Amish Country -
In reflecting back on our time in Amish country, Mark and I discussed our overall favorite places since our journey began March 14, 2009, and we both concur that our time in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania Amish area has been our absolute favorite to date. Who would've thought? The area is just so beautiful and breathtaking that words and pictures just simply can't do it justice. We were actually in a tiny little suburb of Lancaster PA called Intercourse PA...(I know, hard to believe the name and apparently came about when established in 1752 since it was the first city in the area where two roads met, hence the name). There were countless wonderful little shops, boutiques and restaurants that made the town feel like you were home. And sitting outside in the evenings, listening to the Amish horse-drawn buggies trotting through the streets was just awesome.
We noticed the entire Pennsylvania countryside, lined with farms and older homes, were kept immaculate. What's amazing is we didn't see a single farm or home that wasn't kept neat and immaculate. Yards were freshly mowed with flowers prominently displayed. Amish buggies could be seen prominently displayed in their driveway or barns. Many of these Amish farms sold their home-grown goods, i.e., eggs, fruits, vegetables and pies, right off of their front porches.
Moving on to New York
We took our time getting packed up this morning as we only had a couple hundred miles to drive today. We pulled out of our RV Park around 10:00 a.m. this morning, heading to Flordia, New York. We've discovered the further East we go, the fewer RV Parks there are. There are only 3 RV Parks within 100 miles of New York City and one of those, is Blackbear Campground, about 60 miles from New York, NY.
We discovered it costs a Whopping $55.00 a "Day" to just park in New York city! In addition, almost all of the roads leading into and out of New York are Toll roads. So, we've decided it's most cost effective to take an actual Tour of New York. One of the reasons we chose this RV campground is that they have a New York tour company that comes directly to the campground and will pick us up and return us directly back to the RV Park here in Florida, NY. We had hoped on taking the New York tour leaving here Monday morning...unfortunately, we discovered when we arrived that Monday's tour is all booked up. So, looks like we'll be here a few days longer than we had initially anticipated as the first available New York tour from our campground is this coming Thursday. Hmmmmmm, that means we have 4 days to hang around or chill before getting to see New York. The tour includes all the key things we'd like to see including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, The 911 location and many others...so we're really looking forward to it.
I'd wanted to go to Coney Island/Boardwalk area and though it's only 70 miles from our location, due to parking and toll road costs, it's ridiculously expensive and I can't see spending $60.00+ the cost of diesel, just driving there and parking! Uhhhhhhhhh, think we'll have to pass on the Coney Island/Boardwalk option. But, I've no doubt we'll find other things to do and explore. Our campground is in a very nice secluded area, way off the beaten path...a terrific place to just kick back and relax a bit--especially after the last few hectic weeks in Washington DC and Philly.
Oh yea, the Weather here is just awesome! The highs for the upcoming week are in the low-mid 70's and the low's in the 50's!! After the heat we've had the last several weeks, I'm really looking forward to some weather with a little 'nip' in the air! Well, that about wraps up the latest on where we are and what we've been up to. Check back Friday or Saturday and I should have our New York trip update and pictures. Stay tuned...!~
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Picture Updates
The RV Park we're in this week has DSL, which is much much faster than our internet speed via our dish on top of our RV. So I was able to get our pictures uploaded quickly. I've updated all 3 slideshows of the blog with our latest 3 sets of pictures as follows:
1) Philadelphia Independence Center
2) Amish Country
3) National Cathedral in DC
Enjoy!
1) Philadelphia Independence Center
2) Amish Country
3) National Cathedral in DC
Enjoy!
Philadelphia Independence Center
We got up early this morning and headed to Philadelphia, about an hour from our RV Park location in Intercourse Pennsylvania. We first headed to Independence Visitor Center to obtain tickets to see Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights were authored and signed.
The Independence Hall tour begins with a 30 minute film of the Independence of the United States and the fight with Britain. The tour then moves to the Supreme Court, which was originally officed in Independence Center in Philadelphia from 1791 until 1799, when moved to Washington DC. The other room was the Assembly Room, the actual location where the Delegates from each of the 13 states met, debated and approved the Constitution of the United States, along with the Bill of Rights 11 years later. Additionally, the US Congress met in Congress Hall from 1790 to 1800.
We also learned additional information about the initial establishment of Congress. We found out that one of the biggest obstacles for the new Congress was a debate and arguments between the larger and smaller states. The larger states argued that they should have more say than the smaller states and the smaller states argued that they should have equal say in matters concerning the nation. Apparently Connecticut came to the rescue by offering a resolution that there be two branches of Congress...one that provided representatives based on population, i.e., the United States Congress and the second resolution was the creation of the Senate, in which each state would be equally representatives, resolving conflicts from smaller states without large populations...and that's why there are two branches in Congress--the House of Representatives and Senate, with varying numbers of representatives by state. Isn't that interesting? Mark took lot's of pictures of both rooms.
On another important note, the room which housed the first and second Congress, also has the actual chair that Washington set in to conduct business for the 10 years congress was located in Philadelphia...it was also the chair he was sitting in when he actually signed the final draft of the Constitution of the United States.
