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In October 2019, my husband and I enjoyed a long road trip taking-in the Gettysburg Battlefield, Amish settlements in Pennsylvania, Niagara Falls, and Toronto, Canada. It was the perfect time to make this trip. The cooler weather meant fewer tourists and allowed us to see the colorful foliage covering the countryside as we drove from one destination to another.

Our first stop after leaving the Philadelphia Airport was the Hershey Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. The drive is pretty-much a straight shot towards Gettysburg, so it was a convenient pit stop. It’s a chocolate wonderland. We’ve never seen so many variations of chocolate, from candy to pastry and drinks. It’s also a mecca for young children, parents and grandparents. During our time there, we were the only adults not chasing children.   

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We spent 2 full days touring Gettysburg battlefield. Day 1included a private half-day driving tour with a guide, visiting the Battlefield Museum and President Eisenhower’s nearby house and farm. The guided tour of the battlefield was exceptional. Based on what we learned, we spent Day 2 walking many of the iconic battle sites such as Seminary Ridge, the Peach Orchid, Little Round Top, Devil’s Den, the Wheatfield and Cemetery Ridge. To walk these ‘hallow grounds” is a chilling reminder of the carnage that took place here in one of the most important events in US history.

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After Gettysburg, we travelled to Lancaster County, PA, which is home to one of the largest concentrations of Amish in the country. Our goal was to see ordinary Amish as they went about their daily activities. We were not disappointed. It wasn’t long before we heard the “clickity clack” of horses-and-buggies on the roadways and saw many Amish of all ages in their distinctive clothing going about their daily routines. We will not forget one young lady who steered her horse and buggy to the local Ace Hardware Store where she hitched her horse to a post, a team of 8 horses pulling a wagon load of cut corn stalks piled 20 feet high, and an elderly man checking his iPhone as he rested in the doorway of a barn. 

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Our next stop was Niagara Falls. It’s an amazing and impressive natural wonder. We spent a full day on a tour visiting attractions on both the US and Canadian sides. The sites we visited included a close-up look of Horseshoe Falls from the renowned boat Maid of the Mist, walking along the hurricane deck at the Cave of the Winds just below Bridal Falls where we experienced hurricane force gales, standing literally feet away from the torrid waters crashing over Horseshoe Falls, the Niagara Whirlpool, and trip to the observation deck on top of the 520-foot Skylon Tower located on the Canadian side where the views overlooking the falls are extraordinary.

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We next drove to Toronto, which is Canada’s largest city and one of the most diverse cities in the world. The city’s motto is “Diversity Our Strength.” It’s a beautiful city nestled on Lake Ontario’s northwestern shore with an amazing skyline of tall buildings, all of which are dwarfed by the CN Tower. As fate would have it, we arrived in Toronto as the city marathon was ending. Our hotel overlooked Nathan Phillips Square where the marathon ended, so to bide our time until the traffic eased, we grabbed lunch at one of Toronto’s oldest sandwich shops. Over the next several days we immersed ourselves in the city. We visited a number of points of interests, including Old Town and the Historic Distillery District, the affluent Yorkville area, Kensington Market, and the renowned Gothic hilltop castle known as Casa Loma.  We also ascended to the top of the 1126-foot CN Tower where we stood on the glass floor looking down at the city and took a scenic harbor cruise on Lake Ontario of the Toronto skyline, waterfront and nearby islands.

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It was a wonderful trip. We learned a lot and developed many fond memories that will last a lifetime.