A short stay in Malvern ( near Philadelphia), PA

Malvern is centrally located between Philadelphia (30 miles east), Valley Forge National Historic Park (15 miles northwest), Kennett Square - Longwood Gardens (25 miles south), and Pennsylvania Dutch Country (45 miles west).

There is much to do in the area, including sightseeing, golfing, shopping, wine-tasting, hiking, and all that a trip to Philadelphia has to offer. There are seven AAA 3 diamond rated hotels in this city. They are as follows: 1. The Desmond Great Valley Hotel (610)296-9800 2. Hampton Inn Great Valley 1-800-HAMPTON 3. Homewood Suites by Hilton 4. Mainstay Suites, Malvern 1-800-660-MAIN 5. McIntosh Inn of Malvern (610)651-0400 6. Summerfield Suites by Wyndham (610)296-4343 7. Sheraton Great Valley Hotel (610)524-5500, www.spg.com There are also several restaurants to choose from. We ate at an Outback Steakhouse located across the street from the Sheraton (where we stayed). The Sheraton also has a nice restaurant - The White Horse Tavern.

Quick Tips:

If you enjoy gardens, DO NOT MISS THE LONGWOOD GARDENS LOCATED IN KENNETT SQUARE. There are flowers (some rare) in bloom year round. The gardens are particularly colorful between November and April.

The town of WESTCHESTER features many Greek Revival and Victorian Houses.

The Brandywine River Museum, a converted 19th-century grist mill that now houses a museum of American Art, is located in the town of CHADDS FORD, about 10 miles from Malvern. There is also a Revolutionary War Battlefield (Brandywine Battlefield Park) here.

The town of CHESTER is nearby. This is one of the oldest settlements in Pennsylvania (1644) and features the Caleb Pusey House (at 15 Race Street), a restored 1683 cottage built from handmade bricks.

VALLEY FORGE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK IS A MUST.

If you enjoy trains and/or Amish farms, then STRASBURG is a nice day trip. Here you can tour at least two Amish villages, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, two toy train museums (Choo Choo Barn and the National Toy Train Museum), and take a steam-train excursion with the Strasburg Railroad Co. (See my journal on Hershey, Pa.)

Best Way To Get Around:

A car is a definite must if you want to do much sightseeing while staying in Malvern.

Sheraton Great Valley Hotel is a very nice, clean, comfortable (AAA three diamond) hotel which features 198 guestrooms. 178 of these are standard (some with whirlpool baths) and 20 are suites, also with whirlpool baths. The rooms feature nice cherrywood furniture, a 25" TV, in-room movies and games, coffee makers, hair-dryers, and irons/ironing boards.

The hotel itself features an indoor heated pool/spa, fitness room, business center, and a restaurant and lounge. The restaurant (The White Horse Tavern) is an upscale restaurant located in an 18th Century colonial farmhouse. Though the menu looked good, we did not eat there (I now wish we had). The lounge (Chesterfields Lounge) serves appetizers, soups/salads, burgers, sandwiches, and light entrees. It is also the location of the Monday - Friday free appetizers area. They also offer drink specials. Our first night there was a Friday, so we enjoyed snacking on Smoked Chicken Tacos, which were very good. We also ordered a couple of mixed drinks, which were very good as well.

The hotel is also centrally located to some area attractions. The distance to Longwood Gardens is 23 miles; local malls are within one mile; golf is 10 miles; Valley Forge is 15 miles; Chadds Ford (Winery and Historic Buildings) is 10 miles; and Philadelphia is 30 miles.

Overall the hotel was very nice. The rooms were decent, the staff was very courteous (they called within minutes of check-in to assure that our room was acceptable), and check-in/out went very smoothly.

Outback Steakhouse is a national steakhouse chain with an Australian flair. They feature appetizers such as "Aussie Cheese Fries" - fries topped with monterey jack and cheddar cheeses, and bacon, served with a spicy ranch dressing - very yummy. Some other appetizers are chicken wings, grilled shrimp, coconut shrimp, and their famous "bloomin onion". A Bloomin Onion is a sweet onion which is breaded, deep-fried, and cut in such a manner that it resembles a flower in bloom. It is served with a very tasty spicy ranch dressing.

