rides open, including 6 coasters, lights, live entertainment and even Santa and his reindeers make an appearance.
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After Hershey Park, you are going to want to head on over to Hershey’s Chocolate World where the fun continues. One of my favorite things to do while there is creating your own candy bar. It’s so awesome to see it created right in front of your eyes and you even get to create the wrapper! At Chocolate World you can also catch a 4D movie, go on a tour of the place and do chocolate tasting. By the time we were done the kids were starving so we had to skip the Hershey Sweet Lights but if visiting during the Holidays – it’s a MUST!
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We headed back to the Hershey Lodge and checked in. Our room was in the area with the pull up parking which I thought was super convenient.
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We settled in and headed to the Bears Den for some yummy comfort food. Once everyone’s bellies were filled we grabbed some board games and headed to the lobby to hang around the fireplace. During the holidays Hershey Lodge is decorated so beautifully and everyone really is in the Christmas spirit. There were a ton of people in the lobby hanging out in their pjs and just having a great time.
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The next morning before checking out we spent an hour at the indoor pool complex. All of the kids had the best time and I loved that there was something to do for all of them considering the difference in all their ages (2-14 years old)
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Hershey was the perfect destination for a short one night staycation for the kids (& adults). Everyone had the best time and I’m already looking forward to our next visit. When the weather warms up we will be able to take advantage of their outdoor pool complex, mini golf and the basketball/tennis courts.

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As much as I love traveling abroad there is nothing like discovering local gems and that is why I love the concept of staycations. I personally am not one to take time off from work to stay home and so the idea of being able to take a short car ride for one or two nights away is perfect. I’ve been wanting to start a staycation series for some time now and hope my tristate readers [NJ, NY, PA + CT]  find it useful.

I want to begin this series with an overnight trip my family and I took last month.

Pocono Manor Resort & Spa

Pocono Manor is located in Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania – about 1.5 hours from North Jersey and less than 2 hours from NYC. I’m not sure why it took us so long to venture up to the Poconos. This may have been out first visit but it won’t be our last.

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Pocono Manor is a historic hotel which opened in the 1900’s. There are a total of 240 guest rooms and a ton of amenities onsite – three restaurants, indoor and outdoor pool, golf course, spa and various recreational activities. They offer live music on the weekends and a ton of seasonal activities such as horseback riding, hiking, tennis and snowmobiling.

We were in town for the Lantern Festival so didn’t have much time to take advantage of all their amenities but were really happy with the accommodations. The room was very spacious with a pretty view, the game room was a great addition to the property and every staff member we spoke with were not only friendly but super helpful. At the end of the night we were able to grab a drink by the bar to bring up to our room and then enjoy a family breakfast (which was delicious!) before heading back home. It was the perfect little night away! A big thank you to Pocono Manor for hosting us and we look forward to another stay in the near future.

Here are some photos from our stay as well as some pictures of the property and their amenities/activities courtesy of the Pocono Manor website.

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