We then went to see the Liberty Bell Center, where the Liberty Bell is housed. It summoned the Pennsylvania Assembly to debate the Stamp Act and other burdensome actions by the British Parliament. The original Liberty Bell actually cracked sometime between 1817 and 1846. It isn't known exactly when it cracked. It was recast by a local craftsman when cracked.
We also went to Franklin Square, the actual location of Benjamin Franklin's home while serving in Congress. There are remnants of Franklin's home that still remain and are encased for viewing. Just down the street from Franklin's home is a small cemetery where he's buried. The majority of that cemetary are graves from the 1700's...very few that died into the 1800's, it's that old! There were many other exhibits housed between the locations that we checked out, including 5 row houses that Benjamin Franklin had built as rental houses and one for his printing company...all of the homes are from the mid to late 1700's and remain intact, each are still private homes at this time.
Lastly, after a day full of exhibits, we made a stop a Pat King's Philadelphia Steak sandwich, which is the restaurant that originally created the Philadelphia Cheesesteak sandwich in the early 1900's. On our way to Pat King's, our GPS had us going up and down multiple streets within downtown Philadelphia and discovered that just about every street has Food Carts with various kinds of food for sell. I knew food wagons on street corners was popular in New York/Manhattan, but they're apparently just as popular in downtown Philly as well. It was good and I'm glad we made the stop for the historic cheesesteaks from the originator, but not sure it was worth the $8.00 a piece that each one cost! Overall, we had another wonderful day, though we were both exhausted from all the walking by the time we left.
Mark took lot's of pictures and I'll get them uploaded to the slideshow as soon as I can. We'll be here in Pennsylvania through tomorrow and will be heading to Flordia, New York Saturday morning. Looks like Florida NY is as close as we can get to New York city via an RV Park. We're hoping to take the NY Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We rarely take actual tours as they're just too costly, when you can just go directly to most places for free, or nominal bus/train fares. But we might have to break down and take a bus tour to get to the New York/Manhattan areas. Well, that's the latest scoop on what we've been up to...pictures from today will be uploaded as soon as I can. Until later~
The Independence Hall tour begins with a 30 minute film of the Independence of the United States and the fight with Britain. The tour then moves to the Supreme Court, which was originally officed in Independence Center in Philadelphia from 1791 until 1799, when moved to Washington DC. The other room was the Assembly Room, the actual location where the Delegates from each of the 13 states met, debated and approved the Constitution of the United States, along with the Bill of Rights 11 years later. Additionally, the US Congress met in Congress Hall from 1790 to 1800.
We also learned additional information about the initial establishment of Congress. We found out that one of the biggest obstacles for the new Congress was a debate and arguments between the larger and smaller states. The larger states argued that they should have more say than the smaller states and the smaller states argued that they should have equal say in matters concerning the nation. Apparently Connecticut came to the rescue by offering a resolution that there be two branches of Congress...one that provided representatives based on population, i.e., the United States Congress and the second resolution was the creation of the Senate, in which each state would be equally representatives, resolving conflicts from smaller states without large populations...and that's why there are two branches in Congress--the House of Representatives and Senate, with varying numbers of representatives by state. Isn't that interesting? Mark took lot's of pictures of both rooms.
On another important note, the room which housed the first and second Congress, also has the actual chair that Washington set in to conduct business for the 10 years congress was located in Philadelphia...it was also the chair he was sitting in when he actually signed the final draft of the Constitution of the United States.
We then went to see the Liberty Bell Center, where the Liberty Bell is housed. It summoned the Pennsylvania Assembly to debate the Stamp Act and other burdensome actions by the British Parliament. The original Liberty Bell actually cracked sometime between 1817 and 1846. It isn't known exactly when it cracked. It was recast by a local craftsman when cracked.
We also went to Franklin Square, the actual location of Benjamin Franklin's home while serving in Congress. There are remnants of Franklin's home that still remain and are encased for viewing. Just down the street from Franklin's home is a small cemetery where he's buried. The majority of that cemetary are graves from the 1700's...very few that died into the 1800's, it's that old! There were many other exhibits housed between the locations that we checked out, including 5 row houses that Benjamin Franklin had built as rental houses and one for his printing company...all of the homes are from the mid to late 1700's and remain intact, each are still private homes at this time.
Lastly, after a day full of exhibits, we made a stop a Pat King's Philadelphia Steak sandwich, which is the restaurant that originally created the Philadelphia Cheesesteak sandwich in the early 1900's. On our way to Pat King's, our GPS had us going up and down multiple streets within downtown Philadelphia and discovered that just about every street has Food Carts with various kinds of food for sell. I knew food wagons on street corners was popular in New York/Manhattan, but they're apparently just as popular in downtown Philly as well. It was good and I'm glad we made the stop for the historic cheesesteaks from the originator, but not sure it was worth the $8.00 a piece that each one cost! Overall, we had another wonderful day, though we were both exhausted from all the walking by the time we left.
