Now is the Best Time! Our 2024 Florida Road Trip (complete)

[ddluvsdisney]

Looks like another good day! Always good to hear clean hotel. Yay for leftovers

 

[mickey916]

Looks like another good day! Always good to hear clean hotel. Yay for leftovers

The leftovers were so good! We both thought they wouldn't be as good heated in the microwave but they were!

 

[mickey916]

5/5 Travel Day to Lancaster, PA​

We awoke early, checked out of the hotel and started our drive to Lancaster, PA. It was raining so any outdoor plans we had were put on hold. We therefore headed directly to Hershey’s Chocolate World. We rode the Chocolate World ride which has been updated again. We prefer the previous versions.

Once off the ride, it was time for a snack. We both ordered a Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake.

These shakes were excellent, so full of chocolate and peanut butter deliciousness!

After walking around Chocolate World for a bit, we headed to check into our hotel, Residence Inn, Lancaster. This was another very nice hotel. We stayed here previously with our sons so we knew it was a great place to stay.

It was still raining so we got our steps by walking around the room while watching the NASCAR race. After the race we headed to dinner at the Station House Tavern in Lancaster.

We shared two entrees again, hoping once more for a good burger and chicken sandwich.
First we ordered the chicken bacon ranch wrap with hand cut fries.

The chicken was dry and the fries weren’t seasoned. My DH asked for ketchup and with his first bite, he said, “Oh this must be a different brand of ketchup.” I tasted it and it was really sour, like it had gone bad. We never got to ask our server for a new bottle as we didn’t see her again until she brought the check.

We also shared a smash burger.

This burger also really lacked seasoning. It’s so strange that we had so many sub-par burgers on this trip. D-Luxe Burger was really the only one we enjoyed. None of the others had any flavor. Overall the Station House Tavern was a miss for us. It was better than Cowfish or Gas Full Service but got a “D” on our list.

For dessert we picked up a package of Magic Bars at the supermarket.

This was very good. My maternal grandmother made these all the time for the grandkids. They always bring back a great memory.

Total Steps: 14,426

Up next, touring an Amish Farm House for the first time and returning to a favorite dinner spot.

 

[mickey916]

5/6 Amish Farm & House, Strasburg RR & Shady Maple Smorgasbord​

Despite traveling to Lancaster, PA, many, many times over the years, we have never visited an Amish farm. We often have seen the Amish Farm and House which is adjacent to a Target parking lot. Given its location we always assumed it was simply a tourist trap. However, having read good reviews on Tripadvisor, we decided to give it a try.

We were the only people on the tour of the house so it was great to get personalized attention. We found the house tour to be very informative and then did the self guided tour of the grounds. We didn’t take the bus tour option.

There was an app that provided additional information at each marked spot on the grounds. While this is no longer a working farm, it was actually very interesting and worthwhile. We were very surprised at what a good tour this was.

After our tour, we stopped by the Strasburg Railroad, which is always a family favorite. We didn’t take a ride but walked the grounds to get steps and took some photos.

Finally it was time for dinner and we headed straight to our favorite restaurant in the area, the Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl, PA. When I posted my trip report last year, @GSDGlitter asked if we had ever gone to the Shady Maple Market next door. We had never really paid it any attention to be honest. So, before our meal, we stopped by the market. What an interesting place! It is absolutely enormous with a huge selection of any groceries you can possibly imagine. We stopped by the bakery and ordered four donuts to bring home for breakfast the next morning: two peanut butter filled donuts, one creme filled coconut iced donut, and one cheese danish donut. The total cost for the four donuts was $5.56! Four donuts for less than one Funky Bunch donut at Everglazed.

Even though we didn’t eat any of them until the next morning, they were by far the best donuts we have ever eaten! They still tasted amazingly fresh with lots of wonderful creamy filling. This will now be a must stop place for us any time we’re in the area. In fact, we were trying to convince DS-26 to take a trip with us to Strasburg RR this summer and make a stop for donuts at the Market but we decided on our South Dakota trip with him instead.

After our exploration of the Market, we walked over to Shady Maple Smorgasbord.

Here’s my plate: fried chicken, fried shrimp, beef brisket, buttered noodles, filling (stuffing where I am from) and mac & cheese.

This food is always so good! The beef brisket is incredible. For those unfamiliar, this restaurant has a different theme each night of the week (except Sunday when they’re closed). This was Monday so it was “steak night” which featured Delmonico & NY Strip steaks, beef brisket, grilled boneless pork chop and fried shrimp. So, in addition to the brisket, I also got a NY strip steak that was tender and seasoned perfectly!

Here’s my DH’s plate: onion rings, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, raspberry bread, buttered noodles and filling. His favorite thing is always the raspberry bread.

DH also ordered the grilled pork chop from the grill section. He said it was the best pork chop he’s ever had. It was moist and tender. We’re not sure how they achieved such a perfect chop. He wants to make sure next time we visit we go on a Monday Steak Night so he can get that pork chop again.

Other than my steak and his pork chop, we didn’t have room for second plates in our bellies. Of course we needed to save space for dessert. I got a Boston cream pie which I haven’t had in years.

It was very good! I also took a slice of chocolate cake that I shared with DH. It was moist and fudgy.

DH got strawberry rhubarb pie and enjoyed it so much, he got a second slice!

Overall this was another great meal. The selection is always incredible and the food is hot, fresh and tasty.

We definitely think Steak Night is the best night to go but they also have Prime Rib Night, Seafood Night, and Ribs & Wings Night as well as Friday and Saturday nights are Grand Menu Nights which have a little of everything.

