Hershey Gardens Winter 2023!?!

Part of the package deal for our stay at Hershey Lodge was complimentary tickets to Hershey Gardens, which is just across Hershey Park Drive from Hershey Park. Even though it was the end of December, we decided to use the tickets anyway, though our hopes were not high.

The Gardens are up on a hill with a nice sign promising butterflies along with the gardens.

Hershey Gardens

View to the park

More of the park

Being December, the main garden building had a special exhibit of decorated Christmas trees that we enjoyed walking through. The warmth of the indoors was a definite plus.

Another sign

A row of trees

A frosty blue

My favorite decoration

White and purple

Favorite decoration tree!

Knit hats make trees warm

Not sure about this tree topper

More traditional top

A better angle on a row of trees

Penguins working on a tree

The building also has the year-round butterfly exhibit, which has many real and fake butterflies.

Let's Go Butterfly a Kite?

Some of the butterflies were clearly interested in escaping, though they probably didn't know that the weather outside is frightful, especially for them.

At the ceiling windows

Ready for the door to open

Most of the butterflies were down on the tropical plants, showing off their colors or camouflage.

A beauty

Trying to blend in (or look like an owl?)

More spotty camouflage

Black and white stained glass?

Having a snack

Since it is Hershey's garden, naturally there are cocoa plants.

Surely these will be used nearby

A display shows the various types of cocoons butterflies make.

"Cocoons and Things" would be a good name for a butterfly store

Downstairs are the bathrooms along with this two-plant planter. I don't mind the Blue Chalk Sticks growing upward but the Snake Plants creeping on out the bottom are a bit Tim Burton.

Nice and Naughty for Christmas?

We saw a Money Plant which was a little disappointing.

Money doesn't grow on trees, even in Hershey

Outside, we saw the main lake and some of the greenery.

Lake with the fancier hotel overlooking it

Probably better in the spring or summer

The best plant in the garden at the time

The Children's Garden has some interactive exhibits and some fun things to do. They have a small amphitheater for education or entertainment. 

Children's Garden

Another plant you'd expect in Hershey

Outdoor fish pond (not frozen over)

One decorated tree

A play area has a global map with the cocoa-producing countries in brown.

Shipping the most important global product

The pretzel maze was fun if not challenging.

Don't get lost!

The garden below is called the Show-Off Garden, though clearly the show-offs were on Christmas break. Also, you can see the top of the amphitheater seating just beyond.

Useless bragarts!

We had a fun, short visit to Hershey Gardens. Maybe we will go back in a better season and explore the other acres and acres of plants. I tried to convince the kids to go to the rock garden because they are always at their peak, but I had no takers.

Book Review: System Collapse by Martha Wells

System Collapse by Martha Wells

In a continuation of the previous Murderbot novel, our hero's group is at a colonized planet that has an alien contamination. The colony did not quite get off the ground, so the groups of humans are scattered. The colonists have been there long enough that a separatist group is hiding somewhere. Muderbot's team, sponsored by a university, wants to evacuate the colonists and do research on the alien bits. The colonists are not well organized and a corporation, the Barish-Estranza, is trying to plunder the planet of its most valuable resource--the colonists. The corporation is offering jobs on other planets but they want to trick the colonists into slavery. Can the university crew avoid trouble as they try to restore some order to the planet and take care of the human inhabitants? Obviously not, or this would be a boring book.

The set up takes a little while but once things get going, the action comes fast. The last half of the book is exciting and reads quickly. The action is peppered with Murderbot's insecurity and sarcasm, making the situation more dramatic but not overly grim. There's a little mystery about something that happened to Murderbot that turned out to be underwhelming. The story is told from Murderbot's perspective (the series is called the Murderbot Diaries), so it's more traumatic for Murderbot than for the reader once the mystery is revealed. Otherwise, the novel is a lot of fun.

Recommended.

Book Review: Avatar The Last Airbender: Azula in the Spirit Temple by F. E. Hicks et al.

Avatar The Last Airbender: Azula in the Spirit Temple script by Faith Erin Hicks, art by Peter Wartman, and color by Adele Matera

Azula continues her campaign against her brother Zuko, the current Fire Lord. Her team is a small band that conducts sabotage. One granary they attack turns out to be a trap. Azula and her allies escape with only one captive left behind. The rest of the gang want to rescue their comrade but Azula is ready to move on with other things that are more important to her (i.e., she doesn't see them as allies, only as underlings). When Azula wakes up in the morning, the rest of the group is gone. Azula wanders through the woods, winding up at a strange temple with only one person inside, a monk who offers meager hospitality. Azula is unimpressed and demands the monk's private room to sleep in. She has a bizarre dream and wakes up to bizarre circumstances and unexpected characters in the temple.

The story is an examination of Azula's attitude and what she wants out of life. Azula herself is not aware of what she needs but is entirely aware of what she wants. As the story progresses, readers clearly see that her needs and wants are very different, practically polar opposites. Azula has a chance for growth...will she take it? 

I enjoyed this as a basic look at Azula's psychology and at her tragic self-unawareness. The best villains are the ones who are understandable. The reader can see where they went wrong and lament their inability to fix themselves. So many people care for Azula and want what's best for her. She does not accept their attitude, advice, or actions. The other thing she does not accept is blame. Nothing is her fault. Any failure is due to betrayal or incompetence in others. Azula thinks she should be a winner but the world and everyone around her holds her back. She can't find a way to what she wants but she keeps trying. Truly, a tragic hero.

Recommended, highly for Avatar The Last Airbender fans.