Mark took lot's of pictures and I'll get them uploaded to the slideshow as soon as I can. We'll be here in Pennsylvania through tomorrow and will be heading to Flordia, New York Saturday morning. Looks like Florida NY is as close as we can get to New York city via an RV Park. We're hoping to take the NY Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We rarely take actual tours as they're just too costly, when you can just go directly to most places for free, or nominal bus/train fares. But we might have to break down and take a bus tour to get to the New York/Manhattan areas. Well, that's the latest scoop on what we've been up to...pictures from today will be uploaded as soon as I can. Until later~
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Amish Country
We left DC Monday morning and arrived in Intercourse Pennsylvania. Yep, that's right...it's not a typo. We're actually in the city of Intercourse. Lancaster Pennsylvania is Amish country. Intercourse Pennsylvania is just a couple of miles from Lancaster. And there really are numerous horse and buggy's around here. Amish people are everywhere. The men have very long beards and wear overalls. The women all wear long dresses and have their hair up in buns with little white lace tops around the hair buns.
The Pennsylvania countryside is just breathtaking. The last couple of days we've driven around the countryside and the farmlands and houses/barns look just like the quaint, serene pictures of the Pennsylvania Dutch country that you see in magazines. Yesterday afternoon we stopped by an old Dutch 'smorgasboard', as their called, and it was delicious. It's just good old fashion country food, as we'd say. It's served family style, but we were the only ones at our table yesterday. They served roast beef, chicken sausage, chicken and dumplings, corn, mashed potatoes, buttered noodles and for dessert: Shoe-fly pie and peach pie. We thought shoe-fly pie was a myth or from a fairtale or something...we had no idea it's a real pie. It's made of maple syrup, sugar and stuff and didn't think it would be very good, but it was. And I don't care for maple syrup. It wasn't too sweet either. It also came with homemade vanilla ice cream. And Everything is made from scratch daily. Mark said it's one of the Best Meals he's EVER had! I loved it too.
Today we went to a huge restaurant...41,000 square feet! It was a buffet of ALL homemade stuff and the buffet line was as long as a football field. The food was just wonderful. There are more than 100 separate homemade desserts alone. Needless to say, we loved that place. And downstairs was a 41,000 square foot gift shop. That place also had their own grocery store and even make their own spices and have two smoke houses. We spent a couple of hours just walking around and checking things out. We then drove to a little shopping center full of unique shops and Amish things. Just an overall wonderful day for sure.
We'll be here through Friday and will be moving on Saturday morning. We'll be heading to Philadelphia to check out all the historic sites like the Liberty Bell, Independence center, Washington's presidential office, the house where Thomas Jefferson wrote the draft of the Constitution, etc. Oh yea, we also have pictures from our last day in DC, when we visited the National Cathedral. It looked like a medieval castle or something. The beauty was just awe-inspiring. I still need to upload our pictures of the National Cathedral as well as our Amish pictures from the last couple of days.
Well, that's about it for now...more updates to come, stay tuned!~
The Pennsylvania countryside is just breathtaking. The last couple of days we've driven around the countryside and the farmlands and houses/barns look just like the quaint, serene pictures of the Pennsylvania Dutch country that you see in magazines. Yesterday afternoon we stopped by an old Dutch 'smorgasboard', as their called, and it was delicious. It's just good old fashion country food, as we'd say. It's served family style, but we were the only ones at our table yesterday. They served roast beef, chicken sausage, chicken and dumplings, corn, mashed potatoes, buttered noodles and for dessert: Shoe-fly pie and peach pie. We thought shoe-fly pie was a myth or from a fairtale or something...we had no idea it's a real pie. It's made of maple syrup, sugar and stuff and didn't think it would be very good, but it was. And I don't care for maple syrup. It wasn't too sweet either. It also came with homemade vanilla ice cream. And Everything is made from scratch daily. Mark said it's one of the Best Meals he's EVER had! I loved it too.
Today we went to a huge restaurant...41,000 square feet! It was a buffet of ALL homemade stuff and the buffet line was as long as a football field. The food was just wonderful. There are more than 100 separate homemade desserts alone. Needless to say, we loved that place. And downstairs was a 41,000 square foot gift shop. That place also had their own grocery store and even make their own spices and have two smoke houses. We spent a couple of hours just walking around and checking things out. We then drove to a little shopping center full of unique shops and Amish things. Just an overall wonderful day for sure.
We'll be here through Friday and will be moving on Saturday morning. We'll be heading to Philadelphia to check out all the historic sites like the Liberty Bell, Independence center, Washington's presidential office, the house where Thomas Jefferson wrote the draft of the Constitution, etc. Oh yea, we also have pictures from our last day in DC, when we visited the National Cathedral. It looked like a medieval castle or something. The beauty was just awe-inspiring. I still need to upload our pictures of the National Cathedral as well as our Amish pictures from the last couple of days.
Well, that's about it for now...more updates to come, stay tuned!~
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Capital & Library of Congress
*I've just Added another slideshow to add our pictures from today. Check out!
What a wonderful day we had yesterday! We took the early bus and subway yesterday into DC to get an early start since there's just not enough time in a day to see everything we plan to see. We started our day off at the Capitol. We arrived just in time to walk right up and grab a couple tickets for the next tour, which was just starting. After a 15 minute movie, a tour guide took us through the main and second floor of the Capitol building. Of course, the Congress isn't in session right now, but we did pass Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices. The architecture is just amazing. There are full length statues of all Presidents as well as various key individuals from all states as well.
At the end of our Capitol tour, the tour guide explained that you can reach the Library of Congress by following the underground tunnels from the Capital. Though the Library of Congress wasn't even on our list of things to see, based on information from the tour guide, we decided to take a short detour over to the Library of Congress. WOW! It was awesome! I just thought there would be various books in this building...not! First of all, the architecture of this building was just amazing. We came in just in time for a tour of the building and joined in for the one hour tour.