This is our favorite restaurant in the Lancaster area and actually our favorite buffet restaurant anywhere. We have tried other Amish family style restaurants and buffets in the Lancaster area but nothing ever compares to the Shady Maple Smorgasbord.

Total Steps: 15,465

Up next: ending our trip with some chocolate, a tour, and then a long drive home.

 

[GSDGlitter]

LOL! So glad you enjoyed the market - it really is a fun experience and now I want a sour cream cake donut and a pork chop! (and maybe some macaroni salad . . .)

 

[pwdebbie]

I've been to Lancaster many times but never once have I eaten at Shady Maple!

 

[nascargirl]

We live about 2 hrs from Lancaster and love having a meal at Shady Maples. If you have never been, next time make your way to Kitchen Kettle Village.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Glad you had another great meal. The food does look delicious. If I am ever near there and will make a stop.

 

[mickey916]

LOL! So glad you enjoyed the market - it really is a fun experience and now I want a sour cream cake donut and a pork chop! (and maybe some macaroni salad . . .)

Go for it!

 

[mickey916]

I've been to Lancaster many times but never once have I eaten at Shady Maple!

Check it out some time, it's worth it!

We live about 2 hrs from Lancaster and love having a meal at Shady Maples. If you have never been, next time make your way to Kitchen Kettle Village.

Oh I've never heard of Kitchen Kettle Village, I will add that to the list for next time!

Glad you had another great meal. The food does look delicious. If I am ever near there and will make a stop.

Definitely do it!

 

[footballmouse]

I've heard of Shady Maple from a Disney vlogger. Your food looks so good!

 

[mickey916]

I've heard of Shady Maple from a Disney vlogger. Your food looks so good!

It's really good. We started going there many years ago when the kids were little and now it's a must do. We actually started watching Paging Mr. Morrow when we saw he did a vlog there.

 

[mickey916]

5/7 Touring Lititz, PA & Wilbur Chocolates
​

One of the places we visit each time we’re in the Lancaster area is the town of Lititz, mostly because we love chocolate and the Wilbur Chocolate factory was located there. We also like to walk along the Lititz Springs Park and when the kids were little we made pretzels at the Sturgis Pretzel bakery. We decided for this trip to learn more about the town itself so I booked a tour through TripAdvisor called the 45 Minute Private Guided Historic Walking Tour in Lititz. We met our guide and walked the streets as she told us lots of interesting information about the founding of the town and its growth over the years. It was definitely an enjoyable and worthwhile tour. It’s nice that it was just the two of us so we could ask questions and take our own pace. The tour actually ended up lasting about an hour and a half.

After our tour we stopped by the relatively new storefront for Wilbur’s Chocolates, no longer located in the original factory. Somehow, it’s just not quite the same but the chocolate is still very good.

We bought some Wilbur Buds (their version of a Hershey’s kiss) and some peanut butter meltaways for the drive home.

These are so creamy and delicious!

We walked around the Lititz Springs Park a few times to get our steps and had a picnic lunch in the park. Then, sadly, it was time to make the final journey back to Massachusetts. We opted not to go route 95 through Connecticut and instead went further up NY and took the Mass Pike over. It adds time but 95 in Connecticut is always such a mess that we prefer to avoid it at all costs.

We stopped for dinner at Uno Pizzeria & Grill in Sturbridge and shared a Chicago Meat Market pizza: Layers of sausage, meatballs, pepperoni, freshly shredded mozzarella, chunky tomato sauce, and pecorino romano.

We haven’t been to Uno’s in so long as the one near us closed a few years ago. This was quite good. The crust was well baked and the toppings were plentiful.

The rest of our drive home was uneventful. It was good to be home but we absolutely loved our entire road trip. We had nearly perfect weather, lots of great food, and many fun adventures. As we drove home, we already started discussing plans for next spring. Easter being April 20th puts a monkey wrench in our plans as we love going in April but want to be home for Easter with the family. So, it looks like next year will be a mid-March to mid-April trip and our plan is to spend 33 days in Orlando with a side trip or two to Cocoa Beach!

For those of you who followed along all the way to the end, thank you so much for allowing me to extend our trip by recounting all of our adventures.

I will have a few more entries as I report on our final “rankings” of all the meals we had and some things we learned about ourselves on the trip.

Total steps: 13571

 

[rdkeim]

I very much enjoyed reading about your month+ road trip! I'm glad you included all of your stops and not just Disney. This is something I would love to do - my DH and I are now retired so we have time to spare. Thanks for sharing!

 

[footballmouse]

It's really good. We started going there many years ago when the kids were little and now it's a must do. We actually started watching Paging Mr. Morrow when we saw he did a vlog there.

That's who it was .

 

[ddluvsdisney]

What a nice end to your trip. When we drove home from our cross country trip we opted to also do the MA pike to avoid CT!! Haha
It was perfect. No traffic at all and that was in July!!

 

[DJFan88]

Feel the same on CT, 84 and 91 stink too- Esp. If you are getting home in the evening. thanks for the great trip report.!

 

[mickey916]

I very much enjoyed reading about your month+ road trip! I'm glad you included all of your stops and not just Disney. This is something I would love to do - my DH and I are now retired so we have time to spare. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you so much and congrats on your retirement!

 

[mickey916]

That's who it was .

I think Goo to You did one recently too...

 

[mickey916]

What a nice end to your trip. When we drove home from our cross country trip we opted to also do the MA pike to avoid CT!! Haha
It was perfect. No traffic at all and that was in July!!

It was a very nice end to our trip. We wanted to make sure we enjoyed every last minute! Thanks so much for following along!