Experiencing Historic sights

A New Lane should be added to Toll Road booth sections - HNC = Have No Clue which lane to get into. So far, we've chosen correctly!

Visions of Williamsburg play in my head, from multiple visits. One entire area set aside as a historic area, refurbished, reproduced, authentic, preserved. Williamsburg is the standard of excellence, the vision to which I hold historic sights. Monticello reached the mark as did Mt. Vernon.

A surprise about the White House is how dwarfed it is, surrounded by massive government buildings. And, there are barricades and renovation walls. Pictures are not very pretty.
To get a White House tour, one must apply 3-6 months prior to requested date and maybe 10% of the applicants are chosen to tour. Our tour of the US Capitol was wonderful - through Senator Tom Cotton's office.

The monuments were just as beautiful as we expected. The level of security for tours is massive - 30-45 minutes for security. And the Hop on Hop off bus was often unavailable - nothing like the availability and promptness of the same style bus in NYC. We wasted some tour time in line for security and waiting to hop-on a bus.

Got to visit Arlington National Cemetery and see the Changing of the Guard. So glad we are free to adjust our times and go with Plan B when time runs out for tours. The museums close at 5:00 PM.

Philadelphia - "downtown Philly" - "what do you expect?" we were asked. Our SUV is too tall and too wide for all the underground parking. The lots above ground are often full and the valet wants us to hand over our keys and they will park for us. Really. So, we waited and saw someone coming into the lot to move her car and we grabbed her vacated spot. Whew!

Independence Visitor Center, Liberty Bell Center, Independence Hall are small by comparison to the HUGE buildings that surround the Historic portion of Philadelphia. The streets are so narrow, we almost lost our mirrors! Beautiful area - cobble stone sidewalks and beautiful, historic buildings. Tiny by comparison - life (modern) goes on around it all - it's odd to see.

Now, we are in Neptune City on the Jersey Shore!

Somber Morning of Respect

Started the morning with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery and saw JFK and Jackie's graves and family members with the eternal flame. John Jr. is not buried there. He and his wife were cremated and buried on the Atlantic.
We also saw the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (FYI - the Vietnam Unknown Soldier Tomb is now empty. The remains were identified by DNA and returned to his family.)

Chocolate - a Major Food Group

You can actually smell the chocolate before you get to Hershey World in Hershey, PA.

From Highways to Railways

"Martha and Me"

Mt. Vernon

Highway -Old Richmond Road, Hwy 1 to Mt. Vernon.

Our first stop today, Monday.

Super tour

George's teeth - for real

After that, it's the Metro, baby. Metro into DC and then we found a Hop On, Hop Off and made plans for tomorrow. We may be "hillbillies" but we are "hillbillies with experiences."

On the Metro

At National Archives - security level - HIGH

Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America
and The Bill of Rights - ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS

"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing..."

Highways and byways brought us to Monticello, "little mountain" in French, architectural diary of Thomas Jefferson, located outside Charlottesville, VA, home of the University of Virginia, of which T.J. was the founder.


Author of the Declaration of American Independence and the Virginia Code of Religious Freedom, this brilliant man spent most of his days away from the Monticello and family he loved, for the cause of Freedom.

He retired after 40 years of public service and politics and lived the remaining years (until age 80+) at Monticello.

Stopping by the Side of the Road

Susie Gordon Ritchie and Mildred Gordon Horne, sisters

Mildred (My Nana) and Susie (Sookie) on a vacation in the mid-1950's with Susie's son Jack, his wife Dot, and daughter Susan Ritchie to experience the wonders of Florida. The sisters (Sook and Mib) insisted on sampling fresh fruit from a roadside stand.

Dressed to the nines with hats and gloves and pocketbooks, wearing suits, hoisery, earbobs, shoes with heels, they were not hesitant. Instead, they bit right into those juicy, peeled oranges. 

Note the orange groves in the background.

They experienced it all.

That's what I want to do.

Tomorrow, September 22, we have two experiences planned - one with POTUS#1 and another with POTUS#3.