We were shocked to discover all the things the Library of Congress had. There were more key documents and items from an historical perspective in this building than I ever remember seeing in any building any where. Everything from draft copies of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights from Thomas Jefferson, to actual ship logs, diaries from the 15th and 16th centuries. There were so many historical documents from Early America as well as things from way back in the 5th and 6th centuries. In addition, Thomas Jefferson's entire library of more than 5,000 books were on display. BUT, in addition to all these historical items, there were also other really cool things, like a complete section dedicated to Bob Hope and included everything from his first contract with Vaudeville, to his Presidential medal of Honor from President Johnson. Bob Hope's dancing shoes, lot's and lot's of scripts from his shows, his Oscar from the 60's and so so so much more.
To top off this day, we were headed to the National Archives for a short visit to plan out our follow up trip there to check out what we wanted to see. But, we passed the National Museum of Art on the way. Now, for anyone that knows Mark and I, we've never been into the Arts, but we decided to stop in and check it out briefly. I almost decided to turnaround and leave when I found out we had to check our backpack...seemed like to much trouble. But, we decided to take a quick peek and oh my gosh! There's were numerous rooms with paintings that were just gorgeous. We actually saw numerous paintings from (I'll probably butcher these names, but here goes): Renoir; Whistler; Van Goh; Rembrandt, etc. etc. The majority of the pictures were in the 15th - 17th centuries! And many of them were Huge...like the size of a king-size bed. There were statues and other things, but we didn't really enjoy those too much. To actually see these paintings, that weren't even enclosed in glass cases, where we could get right up on them and view them...was, well--Awesome. Can't think of a bigger word than that. I so enjoyed the visit to the National Museum of Art. We didn't take our camera into the Art Museum because we thought pictures couldn't be taken, but after entering saw that was not the case. So, we may go back so I can get some pictures.
Whew! Sorry for the length of the explanation, but we just saw and enjoyed sooooooooo much. Our day of 1) The Capital, 2) Library of Congress and 3) National Museum of Art, made the day my absolute favorite while not only in DC, but any day I've experienced while on this journey. We're planning on going back tomorrow to spend the day at the National Archives. We leave DC Monday morning, but we're not really sure where we're headed quite yet. We're thinking about either Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania to see civil war stuff or Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Amish country. Well that about wraps up another wonderfully blessed day of this journey...stay tuned~
What a wonderful day we had yesterday! We took the early bus and subway yesterday into DC to get an early start since there's just not enough time in a day to see everything we plan to see. We started our day off at the Capitol. We arrived just in time to walk right up and grab a couple tickets for the next tour, which was just starting. After a 15 minute movie, a tour guide took us through the main and second floor of the Capitol building. Of course, the Congress isn't in session right now, but we did pass Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices. The architecture is just amazing. There are full length statues of all Presidents as well as various key individuals from all states as well.
At the end of our Capitol tour, the tour guide explained that you can reach the Library of Congress by following the underground tunnels from the Capital. Though the Library of Congress wasn't even on our list of things to see, based on information from the tour guide, we decided to take a short detour over to the Library of Congress. WOW! It was awesome! I just thought there would be various books in this building...not! First of all, the architecture of this building was just amazing. We came in just in time for a tour of the building and joined in for the one hour tour.
We were shocked to discover all the things the Library of Congress had. There were more key documents and items from an historical perspective in this building than I ever remember seeing in any building any where. Everything from draft copies of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights from Thomas Jefferson, to actual ship logs, diaries from the 15th and 16th centuries. There were so many historical documents from Early America as well as things from way back in the 5th and 6th centuries. In addition, Thomas Jefferson's entire library of more than 5,000 books were on display. BUT, in addition to all these historical items, there were also other really cool things, like a complete section dedicated to Bob Hope and included everything from his first contract with Vaudeville, to his Presidential medal of Honor from President Johnson. Bob Hope's dancing shoes, lot's and lot's of scripts from his shows, his Oscar from the 60's and so so so much more.
To top off this day, we were headed to the National Archives for a short visit to plan out our follow up trip there to check out what we wanted to see. But, we passed the National Museum of Art on the way. Now, for anyone that knows Mark and I, we've never been into the Arts, but we decided to stop in and check it out briefly. I almost decided to turnaround and leave when I found out we had to check our backpack...seemed like to much trouble. But, we decided to take a quick peek and oh my gosh! There's were numerous rooms with paintings that were just gorgeous. We actually saw numerous paintings from (I'll probably butcher these names, but here goes): Renoir; Whistler; Van Goh; Rembrandt, etc. etc. The majority of the pictures were in the 15th - 17th centuries! And many of them were Huge...like the size of a king-size bed. There were statues and other things, but we didn't really enjoy those too much. To actually see these paintings, that weren't even enclosed in glass cases, where we could get right up on them and view them...was, well--Awesome. Can't think of a bigger word than that. I so enjoyed the visit to the National Museum of Art. We didn't take our camera into the Art Museum because we thought pictures couldn't be taken, but after entering saw that was not the case. So, we may go back so I can get some pictures.
