Brass Balls Saloon

The Brass Balls Saloon, with indoor seating (with air conditioning!) and outdoor seating on a patio overlooking the Ocean City, MD boardwalk, was a great stop for lunch on our trip.

We ordered the Avocado Chicken "Samich," which had a nice moist chicken breast and was topped with a very tasty, but spicy, pepper jack cheese and served with the chipotle mayo on the side. The avocado was a nice cooling flavor among all the heat. This is served with chips, but unless you have a real hankering for chips, upgrade to the fries. They are seasoned waffle fries and worth the upgrade cost.

We also ordered the chicken and cheese quesadilla - which was huge, but still light enough to not feel stuffed after lunch.

Traveling with a 6-year-old, we also ordered the chicken finger meal from the children's menu. The children's meals are served in a take home beach bucket, which is a cute idea, however, impractical for eating. The chicken fingers were served on top with a bucket full of fries. A pickle was stuffed in on the side and all the way on the bottom of the bucket was carrot sticks. By the time we realized there were carrots in there, everyone was done eating. We did ask for an additional plate, but there was still a lot of fries to dump out before getting to anything on the bottom.

Hershey Park

Are you a chocolate lover? Well, then at some point in your life, you must make a pilgrimage to Hershey, PA. You'll know as soon as you enter the town since the lightposts are all topped of with a gigantic Hershey's Kiss.

Inside the park, you'll find entertainment for people of all ages. Be sure though to buy your tickets elsewhere before you go though. Giant grocery stores have great deals on tickets ($41 plus free parking), but you can also get discount at various fast food restaurants and AAA.

For those that are thrill-seekers, there is no shortage of roller coasters here. My personal favorite is Storm Runner, which shoots you out like a gun, spinning you around and sending you through some loops. Some other roller coaster highlights are the Farenheit and Sidewinder.

For those that love water parks, there is a small section called the Boardwalk inside the park with various water rides and slides. Be sure you remember a change of clothes if you plan on coming to this portion of the park!

Connected to the park is also ZooAmerica, which is a small zoo, with it's highlight being a great bear.

Right outside of the park is Chocolate World, which is a chocolate lover's dream. There is a free ride in here that takes you through the whole process of the creation of Hershey's chocolate, and also offers a free sample after the ride. In addition, for an additional cost, there's the new "Create a Candy Bar" exhibit that will allow you to create your own candy!

Also, when you go on hot days (like we did...it hit over 100 degrees!), make sure you drink lots of water. You should also note that all places in the park with a fountain soda machine will give you a cup of water for free if you ask. This can save a good amount of money in the park instead of paying their inflated prices on various drinks.