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.

San Diego Trip - Legoland

For our final full day in San Diego, we decided to check out Legoland. My grandma lives only 15 minutes away from their California location and yet we had never been. I had heard conflicting stories about the best time to visit Legoland--some people said it was better for young kids, others said it was more for older kids. But I can now definitely say that Legoland is definitely geared toward younger children. I think the perfect age range is 6-9 years old but there was still a lot for our kids to do and I'm glad we came now and not when our kids our older. There's not a whole lot for older kids. In fact, many of the rides have height limits and older kids/adults can't ride them at all.

In addition to the main theme park, Legoloand also has an aquarium and a water park. We opted just to do the main theme park which was perfect for one day. I heard the aquarium is not that great and our kids are probably not quite old enough to enjoy the water park. However, if you decide to go, you should still consider packing swimsuits and towels. Pirate Shores, which is part of the main theme park, has several water rides and a splash pad so you can enjoy the water and cool down on hot days. I wish we had been better prepared. We rode several of the water rides and got soaked.

We started our day in Heartlake City/Duplo Village. Adelaide insisted on riding the carousel first. No matter where we go, she always wants to ride the merry-go-round. 

David then took Zara to Fun Town where they have a driving school which I knew Zara would love. (I felt bad that we had never made it to Autotopia at Disneyland and Zara seemed quite jealous of her cousins who got to drive cars.)

Meanwhile, I took Adelaide and Benjamin into the toddler Duplo Village where they got to build lots of fun things. We even rode their little train which just goes around in a circle around some Lego rabbits and carrots and corn. 

We then rode several of the rides in the Fun Town area. They have a Driving School for ages 6-13 but they also have a Junior Driving School for ages 3-5 so Adelaide was able to get into the action. 

Three to five year olds are terrible drivers. 

 Next, we wandered through Miniland USA where they've recreated many different cities and locations in Legos. It's pretty impressive. The kids (and David) also had fun building ships out of Legos and racing them in the water there as well.

They also had a special exhibit  on Star Wars so there were tons of scenes re-created from all the films.

 At this point, we decided to take a break for lunch. Unlike Disneyland, Legoland doesn't allow outside food. But they do allow entry and re-entry so we decided to leave the park for lunch. We stopped at Trader Joe's and then went to my grandma's house to eat lunch with her. Like I said, my grandma lives only 15 minutes away so it was the perfect way to rest and relax during the height of the day's heat. My brother and his family also stopped by so we got to see them as well. It was nice to get a chance to see both of them again since it was our last day in San Diego.

After our two hour lunch break, we headed back to the park to see the other parts of the park--Pirate Shores, Castle Hill, Land of Adventure, and Imagination Zone. I peeked into Ninjago World but didn't do any of the attractions there. 

Zara and I rode two of their bigger rollercoasters together--The Dragon Coaster and Technic Coaster. They were pretty basic rollercoasters, but not terribly memorable. I think I preferred the dragon one more. 

Near the end of the day, we stopped by one of their stores to build our own minifigs. We each built one to represent ourselves though it was difficult because they didn't have a lot of great options for hairstyles/hats or clothes. I still love our little minifig family, even if Zara's is a little off theme.

Minifig Family: David, Liz, Zara (?), Adelaide, and Benjamin

Overall, I enjoyed Legoland and I'm really glad we fit it into this trip. I think the kids wouldn't have enjoyed it quite as much if we had waited much longer to take them. We might do it again in a few years, but they would definitely age out of it by the time they're teenagers. It wasn't as crowded as Disneyland and they do have a lot of areas to just play with Duplos or on playgrounds which is great for the younger crowd. It isn't run as tightly or efficiently as Disneyland, but it was still an enjoyable trip, especially for those who love Legos like our family does.

San Diego Trip - Wednesday

 

Wednesday was a low-key day in comparison. We started the morning by visiting the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum since it was right there on Miramar Air Base where we were staying. The museum is open to the public (we actually had to leave the base in order to get to the museum) but it has a great display of aviation machines including planes and helicopters. 

The kids loves running around and checking out all the planes. Benjamin, in particular, is a big fan of anything with wheels. The kids had a scavenger hunt to find all the different symbols on the planes.

 Benjamin and this statue were the same size which was pretty cute.

After the airplane museum, I drove David and the kids back to our hotel room and then I drove to Poway to meet my dear friend Nicole for lunch at the Wholly Crepe, a restaurant located in Poway's old town district. The crepes were delightful and we had a great time catching up. But like an idiot, we forgot to take a photo as evidence. 

After our lunch, we drove to Nicole's parents' house to pick up Nicole's newborn son. I got to hold him because I love, love, love newborns. I know many people don't love the infant stage, but it's one of my favorites. I need to get in newborn love whenever I can since I don't plan on having more tiny humans myself. 

I returned back to the hotel room where I discovered David and Benjamin napping and the girls bouncing off the wall. I took Adelaide and Zara to the playground across the street from our hotel. After a little playtime, we woke the others up so we could go to the beach. 

The kids adore the beach, sand, and water and we had promised that we'd go to the beach at least one more time before we left. 

We went to La Jolla Shores, my favorite beach. David and the kids got right to work digging a big hole and warding off the encroaching tide. 

The beach was still really crowded for being a late Wednesday afternoon. We only had a small patch of sand to ourselves but we had to keep scooting back because of the tide. 

The kids adore the beach and didn't want to leave, but we didn't want to stay too late either. We had a big day the next day. We packed up and headed home, stopping at In-N-Out for our last meal there. 

It was a good day.