Whew! Sorry for the length of the explanation, but we just saw and enjoyed sooooooooo much. Our day of 1) The Capital, 2) Library of Congress and 3) National Museum of Art, made the day my absolute favorite while not only in DC, but any day I've experienced while on this journey. We're planning on going back tomorrow to spend the day at the National Archives. We leave DC Monday morning, but we're not really sure where we're headed quite yet. We're thinking about either Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania to see civil war stuff or Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Amish country. Well that about wraps up another wonderfully blessed day of this journey...stay tuned~
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
DC Pictures Available
I've finally uploaded the pictures we've taken the last several days while in D.C. These pictures are from our Smithsonian Museum tours along with our DC night tour we took a few nights ago. There were over 200 pictures to upload to the blog...so it took awhile!
Just double click on each of the Slide-shows to the left: 1) DC by Night and 2) DC - Smithsonian and view each album of pictures. We're planning on heading to the National Archives and the Capitol tomorrow. So more pictures coming soon...until later~
Just double click on each of the Slide-shows to the left: 1) DC by Night and 2) DC - Smithsonian and view each album of pictures. We're planning on heading to the National Archives and the Capitol tomorrow. So more pictures coming soon...until later~
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Washington DC
We arrived in Washington DC last Friday. We've been so busy checking out the sites in Washington DC I haven't had a chance to make an update! Wow, we've done a lot. We're staying in an RV Park just a few miles from all the DC sites. We catch a bus in front of the RV Park and take it a few miles down the road to the DC Metro Rail. The Metro Rail is just awesome. It's amazing how fast you can get where you need to go. Those things really haul...I mean really fast! I'm sure they're going at least 70 mph at times. It's a very sophisticated rail with 5 different tracks that essentially take you any where you need to go.
We took a DC by night tour a few nights back. It's just awesome seeing DC at night with all the monuments lit up. It took us to the Washington monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the World War II Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. We took lot's of pictures. We had actually taken this tour when we were in DC several years ago and wanted to take it again. Last time we went in early March and the wind chill was literally -10 degrees that day!! The great thing is there was literally no one at any of the memorials, of course the bad news is, it was so cold I couldn't make it through all of the sites. Mark toughed it out for pictures, but it was just too cold for me.
We took the Metrol Rail this morning downtown and checked out a couple of the Smithsonian Museums and the Holocaust Museum. First, we went to the American Nature Museum, which had lot's of information about dinosaurs, prehistoric fish, and gems including the Hope Diamond. We then moved on to another American Museum that was just filled with awesome things. We saw lot's of information on the various American Wars including the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, etc. There was a room dedicated to the First Ladies that included various items, apparel and pictures of all the first ladies.
We really enjoyed a sections and items representing all areas of american life. Seeing early electrical devices, toasters, blow dryers...you name it, they had it. There was even a small section dedicated to Julia Childs! The kitchen she used during the filming of her shows beginning in the early 60's was donated to the Smithsonian, we got pictures of that too. Oh, and Archie and Edith Bunker's chairs from All in the Family was on display! The Ruby Red slippers that Dorothy wore in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz were on display. Gosh, I could go on and on. It was just awesome.
Lastly, we made a stop at the Holocaust Museum. We only had a short time to check it out before catching the train back to the RV Park, and it was...well, sobering I guess you could say. There really weren't too many things to see as tickets are passed out to see some of the exhibits upstairs and all the tickets had been given for the day...so we didn't get to see those. But we did check out exhibits on the first two floors. Exhibits on the first floor showed various posters, documents and items including film of Hitler. We then checked out a very large exhibit on the second floor dedicated to a diary from a small boy during the holocaust. The exhibit actually depicts the writings in his journal. From his initial entries about their store being burned down, to writing about being required to wear yellow stars on his clothing...to losing their home and several entries about the ghetto his family was shipped to. He has an entry explaining about his sister and mother being separated from him and his father and how scared he was. And lastly, the concentration camp that he and his father were sent to and how they shaved his head and detail on the little food they were given, like a loaf of bread for the week...for both of them.
The most facsinating thing about "Daniels Story", the diary above, was that each of his journal entries were associated with actual scenery, i.e., a depictions of his family's one room when moved to the ghetto. A depiction of portions of their home, kitchen and living areas before the war. Words really can't describe it really...I guess you just have to 'experience' it to fully grasp and how it affects you. We left the Holocaust Museum in a solemn mood for sure. But, I'm really glad we went.
All in all, it was a terrific day checking out the sites. We will be going back to spend a day at the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and lot's and lot's of other historical documents of our history. We knew it would take most of an entire day to see the National Archives, so we wanted to wait until another day to see it. Tomorrow, we're planning on heading to Georgetown to check out the homes and shopping. The homes in Georgetown are up to 200 years old and are the most expensive in the DC area. In addition, there are lot's of quaint little shops we'd like to see.
So we plan on heading to Georgetown tomorrow and back downtown to see the National Archives the following day. We're having a wonderful time here in DC. There's so much to see and do we've already extended our stay an additional 3 days. We could spend several weeks here and not see everything we'd like to see. But we'll definitely have gotten in all the stuff we really want to see before heading out this coming Sunday. Our next destination is Pennsylvania, most likely Gettysburg. Well, that's about it on the latest...stay tuned!~
We took a DC by night tour a few nights back. It's just awesome seeing DC at night with all the monuments lit up. It took us to the Washington monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the World War II Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. We took lot's of pictures. We had actually taken this tour when we were in DC several years ago and wanted to take it again. Last time we went in early March and the wind chill was literally -10 degrees that day!! The great thing is there was literally no one at any of the memorials, of course the bad news is, it was so cold I couldn't make it through all of the sites. Mark toughed it out for pictures, but it was just too cold for me.
