Roadtrip 2018: The Drive Up and Philadelphia

We just got back from a two week 2,300 mile road trip across the Eastern seaboard in order to visit family and take in some American history. My brother lives in New Jersey and my sister lives in Rhode Island. However, my sister (whose husband is in the Navy) is just weeks away from moving to Washington state so I knew we had to seize the opportunity to see her before she leaves. I had never been to Rhode Island before and I had been promising to come visit for the three years she's lived there. We finally snuck it in and I'm so glad we did. Rhode Island is absolutely gorgeous....but I'll get to that later.

The original plan had been to stop in DC for two or three days, but we had to scrap that idea when our plans changed and we had to push back our departure date. But that's okay, because DC is much easier for us to return to unlike Rhode Island which required two days of hard driving to reach. And as a former resident of our nation's capital, I know you can't do it justice in just a day or two. I'd really love to do a week-long trip to Virginia/DC when the kids are a little older and understand a little more of American history. 

We left on Wednesday, June 20th. These photos are at our first rest stop in South Carolina. I didn't realize when we pulled over that it was right on a lake.

It made for our most scenic rest stop. We ate some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and got back on the road. We drove as long as we could and made it as far as Fredricksburg, Virginia before stopping at a hotel for the night. (We also stopped at a Chick-fil-A for dinner because those indoor play places are awesome after a long day in the car.) Thankfully, our kids really are fantastic road trippers. There was very little fighting or whining and NO accidents. 

 

Since we made such good time our first day, we didn't have far to drive to reach my brother's house in New Jersey so we stopped in Philadelphia to spend a few hours exploring the historic sites.

We also grabbed some lunch while we were there, and I just have to shout out Zara who is generally a very doting and helpful big sister. (Sometimes a little too helpful, if you know what I mean.) But she helped Benjamin eat his lunch and generally helps me out a lot with her younger siblings which I really do appreciate. 

We wandered around the historic center of Philadelphia after lunch. I wish Atlanta had more old buildings (thanks, Sherman) and Philadelphia's do not disappoint. We visited many of Benjamin Franklin's stomping grounds including this building which served as house, apartment building, and post office.

Look at the original cobblestone streets! (They are not stroller friendly though.)

Inside the tenement building, they have the walls stripped down so you can see the bricks underneath. Bricks contain a lot of clues and it's one of my favorite aspects of historic preservation that we can dig underneath the surface of a building to discover what secrets lie beneath. These bricks show us where the chimney, staircase, floor joists, and even boarded up doors used to be.

Brick patterns also convey a lot about the people who occupied a building. A lot of the buildings we visited in Philadelphia use what is called the Flemish bond brick pattern (like Ben Franklin's post office here). It is the strongest brick pattern there is--which is probably why these buildings have withstood so many years--but that's because it also requires the most number of bricks to produce. It's strong, but it also signals wealth. It's also why you might notice that a building may use one pattern in the front of the building, but use a cheaper, more common brick pattern in the back of the building.

We also went to pay our respects to the Liberty Bell.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get tickets to visit Independence Hall (since those get snatched up rather quickly) but we did wander around the building and take a few photos to prove we were there. 

On our way there, we noticed that Franklin Square had a Chinese lantern festival set up. Being a sucker for anything Asian, I insisted we walk over there to check them out before heading back to our car and on to New Jersey.

There's definitely more to see and do in Philadelphia and maybe someday we'll get a chance to really do the city right. But it was a nice beginning to what would be a series of visits to some of America's most enduring symbols of freedom.

Fall Break 2017

I know this post is *very* overdue. In fact, I logged in to update the blog on our most recent adventures and discovered this one still languishing in my drafts. So he it is, slightly unfinished, but more posts should soon be following. Hopefully. 

One of the perks of starting school so early here in Georgia is that we also get lots of breaks throughout the year, so we had fall break the last week of September. Last year, we spent the week in Charleston, SC which was absolutely delightful. Since we did such a big vacation in California this summer, we opted to stay in Georgia, but David did take two days off work so we could have a little fun. 

Adelaide has been attending a "homeschool preschool" at a local baptist church on Mondays and since they had canceled for the non-event that was Hurricane Irma (at least here in GA), they decided to have a make-up class that day. So Adelaide went to preschool while Zara, Benjamin, and I ran a few errands like getting my car washed. 

On Tuesday, Adelaide had her gymnastics class in the morning (again, a make-up class for the one that had been cancelled earlier) so we packed a picnic and played at the playground right next to the Rec Center after her class was over.

These kids are such monkeys especially Benjamin. He's always been my most adventurous and daring child.

Tuesday also happened to be $2 Tuesday at the North Georgia State Fair so we decided to check it out that evening. We'd gone a few years back but hadn't returned since the fair is, quite frankly, pretty dismal in comparison to the Del Mar Fair that I grew up attending.

But the kids still enjoyed the petting zoo, pig races, and rides. We let the kids pick two rides each. Adelaide, of course, picked the carousel and insisted--INSISTED--that she had to ride one of the real horses. You can't tell it from her face in this photo, but she was ecstatic.

We also let Zara ride because neither of the girls has ever ridden a horse before. It's not like they get to ride them very long but it's still fun.

Zara chose this swing ride and the large overhead gondolas that run across the entire fairgrounds. Another little girl wanted to ride the swing but since the ride was not meant for parents, Zara was so sweet to let her ride with her and help her with her belt and latch. Zara is so considerate of others' needs, especially younger children. She's a great big sister.

David rode the gondola ride with Zara while Benjamin, Adelaide, and I walked back through the fairgrounds, getting a cold treat and watching the high diver show. Zara and David were in the red car and I love that you can see their legs dangling down together.

On Wednesday, I took the kids over to their friends' house for a playdate. The kids were playing so well and my friend and I were having such a nice chat that we stayed all day. I ran to Little Caesar's to pick up some pizza for our lunch because there was one super close by. It's always fun to have days like that.

On Thursday, David took the day off work but we used the day to do some work around the house. There's still SO MUCH to do but it's nice to finally check a few things off the list.

On Friday, we drove up to Ellijay where we love to pick apples and visit the pumpkin farm.