Hi again. We drove to Savannah after a few fun filled days in Charleston. We ate at a fun Irish bar & grill that had musicians come in every Sunday night and play irish music. It appeared that anyone who wanted just showed up. It was great music and the food was good. We drove along the riverfront and it was interesting and had lots of shops. For us, it seemed like a lot of other cities we have seen lately (the longer you vacation, the more jaded you become :). We skipped eating at Paula Deen's because without a group of 10 or more you cannot make reservations and the line for lunch starts forming at 9:30a.m. We didn't think that sounded like fun so we drove on to Cape Canaveral. We had thought we would camp out at this great place that was right next to the water. Families have seen Manatees swimming there and you can watch the cruise ships come and go. However, the first night proved to be unbearably hot. The next day we went to the Kennedy Space Center -- it was AWESOME! Then we moved to a hotel. We went back the next day to finish seeing everything. It was such a fun thing. I wish we could have heard more information. Every day there is a retired astronaut who comes and talks to visitors. Our guy was commander on the final Skylab mission. This was Dylan's favorite part. We also watched an IMAX film about walking on the moon. We saw Endeavor sitting on launch pad A, being prepared for launch on August 7th. We got to see parts of the international space station being built by different nations in a huge clean room in the "orbitor processing facility", saw the vertical assembly building (VAB), launch pads, an eagle's nest near the 2 shuttle launch pads. We also went on a "shuttle launch experience" ride. It was great fun.
Today we drove to Ft. Lauderdale after our second day at the Space Center. We have been avoiding the pool and beach the last couple of days because both the boys got a bit of a burn. We are going to relax tomorrow and then Saturday morning I board a plane and am done with MY vacation but the boys will be beginning their scuba camp experience on Sunday.
Miss you all!! See you Soon!!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Charleston
We had such an interesting day yesterday. We went to view the Hunley. This is a man powered submarine used by the Confederacy to sink the Union's Housatonic in Charleston harbor. It was discovered by the non-profit NUMA run by author Clive Clussler and his son Dirk (Clive writes the Dirk Pitt novels on which the movie Sahara was based). Seven men sat on a bench side by side and reached across to rotate gears that looked kind of like bicycle pedals. One man in the front looked out a telescope like device until he found a ship then they would shoot their one harpoon like device at the ship with a small barrel of explosives attached. They weren't sure if they detonated on impact or if there was some kind of timing device. Anyway, the night they sunk the Housatonic, the sub and crew disappeared and no one could find it until Cussler's NUMA in 1995. It was found further out to see than the ship it sank. They don't really know why the crew didn't come back but they were all sitting in their spots in the sub - side by side when they found it. The captain had a 'lucky' $20 gold piece, a woman's ring, and a brooch in his pocket with lots of diamonds in them ( Very pretty after it got all shined up :). Just an amazing thing.
Next we went to the harbour and had lunch while waiting for our turn at the Ft. Sumter tour. During lunch our son announced that he "wished you guys would tell me what we are doing before we do it so I can stop you from doing something stupid like this tour." And he said this as humbly and with as much care and concern for our feelings as he could. I started laughing and couldn't stop. Brad and/or I spend 30 minutes to 1-1/2 hours thinking and planning and reading about things to do every evening while Dylan watches TV. Brad started laughing and we couldn't stop for about 5 minutes. Ft. Sumter turned out to be very interesting and entertaining despite earlier opinions expressed :).
We have been to many national parks where the park ranges have to give talks about what we are seeing. They have always been really interesting. This talk was given by a Charleston boy who said if you didn't like the fact that he was Southern then 'I am so get over it'. The walls of Ft. Sumter are 5 feet thick. During the civil war the cannon balls couldn't penetrate it so 35 or so Union soldiers sat in the fort while hundreds of confederate soldiers bombarded the fort for a day or so. Finally, the confederate side got smart and heated a cannon ball up and aimed for the officer's quarters and set it on fire. Which happened to be right next to the gunpowder storage room. :) After that the fort stayed in Confederate hands until they deserted it during a retreat by all confederate soldiers further south. (I hope I remember this all correctly.)
The fort was built by the Army Corps of Engineers by bringing in granite and stone from New England because originally there was no island at that point. So - we were standing on Yankee soil right there in Charleston harbour. lol.
We were going to the beach after that but the rains have moved in here. They have been experiencing a drought and it sounds like it will be raining off and on until I leave. I just have one week left! Now it feels like it has gone by very fast.
