Summer Vacation: Day One

Reading, Pennsylvania: For our 2023 summer vacation we embarked on a trip back home to Pennsylvania. While I have now lived in Florida longer than I lived in Pennsylvania, the Keystone State still runs in my blood. But its been a while since I have been back home, almost 18 years to be exact. We have a lot in store for this trip with visits to Philly, Lancaster County, Jim Thorpe, Gettysburg and much more. 

Our trip began with a short drive south to Fort Myers for our flight northbound. When planning this trip, the airfare component was ridiculously expensive! When we looked at direct flights from Fort Myers to Philadelphia, airfare and baggage was almost $600 a person. We had almost reverted to driving when we decided to check out Avelo Airlines, a low cost carrier that started operations about a year ago. I have seen them operate around the airport but didn’t know much about them but when we priced them our party of three could fly for the price of one ticket on the legacy carrier. 

This also marked the first time I have ever flown out of Southwest Florida International Airport. I have worked at the airport for almost four years now but our past vacations have all been road trips, this was the first time I have passed through the airport as a passenger. While I may be a little biased, we thought the airport experience was great. But from a passenger standpoint, the airport was easy to navigate and we moved through security rather quickly. 

Once our ride arrived, we boarded the Boeing 737-800 and hit the skies on our flight to Wilmington. The reviews for Avelo were all over the place. We found the flight to be above expectations. Because we are short, we had no issues with leg room. The seats were a little hard but we had a relatively short flight. Anything over 3 hours might be rough on the backside. The only issue we had with the flight was with the check-in procedure. Guidelines from the airport/TSA and the check-in email from Avelo advised us to arrive 2 hours prior to our flight. However, ticketing staff at Avelo would not check anyone and made us and other passengers wait to check in. This delay in check-in could have caused issues with clearing the TSA checkpoint had it been busier. 

When we landed at Wilmington Airport, we deplaned on the ramp at the terminal. Wilmington Airport is a small airport and features ramp parking and exterior ramps with a walk to the terminal. Having flown from larger airports, this was a new experience for us. The airport was frozen in time and was a nice reprieve from the hustle and bustle of big airports. Getting our bags and rental car was a breeze and before we knew it, we were on our way to Pennsylvania. 

The airport was a little over an hour away from where we would be staying during our trip. We chose the Residence Inn Reading as our home away from home during this trip. The space of an extended stay resort was welcoming for our week long trip. Plus its location was central to the touring we were going to do during the week. 

But before we headed to the hotel, we detoured into Lancaster County for some Amish home cooking for supper. One of my favorite Pennsylvania meals is PA Dutch Style Chicken Pot-Pie. Unlike the crust style one you find in your grocer’s freezer, Dutch style is crustless and more of a soup consistency. As we were looking up places to eat, one of our choices featured pot pie as their Monday night special so we headed there for supper. 

We had supper at the Lititz Family Cupboard in Lititz. They featured a full menu of Amish/Dutch classics as well as a full buffet. We each tried something different. Of course I went with the pot pie, my wife had the turkey dinner and our son went with the buffet. The food was good and homemade. After dinner we opted for some dessert; a piece of chocolate cake with peanut butter icing for me and the peanut butter pie for my wife. It was good food and very filling. 

After dinner we headed to the hotel to check-in. The hotel was just outside of downtown Reading and really convenient to major roads. We booked a one-bedroom suite which gave us added room during this week long trip. It also featured a full kitchen and fridge so we could bring back leftovers and warm them up during the trip. We were assigned room 434, a corner room on the top floor with a view of the famous Reading Pagoda and mountains in the distance. We then settled into our room to get some sleep for our first full day of exploration tomorrow in Philadelphia. 

Be sure to check back later or follow the site on Facebook for more stories and photos from our trip. You can also check out the trip photo gallery here.