We took the Metrol Rail this morning downtown and checked out a couple of the Smithsonian Museums and the Holocaust Museum. First, we went to the American Nature Museum, which had lot's of information about dinosaurs, prehistoric fish, and gems including the Hope Diamond. We then moved on to another American Museum that was just filled with awesome things. We saw lot's of information on the various American Wars including the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, etc. There was a room dedicated to the First Ladies that included various items, apparel and pictures of all the first ladies.
We really enjoyed a sections and items representing all areas of american life. Seeing early electrical devices, toasters, blow dryers...you name it, they had it. There was even a small section dedicated to Julia Childs! The kitchen she used during the filming of her shows beginning in the early 60's was donated to the Smithsonian, we got pictures of that too. Oh, and Archie and Edith Bunker's chairs from All in the Family was on display! The Ruby Red slippers that Dorothy wore in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz were on display. Gosh, I could go on and on. It was just awesome.
Lastly, we made a stop at the Holocaust Museum. We only had a short time to check it out before catching the train back to the RV Park, and it was...well, sobering I guess you could say. There really weren't too many things to see as tickets are passed out to see some of the exhibits upstairs and all the tickets had been given for the day...so we didn't get to see those. But we did check out exhibits on the first two floors. Exhibits on the first floor showed various posters, documents and items including film of Hitler. We then checked out a very large exhibit on the second floor dedicated to a diary from a small boy during the holocaust. The exhibit actually depicts the writings in his journal. From his initial entries about their store being burned down, to writing about being required to wear yellow stars on his clothing...to losing their home and several entries about the ghetto his family was shipped to. He has an entry explaining about his sister and mother being separated from him and his father and how scared he was. And lastly, the concentration camp that he and his father were sent to and how they shaved his head and detail on the little food they were given, like a loaf of bread for the week...for both of them.
The most facsinating thing about "Daniels Story", the diary above, was that each of his journal entries were associated with actual scenery, i.e., a depictions of his family's one room when moved to the ghetto. A depiction of portions of their home, kitchen and living areas before the war. Words really can't describe it really...I guess you just have to 'experience' it to fully grasp and how it affects you. We left the Holocaust Museum in a solemn mood for sure. But, I'm really glad we went.
All in all, it was a terrific day checking out the sites. We will be going back to spend a day at the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and lot's and lot's of other historical documents of our history. We knew it would take most of an entire day to see the National Archives, so we wanted to wait until another day to see it. Tomorrow, we're planning on heading to Georgetown to check out the homes and shopping. The homes in Georgetown are up to 200 years old and are the most expensive in the DC area. In addition, there are lot's of quaint little shops we'd like to see.
So we plan on heading to Georgetown tomorrow and back downtown to see the National Archives the following day. We're having a wonderful time here in DC. There's so much to see and do we've already extended our stay an additional 3 days. We could spend several weeks here and not see everything we'd like to see. But we'll definitely have gotten in all the stuff we really want to see before heading out this coming Sunday. Our next destination is Pennsylvania, most likely Gettysburg. Well, that's about it on the latest...stay tuned!~
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Huntington, West Virginia
Where have we been? Gosh, I didn't realize a week has almost passed since last updating the blog. We arrived at Beech Fork State Park last Thursday and have been here several days now. We came to this area to attend a christian conference near downtown Huntington. Getting to the actual RV Park was a challenge. It's a two lane road for several miles, that wind around and around...and one in particular that requires almost a 180 degree turn! Certainly not one of my favorite experiences getting up here for sure!
This RV Park is fairly nice. We're right next to a small creek and the sites are decent sized. Mark has started a fire at night a few times...our first campfires since the Rio Frio way back in March. During our entire stay on the West Coast earlier this year, all fire was banned due to the high risk of fires and high winds. It is peaceful late at night, watching the stars and hearing the crackling of the fire.
We think Clyde may have re-injured his leg again. He's limping as bad or worse than he ever has. But good grief, I don't know what else we could have done to prevent it short of keeping him locked in his little kennel 24 hours a day. Sheesh. The doctor did say that without surgery, in 9 months or so, the ligaments tighten up some how and will eventually tighten the leg and reduce the ACL sliding back and forth on his leg. But she also said that without repair he would have significant arthritis in that leg for the remainder of his life. So we're just not sure what the status is on his leg...but at this point, there's not much we can do. We carry him and set him down just to 'do his business' and then pick him up. He hops around on 3 legs, so we try to reduce his walking of course.
We're scheduled to leave Beech Fork State Park Friday. We plan to continue our trek East to the Washington DC area...or, I should say 'near' the DC area. There are no campgrounds very close to the downtown DC area. We'll try to stay near Arlington Cemetery area or some where relatively close and take the subway to Union Station. From there, we can hop on and off a Tram to reach the different areas we'd like to check out. We spent a few days here several years ago, but didn't have time to see nearly everything we'd like.