We are heading to Hilton Head today to eat lunch at the Salty Dog Cafe. Then to Savannah to experience 90 degree weather w/ 100% humidity. NOW it feels like we are in the SOUTH!!!
Love You All and Miss You!!
Michelle
Next we went to the harbour and had lunch while waiting for our turn at the Ft. Sumter tour. During lunch our son announced that he "wished you guys would tell me what we are doing before we do it so I can stop you from doing something stupid like this tour." And he said this as humbly and with as much care and concern for our feelings as he could. I started laughing and couldn't stop. Brad and/or I spend 30 minutes to 1-1/2 hours thinking and planning and reading about things to do every evening while Dylan watches TV. Brad started laughing and we couldn't stop for about 5 minutes. Ft. Sumter turned out to be very interesting and entertaining despite earlier opinions expressed :).
We have been to many national parks where the park ranges have to give talks about what we are seeing. They have always been really interesting. This talk was given by a Charleston boy who said if you didn't like the fact that he was Southern then 'I am so get over it'. The walls of Ft. Sumter are 5 feet thick. During the civil war the cannon balls couldn't penetrate it so 35 or so Union soldiers sat in the fort while hundreds of confederate soldiers bombarded the fort for a day or so. Finally, the confederate side got smart and heated a cannon ball up and aimed for the officer's quarters and set it on fire. Which happened to be right next to the gunpowder storage room. :) After that the fort stayed in Confederate hands until they deserted it during a retreat by all confederate soldiers further south. (I hope I remember this all correctly.)
The fort was built by the Army Corps of Engineers by bringing in granite and stone from New England because originally there was no island at that point. So - we were standing on Yankee soil right there in Charleston harbour. lol.
We were going to the beach after that but the rains have moved in here. They have been experiencing a drought and it sounds like it will be raining off and on until I leave. I just have one week left! Now it feels like it has gone by very fast.
We are heading to Hilton Head today to eat lunch at the Salty Dog Cafe. Then to Savannah to experience 90 degree weather w/ 100% humidity. NOW it feels like we are in the SOUTH!!!
Love You All and Miss You!!
Michelle
Friday, July 13, 2007
Julie's house
Hi again. We spent a WONDERFUL week at Julie's. We rested, read, went to downtown Richmond and walked along the river - huge boulders and some small rapids. A teacher and his student were kayaking through them - that was interesting. And one nut who went through on his intertube. We were surprised he didn't break something. It was a really beautiful area and you reach it by walking on a bridge suspended underneath the car bridges. I have never seen anything like that. We also went to Williamsburg where we saw a blacksmith, a gunsmith, a brick maker, and watched the 'regiment' fire a cannon and their muskets. The pipe and drum corp were really great. I had never heard anyone play more than one song on the pipe. They were quite good. Some people actually live down in that area where all the touristy stuff goes on. That would be an interesting neighborhood to live in. We left the historic area and drove past William & Mary (yes - we had visited their bookstore also since they are next door to the historic area. Dylan may remember this as the vacation of collegiate bookstores :) and found a great little mexican place. Brad, Dylan, and I have been wary of mexican places since we have left the south but Julie & Austin had eaten here before. It was really great. They had a huge assortment of hot sauces to try. Austin and Jacob tried one that brought tears to their eyes for quite a while.
The next day we went to a great park called King's Dominion. It is an amusement park and a water park all in one. We all rode "the Italian Job" which puts you in cars that looked like mini-coopers. It was very fast and a lot of fun. There was a really unique water ride also. You ride down a short water slide in an big raft of 3 or 4 people and it drops you in this huge funnel that is sitting on its side. The drop and slide down one side of the funnel is enough that it drives you up past the 1/2 way mark on the opposite side of the funnel. It was scary and fun. The wave pool made huge waves so it was fun too. There were several great rollercoasters that Jake rode (the rest of us kept to tamer stuff). It was a great day and we closed the park down.
We rested some and played with Oliver (Julie's dog) a lot. He loves socks and loves the boys so in the morning when you let him in where the boys were sleeping, he would run in, lick the boys, steal a sock and run out. I think hoping they would chase him. Ha Ha! They were sleeping! They would just rolll over and keep sleeping.
Julie, Jake, & Austin went to Kitty Hawk with us. It was HOT but we climbed the hill where the Wright brothers tested their glider and there they got the controls right for flying and then walked down to the flat ground where they first flew an airplane by engine a year or two later. It was very interesting but we were ready to get out of the heat and on the beach. The water around Nags Head, North Carolina is freezing cold!! Austin and Dylan rode boogie boards and Jake rode his skim board. Austin and Dylan tried skim boarding but it is tough to get started. We grownups mostly sat in the sun with our feet in the cold water and enjoyed watching. Brad boogie boarded some.
