Catch Up...Repost...Last One was a Draft

Well, we finally made it to OH...The last few days are a bit of a blur. Jeffrey got sick from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and it was a rough 36 hours. He is fine now and all is well.

Last I wrote, we had just met the Saint Andrew's Valedictorian. He is an amazing kid and a pleasure to talk with. Jeffrey thought he was talking with a celebrity. He is going to Yale in the fall and glowed when he spoke of his years at SA.

Last Saturday, after a full day at UPenn, we woke up to the worst weather. It was pouring, but we ignored it and went sightseeing via the Trolley. We visited the usual suspects- the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall etc. A real find was the National Liberty Museum. What a great place. Somewhat eclectic and a wide variety of thing to do and see. There was art work and exhibits highlighting American Heroes and recognizing people who have made a difference-- despite their challenges. 9/11 was tastefully displayed, as was the display of the many versions of the White House China. There was a large Chagall collection and the largest indoor Chihulley exhibit anywhere.

The rain let up and we went to Penn's Landing. The first thing we did was tour a real submarine. We crawled through small spaces and I only bumped my head three times. Jeffrey was happy to keep count. We also had to climb long ladders up/down, but it was worth it to see all the inner workings. From here, we entered a 1898 war ship, used during the Spanish American War. The advanced technology for the time was amazing. Next, we attended Family Day at the Philadelphia Seaport Museum. Jeffrey built his own wooden ship, learned how to caulk the sides of a ship, tie knots and steer radio controlled boats. Finally, we made it into the museum. I thought I'd be bored to tears, but it turned out to be interesting. The children's exhibits were all hands on, By the time we closed the place, we were wet, tired and ready for a nice dinner.

Oh, the thing that was most fascinating to Jeffrey was that he saw NJ without even being there. Then to make it more confusing, we were in PA, NJ was across the river and the river was called the Delaware River. Only in America!

Sunday morning the sun was sort of shining. We headed out to the Philadelphia Art Museum, famous for among other things, Rocky Balboa's run up its stairs. Lots of stairs! We went right to the Impressionists and found Van Gogh's Sunflower. Jeffrey had been waiting to see this for three years. It was much smaller than we imagined, but he was happy to see the "real thing" regardless. There was a large collection of Monet and Degas also and we all enjoyed seeing these master paintings. One more run up/down the stairs and we were off...

From here we went to celebrate Father's Day at Citizen's Bank Ballpark for the first of many baseball parks this summer. The park is new and right field is all about kids ages 6-12. They had games, activities and a bonanza of food, all in one place. By playing the games, Jeffrey earned "dollars" and was able to go to the store and "buy" souvenirs. It was a nice way to pass some time and everyone was happy. After the game, we were supposed to go for a fancy dinner, but we were hot and tired. Instead we had some Chinese food near the hotel. The original restaurant had costumed waitresses and waiters and it was all about the founding of our nation. Jeffrey was just as happy talking to the waiter in Mandarin.

Monday morning started out fine. David went to the Franklin Institute to see the Galileo telescope exhibit. It is the first time the telescope has been out of Italy and this was the only US stop. Then we headed out to Pittsburgh. Six changes of clothes later, we made it...Our first day in Pittsburgh was a wash, but we managed to get to the Indians vs. Pirates baseball game. It was another nice stadium and a fun game. The score was 5-0, top of the 9th-- but with the Indians, one never knows. By the middle of the ninth, it was all of a sudden 5-4. However, the Indians were able to hang on to their lead.

The next morning we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo- one of the nicest in the country. The only downside was that everything was up hill. Still haven't figured out how everything went up and we never seemed to walk downhill...Regardless, it was a great day and we headed out to OH, late in the afternoon.

We arrived in OH with no issue. We are unpacked and getting settled. I am doing my best to lay low for a day or two and catch up with all the running around.

Over the weekend, I will try and figure out how to post some pictures.

Nothing else to share. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Week One is Over!