That's about a wrap for now...here's a couple pictures I took earlier today when we went into Huntington for lunch and a laundry run. Until later...~
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
North Carolina/The Biltmore
We arrived in Asheville, North Carolina yesterday after 5 days in Pigeon Forge. We made a planned stop in this city to check out The Biltmore, which is known as the "Largest Home in America". Wow! Awesome! Breathtaking! We got a really early start this morning, arriving at The Biltmore at 8:30 a.m. this morning, to ensure we had plenty of time to check everything out. Entrance to the actual Biltmore Mansion is by assigned time. Our entrance time was scheduled for 10:30 a.m., so we had a couple of hours to check out the surrounding grounds around The Biltmore. The Biltmore rates in my "Top 3" things we've done so far...right up there with the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed of the inside of the home, but we took lot's of the grounds and gardens.
For a little history on this home, The Biltmore House has 250 rooms. George Vanderbilt began building this home in 1890 and moved in on Christmas Eve 1895, though work on the grounds and inside continued on for several more years. George Vanderbilt was only 33 when he moved into his "country home" and was known as "the" catch of the century. George Vanderbilt did not make his fortune, his grandfather came to America and started a shipping company and later a railroad company. His father doubled the Vanderbilt fortune and they had in excess of $200 million by the late 1800's.
George brought his bride Edith to Biltmore and welcomed the birth of their only child, Elizabeth, who was born in one of the rooms, (as were her children 25 years later). George's biggest contribution was actually building The Biltmore. He died at a relatively young age. He was 50 and died due to complications from appendicitis.
We took a tour of the entire home with an audio guided tour. They referred to their home as "relaxed elegance"...I'd call it unbelievably elegant and beautiful. The home includes original art from master artists like Renoir, 16th century tapestires, a Napoleon's chess set, a library with 10,000 volumes, a huge Banquet Hall with a 70 foot ceiling, 65 fireplaces, an indoor pool, bowling alley, and countless antiques. The Biltmore remains American's largest privately owned home.
But that's just the Home itself. The Biltmore included 9 different gardens; a Winery; Stables; River Bend Farm and an Inn. The gardens were just breathtaking. Both formal and informal gardens and all designed by "America's foremost landscape architect," Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York Central Park. The gardens cannot be captured in words or pictures--to get the full impact, you just have to see it. The Stables area retains it's outward appearance, but has been redesigned to hold a Gift Shop, Dining and various other things.
I had first become aware of The Biltmore on an old cable show: America's Castles. I don't think that show has been on in at least a decade. I told Mark way back then that if we ever had the chance, I wanted to go to The Biltmore. We're so glad we came. As you can tell, today was just an awesome day and we're very blessed to get to do what we're currently doing.
We leave Asheville, North Carolina tomorrow morning for Huntington, West Virginia. This is the location of the Christian conference we had planned on attend last month, but we missed due to Clyde's injury. We've spent a couple of hours this evening trying to locate a campground in the Huntington area to no avail...so we're not really sure where we'll end up tomorrow! Well, that about wraps up our day at The Biltmore. I've finally gotten all the pictures uploaded to the blog...check them out on the slideshow. Stay tuned!!
For a little history on this home, The Biltmore House has 250 rooms. George Vanderbilt began building this home in 1890 and moved in on Christmas Eve 1895, though work on the grounds and inside continued on for several more years. George Vanderbilt was only 33 when he moved into his "country home" and was known as "the" catch of the century. George Vanderbilt did not make his fortune, his grandfather came to America and started a shipping company and later a railroad company. His father doubled the Vanderbilt fortune and they had in excess of $200 million by the late 1800's.
George brought his bride Edith to Biltmore and welcomed the birth of their only child, Elizabeth, who was born in one of the rooms, (as were her children 25 years later). George's biggest contribution was actually building The Biltmore. He died at a relatively young age. He was 50 and died due to complications from appendicitis.
We took a tour of the entire home with an audio guided tour. They referred to their home as "relaxed elegance"...I'd call it unbelievably elegant and beautiful. The home includes original art from master artists like Renoir, 16th century tapestires, a Napoleon's chess set, a library with 10,000 volumes, a huge Banquet Hall with a 70 foot ceiling, 65 fireplaces, an indoor pool, bowling alley, and countless antiques. The Biltmore remains American's largest privately owned home.
But that's just the Home itself. The Biltmore included 9 different gardens; a Winery; Stables; River Bend Farm and an Inn. The gardens were just breathtaking. Both formal and informal gardens and all designed by "America's foremost landscape architect," Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York Central Park. The gardens cannot be captured in words or pictures--to get the full impact, you just have to see it. The Stables area retains it's outward appearance, but has been redesigned to hold a Gift Shop, Dining and various other things.
I had first become aware of The Biltmore on an old cable show: America's Castles. I don't think that show has been on in at least a decade. I told Mark way back then that if we ever had the chance, I wanted to go to The Biltmore. We're so glad we came. As you can tell, today was just an awesome day and we're very blessed to get to do what we're currently doing.
