Revisited Magic Studio’s AI generator and the prompt was “pennsylvania state outline with a cup of coffee in the middle.” This generated. Don’t look too close!Not really a big fan of Keurig coffee, but it’s better than whatever they left in the room for the coffee pot. I did manage to eventually pick up some Folgers at a Wal-Mart stop.I really like the way this photo came out. This scene welcomes folks who are driving into Hershey, PA.This is the overlook from the entrance of Hershey’s Gardens. You can see the entire amusement park across the way. You can see and hear folks on rollercoasters. It was windy and cold, but the view was great!I am not sure what kind of tree this is, but it struck me as unique.The tree is the Cutleaf Japanese Maple and I want one at my house right now. Apparently I can grow one in Louisiana. The sign says: Harry Erdman: Mr. Hershey’s Horticulturist: In 1936, Milton Hershey asked his horticulturist, Harry Erdman, to design “A nice garden of roses.” The Hershey Rose Garden opened in 1937. By 1942, Erdman expanded the 3 1/2-acre rose garden into a 23-acre botanical garden.Abby really liked this fountain and wanted a photo with it.These stained glass butterflies were pretty!The foliage inside of the butterfly atrium worked to make the place look beautiful, and it gave the thousands of butterflies good coverage to hide from excited children.We went into the butterfly atrium and it was really nice. According the website for Hershey Gardens there are only 25 official butterfly atriums in the country. Abby and Wesley really wanted a butterfly to land on them.I am not sure if these are moths or butterflies. These guys were feeding. I just looked it up, these are butterflies called Owl Butterflies.The tree that built Hershey. There was a sign at the trunk: Botanical Name: Theobroma Cacao, which means “food of the gods” in Greek. It takes a cacao tree about 5 years to produce its first fruit, a cacao pod. Each pod holds 40 to 60 cacao beans. It takes several hundred processed beans to make one pound of unsweetened chocolate and about 25 beans to make a Hershey’s chocolate bar. The top cacao production countries are located with in 20 degrees of the equator: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico. This tree is in loving memory of Judy Williams, who planted and cared for it for many years before giving it a new home in the Butterfly Atrium.According to the actual butterfly atrium web page for Hershey Gardens this is a Great Mormon.This is a common birdwing. Abby actually took this photo.This is the Chrysalis Cabinet of the butterfly atrium. Every butterfly habitat I have been in always has one of these and I am always impressed by the way these things look and how the lifecycle of a butterfly is so interesting.This Common Birdwing is coming out of its chrysalis.These are atlas moths and their chrysalises look like rolled up leaves. These moths are freaking HUGE.This is a habitat for atlas moths. There were some signs to explain this situation: Atlas Moth: Attacus Atlas, Family: Saturnmildae, Region: Asia, India, and Sri Lanka to China, Malaysia, & Indonesia, Wingspan: 6.25 to 12 inches, Larval Host Plant: willow, poplar, privet, soursop, cinnamon, lime, pomelo, and guava, Habitats: Tropical forests and lowlands. Why are these moths in here? We are required by the US Department of Agriculture to keep these female giant silk moths contained. This group of moths has a tendency to lay eggs haphazardly and their caterpillars are not choosy about what plants they eat. You may be able to spot some of their eggs on the walls of this net cage. We don’t need to supply them with a food source in these enclosures because they don’t have working mouthparts and cannot eat.Is that bird poop? No! It’s the bird poop frog!The Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches!This dude is the White’s Tree Frog.I thought these bumblebee poison dart frogs were PURDY!Jungle nymphs are jeepers creepers.Wesley looks happy, but after about 20 minutes he was ready to get out of the butterfly atrium.There were a lot of rose bushes and garden ornaments for sale from here. The prices were not friendly. I think Hersheys has their own species of roses for sale.This panorama is of swan lake and the surrounding rose garden. Yes, the water is green and funky.Brandi said this butterfly peed on her. Abby verified. I have no idea what kind of rose this is. It’s pretty!I only saw one of these little points of interest. This is a photo of the gardens in 1937.An interesting thing happened while I was walking around looking. A bride appeared out of nowhere and hid behind the tree to the right. Apparently, there was a wedding taking place at the Hershey gardens. In the gift shop of the Hershey’s Story museum I saw the name of this statue in a book, but I cannot remember what it was. I wish I’d have bought all of those books, but they were $25 each.Abby wanted a picture under this gazebo. There was a wedding that took place here not long after we took this photo.They take great care of the gardens here. These trees are so neat!These trees would have been perfect for climbing on, but this is where we saw a sign that stated “PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB ON OUR TREES!”I love this tree and I will do everything in my power to plant one at home. This is the Weeping Beech.A lot of names are carved on this tree. I love that, even though the tree is “ugly” on the outside, it’s beautiful on the inside.Abby took this photo!Abby wanted to pose with all of the animal statues we could find.This place would be such an awesome place to play hide and seek.While it may not look it, at this point, they were ready to kill each other…Meet the Mother Tree: This is a special Cryotomeria japanica ‘Dense Jade’ tree. It began life as an aberration of nature in a New Jersey nursery. In the early 1960s, a tree variety known as Cryptomeria japanica ‘Lobbii’ grew a “witches’ broom,” which is a shoot that is genetically different than the parent. Typically, the witches’ broom is weak and undesirable and is therefore removed and destroyed. However, the growers recognized this particular witches’ broom as highly unusual with prized characteristics including its own unique DNA signature. It was carefully cultivated and developed into a new variety. Offspring from this single tree were propagated and Cryptomeria Japanica “Dense Jade” is now available in nurseries worldwide.This would be the perfect bonsai tree! Yeah, it’s pretty, but the koi pond only has ONE FISH.I was surprised to see a Great Sequoia growing all the way over on this side of the country.This is the top of the Great Sequoia. I wonder how big the northeastern climate will allow it to grow?This was ‘death by chocolate’ ice cream from Sarah’s Creamery ice cream truck in Hershey Gardens. Apparently they make this ice cream at Penn State. The waffle cone had great flavor and the ice cream had a sweet, savory flavor and it was not too rich. Some of the best I have had!These little statues randomly spray mist. I watched a kid take a blast right to the face and his parents just laughed and laughed.
Wesley was ready to call it a day. We played around in the room and slept early.
I had a great time at the gardens. My mom would have loved to stay here all day. Hell, I wish we’d had some lunch and we could have picnicked here. The grass was soft and the weather was perfect. Just sitting around and visiting with Brandi on a bench was nice. I think Abby and Wesley enjoyed it, but Wesley was being really difficult. He was upset that we did not get ice cream the moment we saw the ice cream truck. He went into his silent hysterics where he hates everything and wants to just stop doing everything. He slightly ruined the mood for a bit of the visit.
Abby kept acting up and being really rough with Wesley and the hitting. She was yelling too much and would not stop. They burned a lot of energy at the gardens, but not enough, apparently.
I am frustrated with my bunch because they are slow to rise, slow to start, and have no sense of picking up the pace. There is a ton to do here, but Brandi sleeps past 10 am along with Abby, and Wesley acts like he wants to stay in the room. It all makes me want to go home. I can sit around the house at the house. Meh.