Last I wrote, we were in Washington, DC, with still another day of sightseeing ahead of us. Actually, the day was pretty simple. Jeffrey figured out a better route on the METRO than David and we cut about 30 minutes from our trip and didn't even have to change trains. We spent from open to close at the Air and Space Museum. At times, it was too advanced for Jeffrey, but he didn't seem to notice. They had plenty of interactive activities and everyone enjoyed themselves. The IMAX always makes me feel sick and this one was no exception-- regardless, I of course survived.

We found more things on the Night at the Museum Scavenger Hunt and Jeffrey was very happy to point out to the Smithsonian that there was a technical error in their brochure. I don't know if we thought it was funny as in ha-ha, or funny as in "oh shit--nothing gets past this kid."

For dinner we went back to Old Town and ate at Joe Theisman's. I hadn't been there in 26 years, but it was still as I remember it--except it wasn't nearly as much fun as when I was there with my college friend. And this time the only thing I drank was decaf coffee.

Thursday morning got off to the wrong foot, as we way overslept. Even Jeffrey managed to sleep until almost 10am. Obviously, we needed the sleep and then opted to skip another day of sightseeing in DC and get on the road to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, it was another rough travel day. The traffic was miserable. As a diversion, we got off the road and took a tour of the Herr's Snack Factory. It was only a few minutes off the road, but we shared that road with horse and buggy carriages, as there was an Amish community in the area. The Snack Factory was interesting enough and Jeffrey loved the hot potato chips, right out of the deep fry vat.

Finally we got to Philadelphia at dinner time. We were cranky and just wanted a good night's sleep. So after dinner in the hotel, we went to sleep early.

Friday morning we headed out to UPenn. David was in his glory and we managed to spend seven hours on campus. David is the South Florida Co Chair of something or another for Penn and we met with all sorts of interesting people. The school is amazing and Jeffrey should only be so lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of the class of 2024. David's friend met us from NYC at the Palestra for a rare opportunity to play in the infamous basketball arena. It was quite a sight seeing two 51 year old men, Jeffrey and Malcolm Washington (think Denzel--his son) running up and down the court. Malcolm was awesome to Jeffrey and David truly had a special time. Jeffrey managed to climb the bleachers. This would have been ok, except that they were in the closed position. I was comforted to hear "Aw Mom, I do it at Saint Andrew's all the time!" From the Palestra we went to the tennis courts to see what was going on there. There was a Varsity match and when I turned my head, Jeffrey went onto the court and climbed up into the scorekeeper's chair. No harm was done...

I need to stop now, because the craziest thing just happened. We are in the business center of the hotel and we were talking to the man next to us. Crazy world-- the man's son was the Valadictorian at Saint Andrews, Sunny Kumar! They are in PA to drop his sister off at UPenn for the summer. She'll be a Jr. in the fall. Mr. Kumar is so proud and called his son and asked him to come meet us. Will post more later...

Day Four...

The past few days have just just flown by. David's road trip without us, was successful. He picked us up in Richmond, with exactly 898.9 miles behind him. Jeffrey and I had an easy flight and Jet Blue's TVs are the best! We had no problems, other than Jeffrey wanted to "see what would happen if he put the earphones in the glass of Sprite."

We got to the Richmond Hotel and had a restful night. We had a fun dinner in a local restaurant and got some much needed rest. Things got crazy busy with the end of school and problems with David's parents before we left.

On Sunday morning we got up and went to the Botanical Gardens. What a beautiful place! There was a special butterfly exhibit and the gardens were really something special. The children's gardens were awesome. It really was for kids ages 5-9 and Jeffrey really enjoyed it. There were different stations and activities, as well as a scavenger hunt. Jeffrey was chosen to record the "official weather of the day" on their display board and of course he got a kick out of it. He loves being the center of attention, so his world was perfect. The rose gardens were like nothing we'd ever seen. Jeffrey still hasn't seen them, because he was too busy playing in the sprinklers and cooling off. We had lunch at their Tea House and had a wonderful and relaxing meal. Jeffrey was tired and enjoyed the surroundings.

Our 100 mile drive to Alexandria, VA to Old Town, was not so fun. The short version is that there was awful traffic and accidents. It took just over 4 hours to get there. However, we made it and had a chance to take the trolley through all of Old Town and have dinner.