We leave Asheville, North Carolina tomorrow morning for Huntington, West Virginia. This is the location of the Christian conference we had planned on attend last month, but we missed due to Clyde's injury. We've spent a couple of hours this evening trying to locate a campground in the Huntington area to no avail...so we're not really sure where we'll end up tomorrow! Well, that about wraps up our day at The Biltmore. I've finally gotten all the pictures uploaded to the blog...check them out on the slideshow. Stay tuned!!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Gatlinburg Tennessee
Well, sorry for the delay in updating the blog. We actually arrived in Pigeon Forge Thursday afternoon and we're staying at a Park right off the Parkway, which is where everything, and I mean Everything, is located. Parkway is like a Main Street that runs from the entrance to Pigeon Forge, some 15 miles all the way through Pigeon Forge "and" Gatlinburg, all the way to the entrance to the Smoky Mountain National Park.
Yesterday we got a pretty late start and just ventured out to the Pigeon Forge Main Street and walked around, checking out lot's of shops. They have everything, and by that I mean, not just a "gazillion" restaurants, both sit-down and fast-food, from McDonalds to Tennessee Barbeque places...to ALL Kinds of activities, like race car tracks, to circus rides, Mirror Houses, Magician Shows, every kind of Dinner Show imagineable. There's more 'stuff' on this Main Street drag than we've ever seen! Even the Las Vegas strip can't rival the stuff here. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of shops. We stopped by a wood shop and had a sign made to hang on our RV, and of course we included Clyde and Duffy's name. Pictures of our new sign are included in our Gatlinburg slideshow.
Today we were going to spend the day in the Smoky Mountains National Park, but when we got there we found out that to go to the primary locations in the park, it would be 3 - 4 hours, including the return. We didn't have enough gas or time to make it that far today, so we've made an 'executive' decision this afternoon to extend our stay through Monday. We're planning on avoiding the Park tomorrow...it's so crowded here and Saturday and Sunday are the absolutely horribly crowded. We're planning on getting up early Monday and spending the entire day in the Smoky Mountains.
We spent several hours today on the Gatlinburg 'strip' and had a great time. We probably walked at least 2 miles and checked out hundreds of shops and malls and stuff. We came across this shop selling these machines called the"Jiglin' George", that you lay down, place your ankles in, they place a soft compress over your eyes and just relax. This machine starts 'jiggling' your ankles, which makes your whole body kind of shake back and forth. Supposedly, it solves ALL problems. You got an ache anywhere and I mean anywhere, and this machine supposedly solves it. The only thing I could tell after 5 minutes, was my lower back really hurt! Really! I've had a bad lower back for a year or so now and it was off the chart painful after that 'treatment'! Sheesh! Guess that's what I get for trying the thing out anyway huh? *Mark took a picture of me while I was having the 'treatment' and I took a couple of him while he was laying down for his treatment. We look like real dorks don't we? See the slideshow for pictures.
We hadn't eaten out in some time and we passed Bubba Gump's Shrimp restaurant and decided to eat there. We both had the fried shrimp platter and it was delicious. Well, that's about it for what we've been up to the last few days...I'll update again Monday after our day at the Smoky Mountain National Park. Until later...~
Yesterday we got a pretty late start and just ventured out to the Pigeon Forge Main Street and walked around, checking out lot's of shops. They have everything, and by that I mean, not just a "gazillion" restaurants, both sit-down and fast-food, from McDonalds to Tennessee Barbeque places...to ALL Kinds of activities, like race car tracks, to circus rides, Mirror Houses, Magician Shows, every kind of Dinner Show imagineable. There's more 'stuff' on this Main Street drag than we've ever seen! Even the Las Vegas strip can't rival the stuff here. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of shops. We stopped by a wood shop and had a sign made to hang on our RV, and of course we included Clyde and Duffy's name. Pictures of our new sign are included in our Gatlinburg slideshow.
Today we were going to spend the day in the Smoky Mountains National Park, but when we got there we found out that to go to the primary locations in the park, it would be 3 - 4 hours, including the return. We didn't have enough gas or time to make it that far today, so we've made an 'executive' decision this afternoon to extend our stay through Monday. We're planning on avoiding the Park tomorrow...it's so crowded here and Saturday and Sunday are the absolutely horribly crowded. We're planning on getting up early Monday and spending the entire day in the Smoky Mountains.
We spent several hours today on the Gatlinburg 'strip' and had a great time. We probably walked at least 2 miles and checked out hundreds of shops and malls and stuff. We came across this shop selling these machines called the"Jiglin' George", that you lay down, place your ankles in, they place a soft compress over your eyes and just relax. This machine starts 'jiggling' your ankles, which makes your whole body kind of shake back and forth. Supposedly, it solves ALL problems. You got an ache anywhere and I mean anywhere, and this machine supposedly solves it. The only thing I could tell after 5 minutes, was my lower back really hurt! Really! I've had a bad lower back for a year or so now and it was off the chart painful after that 'treatment'! Sheesh! Guess that's what I get for trying the thing out anyway huh? *Mark took a picture of me while I was having the 'treatment' and I took a couple of him while he was laying down for his treatment. We look like real dorks don't we? See the slideshow for pictures.
We hadn't eaten out in some time and we passed Bubba Gump's Shrimp restaurant and decided to eat there. We both had the fried shrimp platter and it was delicious. Well, that's about it for what we've been up to the last few days...I'll update again Monday after our day at the Smoky Mountain National Park. Until later...~
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