Day 8 & 9...wedding fun and home sweet home

Day 8 was a nice, relaxing day. Tropical Storm Hanna attempted to rain on our parade, but really she only sprinkled. After a big breakfast, we met up with friends at the local bowling alley and the kids had a blast bowling a couple games. Mom and Dad walked around a local outlet center, and then we all went back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation before the big evening. The wedding was awesome. The ceremony was beautiful, the bride was gorgeous and glowing, the groom was handsome and so very happy. It was a perfect.

We all had a great time with family and friends and danced the night away. Literally! Abby is so part of my gene pool...you could not get her off the dance floor. :-)


Then our final day- driving straight from Williamsburg to home. Wow! It was about an 11 hour trip. But the kids, once again, were amazing. They slept, read, played games, finished their travel journals, and zoned out. We got home around dinner time and we were all in bed by 8:30 PM. It was nice to sleep in our own beds.


This morning we jumped right back into the swing of things- off to school, off to jury duty (poor Steve), off to doing laundry, and grocery shopping, and catchng up with PTA stuff.
We all agree that our trip, though packed full and tiring, was absolutely amazing. We saw so much, we learned so much, and we had a really good time doing it!!!

Day 6 & 7

We arrived in Williamsburg around lunch on Thursday and after checking in to our hotel, we headed to Jamestown. There we met up with friends and learned all sorts of cool things about the early settlement.

It is a pretty cool place with neat interactive opportunities to get a better sense of what life was like for the early settlers. We climbed aboard a replica of one of the boats that came to the new land and imagined being cramped with 53 other people,, plus crewmen, for four months at sea. YUCK! After a day at Jamestown, we headed back to Williamsburg and ate at a tavern in the heart of colonial Williamsburg. We ate well and enjoyed the atmosphere.


Friday morning we decided to be a little lazy and sleep in. We figured we could use the sleep. We had brunch with friends and then headed to Colonial Williamsburg to walk the area. We saw the old magazine, churches where Thomas Jefferson and George Washington worshipped, we shopped in some neat little stores, and learned about life in colonial times.
Then we decided to head back to the hotel and relax. We have part two of our vacation to attend to now....Bryan's wedding and all the festivities that go along with that (and rain...from what I hear it's going to be a WET weekend, thanks to Hanna. We Floridians just can't seem to get away from the storms!)

Day 5

We started our day with a tour of the capitol. If ever you go to DC, be sure to write your congressman (or woman) and let them know you're coming. We did this and got a personal tour from one of our congressman's staff assistants. She was so knowledgeable. She had amazing stories to share, and we saw really cool things. We got to go through the underground tunnels connecting the surrounding congress buildings to the actual capitol, we saw the old supreme court chambers, the pedestal that has held the coffins of everyone who has lied in state since Abe Lincoln, the kids got to stand at the very center of the capitol (hence, they stood at the center of power of the free world) and the highlight for mom and dad- we actually SAT in the house of representative chambers...the place you see on C-Span when Congress is in session and where the State of the Union takes place.
Talk about being in awe...it was so cool. Not sure the kids appreciated it as much as the adults, but I think it will definitely make for a cool memory. One day they'll get it. The tour was over two hours long and absolutely fantastic.


We ate lunch at the cafeteria in the House building and then headed over to the Library of Congress and Supreme Court. We saw Thomas Jefferson's books and walked through the Supreme Court, although we couldn't see the actual chambers b/c it is closed for renovations. After all that, we had a well deserved ice cream break and then headed to the International Spy Museum...well, it's gift shop at least. We decided to skip the tour. We took the metro back to our home base for the trip and relaxed..because tomorrow our adventures take us to Williamsburg/Jamestown!

Day 4

Day 4 and we're off! We started the day with a tour at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. We got to see how money is made!
After that, we headed tot he Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial. Then we took a taxi over the Potomac and spent some time at Arlington National Cemetary. We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown and JFK's grave sight along with Robert E Lee's house (known as the Arlington House). After Arlington we headed back to DC and visited the National Zoo. My daughter loved seeing the giant pandas...ask her what the panda house volunteer pulled out of her bag! IT's a trip! After seeing all sorts of cool things at the zoo we head back to relax and order pizza, and get ready for day 5 of our fantastic adventures...

Day 3

Day three and we wake up in the heart of DC...well, not really the heart, but Dupont Circle, which is close enough to walk to the heart. We start the day by heading to the monuments. We saw the Washington Monument, Lincoln, WWII, and Vietnam. All very moving.
Then we headed to the Smithsonian museums. We learned saw a great dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and rode in a fighter pilot simulator at the Air and Space Museum (um, yeah- my son needs to work on his pilot skills....). We then headed to the National Art Museum where we almost bought an original George Surat. Ask me later, I'm still trying to get over the whole episode.
After the museums we headed to the National Archives were we got to see the Declaration,, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. VERY cool stuff.

Day 2

We traveled from Raleigh to Mt Vernon on day 2. And again- the kids were awesome travelers. We arrived at Mt Vernon right after lunch and spent the afternoon learnng about George Washington and his homestead.
Then we headed to DC. We didn't have much time to see any major sites, but we did manage to sneak a peak at the White House. My daughter was mesmorized. I think she was planning how to decorate when she lives there one day. :-)

Our fun, old fashioned, family road trip.... Day 1

Well, things got off to a great start as we started our trek towards DC. If I may say (and I may b/c it's my blog!), my kids rock! They are the best travelers. They entertained themselves from Florida to NC without complaint. We had fun doing road trip scavenger hunts, various license plate games, and just hanging out. It was a lot of fun and fairly stress free. We spent the first night in Raleigh with our friends. It was great catching up and eating Carolina BBQ!

Then we packed up and continued our adventures....