Forrest Gump knew what he was talking about! You never know what life will bring.
Reviews are a very helpful aid in selecting places to stay, but they are also subjective. I have often read reviews about parks I love; a guest may have had some sort of bad experience and it skewed their whole opinion. And then there are some people who seem to find fault with everything or have unrealistic expectations. Most of the time, I am a glass half full kinda gal. I make the lemonade.
We arrived in York, PA on a very rainy day. We reserved Ben Franklin RV Park for two nights. This was sort of a last minute reservation as I was off a day when tentatively planning the trip home. (I was originally planning a return boondock back at Hollywood Casino - but then I realized I had an extra night not accounted for) This is the type of park used as more of a home base to explore this area of PA; it is very close to Hershey, Lancaster. It is very inexpensive for this area - $40/night; and has full hook-ups including quite good WiFi, a bathhouse, laundry and a very nice patio and sitting area. That's about it. It is very small and it is also apparent there are quite a few people who live here in run down rigs. We had actually been to York previously and visited the Harley-Davidson factory (unfortunately, not offering the tours at this time) so I was familiar with the location.
We were assigned site 290. This is a very difficult site to maneuver. Firstly, the lot drops off toward the back where the hook-ups are. There was a patch of grass that was totally gone (obviously, someone had placed a rug on the ground for a long period of time) and it had become a mud-patch with the addition of rain. Unfortunately, we couldn't avoid walking through it. (Charlie had the brainstorm to use the foam tiles we had on hand to make a pathway - brilliant!) The hook-ups are in obscure areas and very hard to reach. Charlie was getting frustrated. I had pretty much set up inside when he came in and declared this place is "shit" and wanted to see if we could move to another site. He couldn't reach the sewage with our fairly long waste tube and the threading on the spigot for the water had been broken and he wasn't able to attach the hose on far enough to keep it from leaking. I had plugged in the electric and actually noticed the electrical box outlet was broken and wasn't sure I'd be able to plug in (but it was okay). This site had obviously been abused. I took a deep breath and responded "Let's just fill the tank with water, contain the sewage in our black tank and when we are ready to leave - we will attach the trailer to the truck and move it back to empty the tanks". And that's what we did and will do - it has been fine. Lemonade.
That was yesterday. Today, the sun has been trying to find it's way through the cloudy sky. Rain is not in the forecast and the temps a little warmer. We had a great night sleeping because the temperature was about 30 degrees less than it had been last week in Maryland. Our plans for the day; relaxing and laundry and tonight we are going to attend a York Revolution baseball game at PeoplesBank Stadium. They just happen to have a game tonight! I'm not a big sports fan but once in a while, it is fun! The last time I went to a baseball game was at McCoy Stadium in RI to see the PawSox; that was probably about 15 years ago!
Oh - and just a final comment. Since we had self-check-in at BFRV and the office is apparently not regularly manned, I wrote a note on the registration/payment form I had to return through the mail-slot. in office door. I very nicely let them know we were disappointed with the site; I wasn't looking for anything - I just let them know the challenges we faced. I probably would try to avoid staying here again, but in the end, it was fine. (and I didn't get any response regarding my note) UPDATE: Received a very nice email. And, we might reconsider staying again in the future (but at a different site)
Hi! We apologize that you were dissapointed with your site. We're in the process of moving the electric and sewer connections together with the water at each site. I know it's a typicall excuse going around, but due to Covid this past year, we hadn't been able to get many done in our slow season, as we're open year round. As far as the water goes, we try to keep the hydrants lubricated and working easily. We must have not gotten that one very well. I know you weren't looking for anything, but we gave a 10% discount on your stay anyway. We sincerely apologize, and hope you'll give us another chance next time you're in the area. Sincerely,' -Tom Lepore Ben Franklin RV Park Manager
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