Goodbye New York!

We got up way too early (5:30am) after getting to bed 12:45am! We walked a bit for breakfast to the Cranberry Deli. Then we got on the subway to go on the ferry to Ellis Island. It was cool to get such great picture shots of the Statue of Liberty, as well as getting to check out a little of Ellis Island. We only had an hour at Ellis Island, which isn't much time to see all it has.

We walked a bit to go to lunch at ???? (I can't remember the name of it). It was across from where the twin towers had been. It was damaged from 9/11 but they rebuilt. Now it has some tribute photography as well as a printed American flag with the names of those lost, listed on the stripes of the flag. There's fenced construction going on with the new World Trade Center buildings across the street, so there lots of the construction workers coming in for their lunch. Our guide walked us down the block to show us a computer rendering of what the World Trade Center area will eventually look like within the next couple of years.

We walked a couple of blocks to take a look at a 9/11 Memorial Museum that had just opened up. It had a timeline of the events of that day, photographs, video, etc., as well a gift shop. Reading over the timeline, brought back what a sad & scary time that was for us individually & as a country. It was really ominous being where it happened. Thinking about the people who were around that area, not knowing what was going on or able to process what was happening. It took me a while to grasp what was happening. I can't imagine being there in person to try to figure it out.

Across the street was St. Paul's church & cemetary. It withstood the 9/11 attack, is one of the oldest buildings in the city, & also survived someting else from yonder year...yes my brain IS on overload!! Leave a comment if you want to add what my brain can't remember;-/

We meet up with the bus that took us to Laguardia (?) aiport. One last security check (won't miss those). A little wait time til we board the plane for Atlanta. A fast paced walk to our connecting flight gate. Bathoom break. A snack from vending machine. Boarding. Meet an interesting woman from LA who sat next to me on the plane. Teaches dance (any kind of partner dancing), done some acting, writes, etc., while having some major medical issues. Got to LAX right at midnight. Again I will say that the time change while flying is WEIRD. Have I been up almost 24 hours? It's now 1:23am. You tell me! We're on the bus heading towards the Ville. The sleepless torture should end soon! It's been a whirlwind, exhausting, exciting, fun, memorable, interesting, historical, & amazing. I'm so glad Samantha & I got to experience this together! I may post soon to fill in some of my gaps. I can't wait to see my Tony & my kido's. Thanks for reading! (I know it's
long...tired=rambling!)

New York baby!!

New York is packed! People, buildings, cars. We spent some time at the
Natural History Museum. Then we rode the SUBWAY!! A little challenging
with a big group. We went to the 86th floor observation deck on the
Empire State Building. Just a "little" windy up there. It wasn't as
scary as I thought it might be. The wall around the observation deck
is thick & high enough where you can't look down.

Another subway ride to Mars 2112 restaurant. An interesting concept
for a restaurant. Pretty trippy inside...complete with a couple of
Martians who waved at us, danced for us, & took pictures with us.

Then we saw "Wicked" on Broadway. For a lot of the girls...that was
their highlight of the trip so far. Amazing cast & set. We walked down
to time square for a group picture. Then back to hotel around midnight
for a few hours of rest. We had to drop our bags in a designated room
(the tour group arranges to get the baggage to the bus that will takes
to the airport ) at 6:30am. I hope I get to sleep ALL day on
Saturday!!!

Exhaustion in full swing

I think I'll finally adjust to East coast time by the time we get home to the West coast! We're heading to New York now. We just made a pit stop in Maryland. It's so green back here. By May in our valley the grass on the hills have turned brown but here it's still green. The amount of trees along the highway are so dense, it's crazy!
Samantha's favorite places so far have been the National Cathedral & Mount Vernon. Once in the New York, I believe we'll go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, do a lttle shopping, dinner, & then see the play "Wicked". All the kids seem to be excited about that. I can't believe we leave tomorrow. The 1st two days went pretty slow but now it's flying.
Next...updates from the big apple!!

Goodbye Wedenesday

We weren't able to go inside the house President Licoln died on Wednesday afternoon because we needed to get to the Capital Building. One of our teachers had arranged for us to meet & take a picture with our Congressman, Devin Nunes. His assistant was also able to arrange a tour of the building & we were able to sit in, for a few minutes, of a session.
After driving the kids crazy with a lot of pictures, we attempted to go to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum but they had closed early because of a special event. I was a little relieved. We've seen & walked so much, I can't seem to process all we've seen & done. Plus my feet were (& still are) killing me!! So we got to go to the Pentagon Mall for a few hours for dinner & some shopping. Then it was back to the hotel. Samantha & I walked a couple of blocks to Chipotle, for some chips & salsa. Showers & then goodnight!

