Almost Over :(

Sorry I got behind on what we were doing. We have been super busy on our vacation and our days have been packed full! Here's what we have been up to since Sunday.

Sunday, Aug 2nd.
We ate breakfast @ our hotel and it was a wonderful bar that had waffles, fruit, eggs, oatmeal, and other things as well. Mom and I made a quick run to Target, which so happened to have a Starbucks as well!! We then picked up my dad's cousin Virgina Ray (VR) and then went back and got dad and Aunt Faye at the hotel. Then we all loaded into the car and headed North into Philly for our tour. One of VR's grandsons had agreed to be our guide since he lives in Philly. When we pulled off the interstate and headed to his house, we were surprised with the streets, not only do they park on both sides of one way streets but they double park on both sides of the streets, parking is very limited in Philly. We were lucky enough to park right beside his house. We all had to use the bathroom before our tour, and by the time we were done it had started to storm.
Mom, VR, Aunt Faye and I were all in the explorer and Dad and Tommy were stuck in the house until it finally calmed down enough for them to come out. We then drove around Philly and saw all the important sites and took what pictures we could because it continued to rain. Some of the roads flooded it was raining so bad. Once we finished our tour we stopped and got some Philly Cheesesteaks from a place called Tony Luke's I believe, they were good, but I don't think the best. We then headed back to where we were staying and after a short stop and a few moments of rest we went to VR's daughters house for supper. We had Popeye's Chicken and Pizza. It was delish, then we sat around and talked for the rest of the evening.

Monday, Aug 3rd.

We left Glen Mills, PA around 10 am headed towards Hershey. We had no real time schedule and just enjoyed the country and drove through the Amish Country in Intercourse,PA. It was neat seeing all the sites. We had some wonderful ice cream from the LAPP family dairy, then we drove on into Hershey. We visited Chocolate World which was neat and smelled Heavenly . Mom and I got some goodies and then we headed south towards to Gettysburg. We drove through Gettysburg, which was simply amazing. So much history, I couldn't take it all in. Definitely somehting I would like to go back through and learn more about. I stood on North Carolina soil in Pennsylvania. After that we continued South towards DC. We got into Stafford VA around 10 pm. We are staying at Staybridge Suites, but the cool thing is, it's a BRAND NEW Hotel. We are the first people to stay in this room.

Tuesday, Aug. 4th

We called our friend Kenny around 9:30 that lives outside of DC and then went to his house, and then headed into DC for the afternoon. We stopped at a Buffet for lunch and drove by the airport and stopped at the place where the planes fly directly over your head, and then went to Arlington Nat. Cemetary and took the tourmobile around. Then we left and drove to the National Cathedral and took some pictures there and walked around. We then drove by the Wall, and WWII memorial. Then Kenny drove us around Haines Point which runs right along the Potomac River. We then drove into Maryland to the National Harbor and saw the Awakening which is really neat its like a man coming out of the ground. We saw several other spots. We made it back to Kenny's around 10, had coffee and then came back to the hotel.

Wednesday, Aug 5th.

Kenny came to the hotel this morning and picked Mom, Aunt Faye and I up and we drove into DC and went to the Vietnam Memorial Wall, then we drove to President Lincoln's Cottage and did the tour there which was full of information and so neat to hear. I was glad to finally get to do the tour because I had been there 2 other times and had not been able to tour. AFter that, Kenny dropped us off at Union Station, the train and Metro station, because he had an eye appointement on the other side of the city. We ate lunch @ Johnny Rockets in Union Station, then walked around and decided to take the Metro(subway) to over where the Smithsonian is and plundered around I saw the Hope Diamond, and a exhibit of butterflies. The cool thing was the huge Elephant that was in the rotunda of the Smithsonian we went into. We then took a break outside on the bench and then walked up passed the Washington Monument to the WWII memorial and waited for Kenny to pick us up. We then drove back took showers, I took a dip in the hotel pool to cool off and went to dinner @ Bonefish Grill up the road. Then we came back to the hotel after making a pit stop for me @ Starbucks, everyone else had regular coffee at the hotel room. Now its time for bed. Tomorrow morning we leave and head back to NC. I'm not sure if we are going to Charlotte or Williamston to take my aunt home first. We shall see..

Goodnight!!! :) :)