It was so much fun to pack up the car. No second thoughts about throwing in the extra sweater or pair of shoes. No worries about whether I left the tweezers in my cosmetic case. After a series of wonderful excursions via air travel, I felt free to load up the trunk, strap Lucy in her car seat and go, go, go.

We were looking for a fun getaway. Daddy had to work so we didn’t want to go too far. It took us about four hours to get there from here. Driving through Lancaster County to get to York County, I was struck by the vast amount of farmland. It was beautiful—rolling hills dotted with bovines--Holsteins, jerseys, brown cows—and fields of corn with old barns perched in the meadows. It’s what I would have expected from someplace in the Midwest, (Nebraska perhaps?), rather than a short distance from the tri-state metropolis in which we live.

York County, Pennsylvania is known as the ”Snack Food Capital” and “Factory Tour Capital of the World.” It is what the factory outlets were before they became havens for closeouts and irregulars. Here, factory outlets refer to production and manufacturing, and most of the tours are free.

Harley Davidson Plant Tour

One of the more popular outlet tours is Harley Davidson with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a motorcycle. Lucy and I opted for the Martin’s Potato Chip tour instead. It was so much fun to see something as simple as a potato be washed, peeled, and transformed into America’s favorite snack. We were given samples of the still-hot chips as they were rolling down the assembly belt getting sprinkled with salt. Another fun food tour was the Wolfgang Candy Company, where Mike Schmid, one of the managing partners of this family-owned company, gave us a tour-extraordinaire. I felt like we were on the set of I Love Lucy when Lucy and Ethel scarfed down the chocolates as the conveyor belt went faster and faster. I wanted to do likewise—it smelled so wonderful in there. The tour showed how raw chocolate (which looks very unlike chocolate as we know it) is transformed into candy. It also brings to light that candy making is an art. In fact, during our visit there were candy makers from all over the world attending chocolate school.

Much to Lucy’s delight, our next stop was Hope Acres in nearby Brogue, to see one of only ten fully robotic dairy farms. What an amazing educational experience to see almost three-hundred cows being milked by robots, sleeping on water beds and using back scratchers at their whim! It’s the latest innovation in dairy technology and frankly, it looked like a bovine spa. Afterwards, we ate ice cream made fresh from the cow’s milk at The Brown Cow store. This tour charged a nominal fee but was a definite crowd-pleaser.

There were still plenty of other factory outlet tours available including Snyders Pretzels, Pfaltzgraff Pottery, Boyd’s Bears—to name merely a few--as well as historical attractions, museums, golfing, and antiquing in York and nearby Hershey and Gettysburg.

We could not let our visit to York take place without learning about times gone by. We visited the Agricultural and Historical Museum which covers more than 200 years history and insight as to how York came to be. We drove through the battlefields of nearby Gettysburg and it all seemed so vivid. It was as if history came alive as we passed the watchtowers on the former battlegrounds. You could imagine soldiers in uniform, on foot, carrying bayonets as they charged towards the enemy.

Our meals were historic experiences unto themselves. The first night we took a factory tour of Bube’s Brewery, located in nearby Mount Joy. It is the only intact pre-Prohibition Brewery still standing in the United States. Owner Sam Allen took us for an in-depth tour through the catacombs and original saloon remaining from the days of speakeasys. We had a tasty dinner outdoors in the biergarten. The following day we ate lunch in downtown York. Roosevelt Tavern offers a touch of elegance in a tavern-like setting. Open for lunch and dinner, the food and service was terrific.. We were told that York is famous for maple doughnuts but I was quite satisfied from our visit to Wolfgang’s chocolate factory.

York has been named one of four cities with the least expensive first-class lodging rates in the country We stayed at the Holiday Inn Holidome. It was a good place to stay with a two and a half year old because of the indoor and outdoor pools, and indoor miniature golf course. It seemed like a popular place for children and families and there is a conference center on site. The Yorktowne Hotel, located downtown, has more stylish accommodations.

Our two days in York were coming to an end but I felt we could have stayed longer. I would like to go back, and bring my husband, because I think he would have a great time. Our trip to York was different from other quick getaways, since many of the factory tours appeal to different age groups and interests, there is something for everybody. It is a destination with good value since so many of the tours are free, lodging and food rates are good, and the locals are so friendly. For more information contact www.yorkpa.org#