Monday morning we went into Washington, DC and we got to the Washington Monument with a few minutes to spare before our trip to the top. The ride was a little over 500 feet and the views of course were spectacular. Our next stop was several hours at the Museum of American History. Jeffrey of course was in awe and if we let him, he'd still be there. Before leaving, we took him to see Night at the Museum and when we got to the Smithsonian, the first thing he saw was the movie scavenger hunt. He has been all over it and we are down to the last two items on the list. Somehow we'll fit in the Portrait Gallery and let him complete his booklet. The scavenger hunt was clever and ensured visits to most of the highlights in the various museums. My personal favorite was the pile of junk, housed at the Castle. We saw Fonzi's jacket, Archie Bunker's chair, the Ruby Slippers and an Easy Bake Oven-- plus probably another 1000 things, all piled in a heap.

From the Castle, we decided to walk to the Lincoln Memorial. It was about two miles each way. No matter. On the way we saw the WW II Memorial and the Reflection Pool. We made it to the top of the Memorial and again, Jeffrey's jaw dropped in amazement. It really is special to see things through the eyes of a child. He was excited to get another stamp in his National Park Passport Book and hopes to get at least three more while we are here. (He got one at the Washington Monument too.) Once we got down the steps, we started walking and an hour later, we made it back onto the Metro, to head back to Alexandria. We were so exhausted when we got back that we had dinner in the hotel and lights were out for all before 10pm. (All, except those who were watching that dismal Indian's game until midnight...At least Jeffrey and I got some sleep.)

Today, Tuesday, we had an early tour at the Bureau of Engraving. The process is really something and the sheets of money impressive. Bills come 32 to a sheet. If even one bill has an error, the whole sheet is scrapped. The tour wasn't too long, but it was interesting. We got to the Museum of Natural History, just as they were opening and we spend 4 hours there. The dinosaurs and mammals and all the bugs and things were perfect for a seven year old. As for me, just give me the Hope Diamond and life is good. From here, we started to the Portrait Gallery, but got sidetracked and never made it. We went into the National Art Gallery to see the French Impressionists. Back in pre-K four Jeffrey learned about Monet and Van Gogh and he has been fascinated with them ever since. We then thought for sure we'd get to those portaits, but the Capital was in view, so we opted to go there. Walk to the entrance and there is no mistaking why people refer to the area as "Capital Hill." We had passes to the Gallery floor and took advantage of going in and see what was going on. The room itself was impressive and the building quite nice too. The session was as boring as watching paint dry, but we were glad to have had the opportunity to see things in action. Jeffrey really hoped to chat with John McCain, and was a little put out, that there was no way that was happening. When we finished up at the Capital, we headed back to Alexandria, grabbed dinner and here we are...Shower and bed is in the immediate future, as tomorrow is another full day.

I hope I haven't bored you to tears-- if you've read this far! So far, aside from some nasty traffic, we have had very easy and enjoyable travels. No drama, issues, complaints etc. The weather has been amazing. Cool, sunny and no humidity. May the next many weeks go this smoothly...

Until we catch up again...

Our Packs Are Packed and David is Gone...

Good Morning. It seems that all our planning and organization have gotten us off to a good start. Loading the car was not too bad-except it was still so hot last night, that it really wasn't fun. No matter. David pulled out of the driveway pretty much on schedule, just after 7 AM. He's got two long days ahead of him, while Jeffrey and I enjoy a slow, leisurely day.

Here's to a great summer adventure!

6 Days and Counting...

I still am stunned that we are really taking this trip, but it has the potential to be very fun, so I am going to go with the flow so to speak...

Somehow, I am going to be packed and ready to go by Wednesday PM, so that we can enjoy Thursday and Friday without running all over creation. To get to this point is going to be challenging, but I think we can do it. Tomorrow is one last run to Sawgrass Mills and then to the Pack and Ship store, to send off 4 boxes, that we don't need until OH.

This is not very interesting or exciting as of yet, but that is the goal... Off to make tomorrow's list...At least I am very organized!