Movie Review: Gran Turismo (2023)

Gran Turismo (2023) directed by Neill Blomkamp

A Welsh twenty-something gamer obsessed with the racing game Gran Turismo gets the opportunity of his lifetime when Nissan and Sony host a tournament for the best Gran Turismo racers. The reward is going to GT Academy, a camp that will train the winners to race actual cars in actual races. For Nissan, it's a publicity stunt spearheaded by an optimistic sales exec (Orlando Bloom). He has to find a head mechanic to train them and take care of the cars. No one wants the job except the exec's last choice--Jack Salter (David Harbour). Jack is a former racer who works on pit crews but is cantankerous and not the easiest person in the world to deal with. The Welsh kid (Archie Madekwi) gets into the academy, ignoring his parents' pleas not to waste time on a pipe dream. Can he rise to the top among the GT players and eventually among actual race car drivers?

When I saw in the opening credits that this was based on a true story, I was a bit skeptical. The first ten minutes or so seem like an ad for both the video game and the car company, making the film look worse and worse. But the story (which is really based on a true life story) kicked in and made a good showing running through the standard underdog narrative. I did not see the plot twist of the story becoming a serious narrative. The actors all do a good job and the visual effects are not overwhelming or overdone. The movie is not great but is very enjoyable and was surprisingly well done, if you can make it past the opening commercial.

Recommended for an entertaining and mildly inspiring time. Just don't let your kids watch it, or they will want to do Mario or Minecraft in real life!

The Hershey Story Museum

Our stay at Hershey Lodge included tickets to The Hershey Story, a museum on the main street (Chocolate Avenue, naturally) of the town. The site of the museum also has a cafe and a "Chocolate Lab" where people can make up their own confections (though they both cost extra).

The sign outside

The main entrance

The exhibit on Hershey (which includes the history of both Milton Hershey, the founder, and the company) is upstairs. The displays start with the Hershey's life, starting as a maker of caramels. He even had a display/work box much like we saw in the Wonka movie.

Personal confection-making items

Hershey decided caramels were not the future of candy, so he switched over to chocolate. Even though chocolate was, in the late 1800s, a luxury item that only the rich could afford, he came up with a process that would make the delicious treat with less expense. He made it affordable for the masses with innovations in roasting the beans (allowing him to get good results with even lower-quality beans) and combining the ingredients in different ways.

The museum has interactive exhibits that keep the patrons, especially the younger ones, engaged.

Listening to history on an old-style phone

What a price!

Piecing together a production line

Part of Herhsey's inspiration was visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. He bought some chocolate-making machinery that was on display and took it back to Pennsylvania.

Recreation of the golden ticket

One wall of the museum includes a split timeline covering the main events and innovations of Hershey's chocolate on the top and other contemporary world events on the bottom.

Start of the Hershey timeline

Mid-1900s

Like many other companies, they were constantly updating and innovating their products. Holiday tie-ins were a natural way to get more sales, and not just for Halloween.

A display of holiday-themed treats

Old-time chocolates and cash register

The history of the company and how Hershey handled it is fascinating. He found that working in the cities of Pennsylvania was not optimal. Often the workers had miserable living conditions and it was expensive to import all the ingredients (cocoa beans, sugar, milk, etc.). Real estate was also more expensive. He decided to follow the example of other industrialists and make a factory town, though his was different.

Rather than maximize profits by exploiting the workers, he built affordable housing that he encouraged the employees to purchase rather than rent. Ownership bring a sense of responsibility. He also created a lot of recreational opportunities, including vast parks with swimming pools and ball fields. The schools were important to him and he financed a boarding school for orphan boys. He believed a contented and prosperous worker force would make a prosperous company.

Planning the town

Furniture and service-ware from Hershey's home

Hershey moved to the Pennsylvania countryside because it put his company closer to at least one ingredient they required--milk! He had a good relationship with the dairy farmers in the area and built up the infrastructure to get milk delivered as quickly as possible. Railways and roads were constructed at Hershey's expense.

During World War I, sugar became difficult to get. Hershey bought a plant in Cuba and made another town there on the same model as the Pennsylvania town. The museum had a temporary exhibit downstairs, which we visited later, so more on that further in this post.

Not really a franchise but a great expansion

The company did have some labor problems though they worked diligently to solve problems. Often, Hershey took input from the workers, especially on ways to improve processes in the production line. The workers were the closest to the problem and sometimes had creative solutions that worked well. His commitment to innovation and creativity was not limited to himself. His commitment to people is inspiring.

Interestingly, one labor dispute lead to some new rules at the plant:

Were they their own best customers?

The museum ends with some of the civic achievements of the town.

Kids baseball and gear from the fire department

Downstairs, we saw an extended exhibit on the town in Cuba founded by Hershey.

Facts about Cuba

Hershey, Cuba

Having control over the sugar production saved some headaches for the company. The process of changing sugar cane into usable sugar products (for home and industrials uses) was done mostly there. Like in Pennsylvania, innovation and creativity were encouraged.

Sugar-processing machine

100-pound bags of sugar

Individually-wrapped sugar cubes!

The displays describe the homes that were built for the workers and the integration of leisure opportunities for the workers. They even built a school for orphans in Cuba!

The housing plan

The Cuban orphans

Unfortunately, the difficult political situation in Cuba made it hard for the plant to be successful. By the mid-1940s, Hershey sold all their assets in Cuba.

The end of their collaboration

The museum is a fascinating place to visit. Milton Hershey was a great businessman and a philanthropic genius. I was very impressed with him and the history of his company.

We did not get any treats at the cafe (we went elsewhere for lunch). We did not make our own confections either since the kids were "museumed-out" by this point.