We had planned to spend some time on the outer banks, visiting lighthouses, etc. and driving down the coast bit by bit. We have decided however, that the most tiring thing about this vacation is staying in a different place every night. So -- we skipped the outer banks and drove all the way to Charlotte and will stay here for at least three nights. Our last 10 days will be less about the sightseeing and more about the vacation part. :) Dylan is still sleeping for instance. When asked if he was awake, he replied "No". Do you want breakfast? "No" (short silence) "No. No. No. No. No." He rolls over, pulling covers over head. The teenager has spoken. :)
The next day we went to a great park called King's Dominion. It is an amusement park and a water park all in one. We all rode "the Italian Job" which puts you in cars that looked like mini-coopers. It was very fast and a lot of fun. There was a really unique water ride also. You ride down a short water slide in an big raft of 3 or 4 people and it drops you in this huge funnel that is sitting on its side. The drop and slide down one side of the funnel is enough that it drives you up past the 1/2 way mark on the opposite side of the funnel. It was scary and fun. The wave pool made huge waves so it was fun too. There were several great rollercoasters that Jake rode (the rest of us kept to tamer stuff). It was a great day and we closed the park down.
We rested some and played with Oliver (Julie's dog) a lot. He loves socks and loves the boys so in the morning when you let him in where the boys were sleeping, he would run in, lick the boys, steal a sock and run out. I think hoping they would chase him. Ha Ha! They were sleeping! They would just rolll over and keep sleeping.
Julie, Jake, & Austin went to Kitty Hawk with us. It was HOT but we climbed the hill where the Wright brothers tested their glider and there they got the controls right for flying and then walked down to the flat ground where they first flew an airplane by engine a year or two later. It was very interesting but we were ready to get out of the heat and on the beach. The water around Nags Head, North Carolina is freezing cold!! Austin and Dylan rode boogie boards and Jake rode his skim board. Austin and Dylan tried skim boarding but it is tough to get started. We grownups mostly sat in the sun with our feet in the cold water and enjoyed watching. Brad boogie boarded some.
We had planned to spend some time on the outer banks, visiting lighthouses, etc. and driving down the coast bit by bit. We have decided however, that the most tiring thing about this vacation is staying in a different place every night. So -- we skipped the outer banks and drove all the way to Charlotte and will stay here for at least three nights. Our last 10 days will be less about the sightseeing and more about the vacation part. :) Dylan is still sleeping for instance. When asked if he was awake, he replied "No". Do you want breakfast? "No" (short silence) "No. No. No. No. No." He rolls over, pulling covers over head. The teenager has spoken. :)
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Washington D.C.
HI! We camped in Washington D.C. at this really great campsite. Showers, hot water (in Ohio we didn't have any hot water), and the all important SHOWER CURTAINS!! :) When we got there Dylan got out of the van and began creating things with fallen logs and his ropes. Ladders, a tripod to hold our 'hot running water', etc. Non-stop creation. It was fun to watch. Brad and I were sitting on our hind ends with our feet up. :)
So much to see in D.C. we couldn't get to it all. We saw the spy museum. We went on a staff guided tour of the capital thru John Sullivan's office. A college intern showed us around. We saw the rotunda, the gallery of the house, and the old, old (from the 1800's) supreme court area. We walked around the mall, thru the National Archives, past the white house then walked all the way to the WWII and Lincoln Memorials. We started at 9:30 am (got on the first subway) and got back to the campsite @ 10pm. Our feet sure hurt.
The next day we slept in some then got to the Washington monument around 11:30 and had prearranged tickets (over the i-net) to ride up to the top. Those poor park rangers answer these questions a million times a day-- Where do we get tickets? There are no more tickets for today? How do we get the tickets? -- they were the most patient people I have ever seen. About the 25th time I am pretty sure I would begin shouting the answers.
We went through a lot of the natural history and air & space smithsonian museums and the castle. Dylan really enjoyed everything. This is now his favorite place we have visited, replacing Niagara Falls. I am sure New York is still on the bottom of his list.
