So, for anyone who was wondering, apparently 3 years is not enough time to forget how to drive. I rented a car yesterday and went to my brother’s ice hockey game at the Hersheypark Arena in PA. Everything went fine and it was a lot of fun.
I left around 11am and drove straight up. One wrong turn cost me about 8 minutes going up, but other than that, no problems at all on the way up or the way back.
I got to Chocolatetown around 1:15 pm, took the tour ride, and then went right into the old barn. It was almost exactly as I remembered it, and it felt SO good to be back.
There were only about 40 people at the game, so I had plenty of room to wander. From the outside, on the lower concourse, and in the seating bowl, you would never even guess that the Hershey Bears moved out. It looked just like the last time I was there (April 2002), only with about 8600 fewer people. It’s actually a little eerie; the banners are still hanging up, the building still has that great hockey smell, and there are even cups and even some cooking supplies in the concession stands. Only now, instead of hosting 6,000 people 40 times a year, the place rarely sees more than a couple hundred folks.
Unfortunately, it looks like the upper concourse is starting to deteriorate. There are some leaks (not unexpected in a 70-year-old concrete building), and under each of them there is a bucket, so somebody is trying to take care of the place. But, there are lots of buckets, and they only catch the water. The paint is peeling, there are stains on the walls, and some mold is starting to grow. It’s really not all that bad, but I worry what will happen to the place if they continue to neglect it. I guess it’s inevitible that it will be torn down sooner or later, but I just don’t want to see that happen anytime soon. It must be the best place on earth to watch a hockey game, and it’s one of my favorite places in the world, period.
I’ll try to add pictures later.
The car rental cost me $66, including liability insurance (collision and loss were covered by my AmEx card), under-25-year-old driver fee, and unlimited miles (which worked out well, because I drove 272 miles round trip and some places only allow 250 miles per day). I had shopped around and I’m pretty sure that was about the best I could do. Thrifty in Silver Spring. No hassels.
Although I hoped, I never thought I’d actually attend another game of actual importance of the HPA. It was great to be back in there cheering (loudly, as is evidenced by the bruise on my thumb from banging on a seat…oops!). Unless something changes, Glen will have one game there every year while he’s at Rowan, and I already can’t wait for next year!
Filed under: Ice hockey, Life Tagged: | Hershey