Half way done...:-(

We started the day at Arlington National Cemetary. It was very somber & respectful. There's over 300,000 graves, including John, Bobby, & Teddy Kennedy (which we got to see). We were able to watch the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown solider.
We made a stop at the Halocaust Museum & went through the "Remember the Children-Daniel's Story" area. I was told that other parts of the museum might be too much for the kids. But Daniel's Story was enough to give them an idea what the halicaust was about without getting too graphic.
After lunch we went to Ford's Theater. It's still an actual theater (they're performing "Little Shop of Horrors" in the evenings). Although most of it's not original, they had had a museum & gift shop in the basement. We did get to sit in the theater & a gentleman from the Park Service described the events from the evening that President Lincoln was shot. Lots of details I hadn't heard before. Like...theater back then, is like our sporting events now (rowdy)...Lincoln decided that morning he would go to Ford's theater instead of one that was closer to the White House...he arrived late, around 8:30 (it started at 8)...the actor on stage stopped the play & had the band play patriotic songs until the President was seated. I have such a better vision of these events from the past now that I have a visual as well as SO many more details! That's it for now...stayed tuned!!

2 days down...3 to go

I can't believe it was just yesterday that we left. It seems like 4. After the WW2 Memorial we went to National Cathedral (we ended up coming back to the Lincoln Memorial later on in the day). The Cathedral was big & beautiful! Question for you reading this...what makes it the National Cathedral instead of the National Church? Hmmm.
We had lunch at a food court & then stopped by the White House to get our picture taken in front of it. Off to Mt. Vernon is where we headed next. Wow, was George's property impressive!! We walked where our 1st President walked. It was fascinating to hear the tid-bits from the ladies giving the tours in the different parts of the home. Like he was a good dancer, he incorporated farming (which he loved) into the decor of the house, & he found the color green in 1 of the rooms "agreeable". And did you know that painting the interior of your house was considered well-to-do? And walking around on the property smelled SO good. I don't know if it was the dogwood or the magnolia trees or what...but the smell was intoxicating. And the Potomac River that flows behind his property is beautiful. I wished we could have spent a little more time there.
But we headed off for dinner & then to the Vietnam, Lincoln, & Korean War Memorials. These are all within "walking" distance from each other but some how we got mixed up & veered off to the left instead of right to see the Korean. After all the walking from earlier in the day til then...my feet & legs were pretty tired. The Vietnam Memorial made me cry...thinking of all the Mom's that lost their sons, wives who lost husbands to become a single parent, & kids that were left without a daddy. This was me thinking like a mom not a political figure. I know war is a sacrifice for the greater good but loss is loss. I better move on, it's getting late & I'm getting teary-eyed again. Lincoln was awesomely big looking out over the National Mall. It's so cool how the Capital Building, Washington, & Lincoln Memorials are aligned. As the sun was going down, we got some great picts. By the time we got to the Korean Memorial it was pretty dark. But it was cool to
see it at night because the soliders were illuminated. We just couldn't get great pictures.
We finally got back to the hotel around 9:30. I hadn't ate much at dinner so Samantha & I walked to a Chipotle about 2 minutes from the hotel, for a little snack. Yum! See you all tomorrow...

Washington Monument

Ok, so I guess pictures taken on my cell phone won't post :-( wah! It was after midnight when we got to sleep & wake up call was at 6:30. So we didn't get caught up on sleep but got enough to get us through the day. We slept like logs!! Hotel breakfast & then we were off for the day. 1st stop was the Washington Monument. Pictures of this don't do it justice. It's very tall!! The marble used at the bottom is lighter than the marble at the top because construction had halted for a time. We got to ride the elevator up to the top & take a few pitures. You can look out to see the Jefferson & Lincoln Memorials, the White House, & the Capital building. On the elevator ride down, it slows down & the panels on the 2 doors illuminate so they act like windows. We were able to see some of the stones donated by States & Masonry groups that were embedded in the stonework of the monument. Pretty cool! Now were at the World War II Memorial & then heading to the Lincoln
Memorial. I'm trying to take all of this in but my brain is tired & a bit fried.