We are happily at Julie's house in Midlothian, Virginia. Whew! We are happily NOT walking anywhere. The van is completely full of dirty clothes and well - just dirty in general. Austin has a car washing business. I told him to be sure and check out how big and dirty the van is before he makes any deals with Uncle Brad. :)
So much to see in D.C. we couldn't get to it all. We saw the spy museum. We went on a staff guided tour of the capital thru John Sullivan's office. A college intern showed us around. We saw the rotunda, the gallery of the house, and the old, old (from the 1800's) supreme court area. We walked around the mall, thru the National Archives, past the white house then walked all the way to the WWII and Lincoln Memorials. We started at 9:30 am (got on the first subway) and got back to the campsite @ 10pm. Our feet sure hurt.
The next day we slept in some then got to the Washington monument around 11:30 and had prearranged tickets (over the i-net) to ride up to the top. Those poor park rangers answer these questions a million times a day-- Where do we get tickets? There are no more tickets for today? How do we get the tickets? -- they were the most patient people I have ever seen. About the 25th time I am pretty sure I would begin shouting the answers.
We went through a lot of the natural history and air & space smithsonian museums and the castle. Dylan really enjoyed everything. This is now his favorite place we have visited, replacing Niagara Falls. I am sure New York is still on the bottom of his list.
We are happily at Julie's house in Midlothian, Virginia. Whew! We are happily NOT walking anywhere. The van is completely full of dirty clothes and well - just dirty in general. Austin has a car washing business. I told him to be sure and check out how big and dirty the van is before he makes any deals with Uncle Brad. :)
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Philadelphia
Yesterday we saw the Liberty bell. Do you realize that Pass & Stowe will forever go down in history as making a bell that couldn't stay together but no one ever points out that part ? What luck.
We are pretty tired. You can probably tell from my postings. We are going in to Philly this morning to see Independence Hall for a tour then heading to our campsite outside of Washington D.C. Yesterday we roamed around and had a philly cheese steak sandwich and saw Ben Franklins museum. Near the ferry we took from New Jersey they had a 'all you can eat ice cream festival'. For $5 I had scoops until I felt sick - of course! We were waiting on the ferry and Dylan & Brad weren't interested. In my brother's honor, I went ahead and did it all by myself. I was sure he would be disappointed in me if I didn't have a go. :) It was pretty great but I think I can skip ice cream shops for a while. Dunkin' Donut stores continue to haunt me. It is strange but literally EVERYWHERE we go, there is a Dunkin' Donut store right across the street. When we got stuck on the highway in New Jersey -- there was a Dunkin' Donuts truck stuck right beside us. lol.
Hope the anniversary party was great fun!
We are pretty tired. You can probably tell from my postings. We are going in to Philly this morning to see Independence Hall for a tour then heading to our campsite outside of Washington D.C. Yesterday we roamed around and had a philly cheese steak sandwich and saw Ben Franklins museum. Near the ferry we took from New Jersey they had a 'all you can eat ice cream festival'. For $5 I had scoops until I felt sick - of course! We were waiting on the ferry and Dylan & Brad weren't interested. In my brother's honor, I went ahead and did it all by myself. I was sure he would be disappointed in me if I didn't have a go. :) It was pretty great but I think I can skip ice cream shops for a while. Dunkin' Donut stores continue to haunt me. It is strange but literally EVERYWHERE we go, there is a Dunkin' Donut store right across the street. When we got stuck on the highway in New Jersey -- there was a Dunkin' Donuts truck stuck right beside us. lol.
Hope the anniversary party was great fun!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
last group of pictures from all over
We went to the Apple store in NYC the day the iPhones came out. There was a long line of folks sitting in lawnchairs along the street to get their phones that evening at 6pm.
News crews were lining the street in front also. The top of the store is perfectly clear with an elevator in the middle (under the apple). You can walk down or take the elevator down into the actual store part.
Dylan had to ride the ferris wheel in the Toys R Us store just to see the store from the ride. Brad was making faces at me while I took pictures.
Dylan
making
a
house
of
cards
in
the
hotel
room.
The entrance to Harvard.It says something about everyone who enter seeking knowledge. And of course Dylan said "I don't want to enter".
Dylan &
Brad
sitting
in
Green
Monster
Section 1 during the Fenway park tour.
Dylan 'thinking' as he is looking at the falls. Notice his fingers stroking his chin.
Nolan Ryan's ho nitter display in Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame. Special because Brad & I saw his last no hitter in Arlington, TX (b.d. - before Dylan).
Brad & Dylan showing their muscles after climbing the 194 steps to the top of the Bunker Hill monument in Boston and then back down again. This did not count the steps up the hill to GET to the monument in the first place. Michelle chickened out and stayed outside the monument in case first aid was needed. (sure.. that was the reason). The vendor at the bottom of the hill joked that he was selling water for $100 a bottle. :)
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