The restaurants' menu features several different steaks, chicken, lamb, pastas, ribs, seafood, and pork chops. They also have, of course, soup (two varieties) and salads. If you can't find something that appeals to you, then you may not like food. There is also several entree choices for kids. Adult entrees range from $10.99 (Chicken Breast and Veggies) to $26.99 (1 1/4lb Alaskan King Crab Legs with Salad); with most entrees ranging from $14.99 to $17.99. All entrees are served with potatoes or veggies, and steaks include the aforementioned along with soup or salad. It costs an additional $2.25 to add soup or salad to other entrees.

For dinner I chose an Outback Special Steak for $14.99. This was a 12 oz center cut sirloin which was cooked to my perfection and very, very flavorful. My wife ordered Pacific Rim Salmon for $15.99. This was a North Atlantic Salmon topped with honey balsamic glaze and orange-ginger butter, served with fresh steamed veggies. She was very pleased with her selection. Our son ordered a Chicken Fingers kids meal, which we enjoyed also (he rarely finishes a meal).

The menu also features several wines, beers, and specialty drinks from their full bar. We opted for a Long Island Iced Tea and were not disappointed - they were excellent. There are also four or five desserts on the menu, but we did not make it that far. Mabye we will have to go back and order a dessert and coffee drink for dinner.

The restaurant is family friendly and noisy enough that if the kids are a little loud, they will not disturb the other patrons. There are also several TVs throughout the restaurant and bar area so you can enjoy your favorite sporting events while eating or drinking. The restaurant atmosphere is comparable to a T.G.I Fridays restaurant.

Overall the restaurant is nice, but casual, family friendly, and serves excellent food. We have eaten at several different Outback Steakhouse restaurants and have NEVER had a meal that was less than very good. If you do eat at an Outback Steakhouse Restaurant, especially on weekends between 6 and 8:30pm, I suggest that you call ahead and place your name on the seating waiting list. They do not take actual reservations, but will give you a time to come in that will keep your wait to 10 - 15 minutes. For more information visit their website at outback.com.

I am going to begin my review of Sesame Place with some useful (hopefully) information on the Anheiser-Busch family of parks.

Firstly, use this website for information. If you plan to visit Sesame Place and any other of the parks, including Sea World Parks (in San Diego, CA, San Antonio, TX, and Orlando, FL), Busch Gardens (in Tampa, FL, and Williamsburg, VA), Water Country USA (Williamsburg, VA), and Adventure Island Water Park (in Tampa, FL), I WOULD CHECK OUT THEIR PASSPORT PROGRAMS IF YOUR VISITS TO MORE THAN ONE OF THESE PARKS WILL OCCUR WITHIN A 1-OR 2-YEAR TIME PERIOD. The parks offer passports (either GOLD or PLATINUM) which give you either 1/2-price or free admission to the above parks during the term of your membership. The passports cost (price varies depending on which park you purchase from) approximately $135 for a 1-year Platinum Passport, which gives us free admission and free parking to the above parks.

Now for our visit to Sesame Place. This park is built around the Sesame Street show and features most of the characters. The park features several Sesame Street shows ("Elmo's World Live," "Oscar's Big Game Show," and "Big Bird's Musical Review," to name a few) and 13 water rides/attractions. There are also a couple of really big play areas with slides, nets, ball pits, huge construction (foam) blocks, and much more for kids to play on.

We came here during October (open weekends only during this time) and only a few of the water rides were open. Our 5-year-old son loves water, but it was too cold to partake of the water rides--so he played and watched shows during his visit. The park only has two "dry" rides--a small roller coaster and a kiddie ride where they pedal a train car around a small track. There are two more "dry" rides opening in 2003.

The food in the park is OK--we had pizza and hot dogs, which were edible but slightly overpriced. The park food consists mostly of burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, pizza, and salads, along with ice cream and other desserts and snack food. They do offer a DINE WITH BIG BIRD during the summer months. You get to eat a buffet-style dinner and enjoy Sesame Street character appearances while eating.

Overall, Sesame Place is a great place for kids and the young at heart. Teenagers would probably get bored fairly quickly at this park, but younger children could probably spend days there. The water rides appear decent, the shows are good for kids, and the play areas are nice. If you want to go and stay near the park, there is a Sheraton Bucks County Hotel within one block. The Sesame Place website lists 14 hotels within 20 miles of the park.