ROADTRIP--25th stop Colonial Williamsburg Day One

It was sure fun to step back into colonial times at Colonial Williamsburg. Period actors interacted with the crowds.

The Shoemaker.

Aleya enjoyed trying on the hats in the hattery.

The kids reported for mustering drills.

Joseph practices his ax-throwing skills. He actually has good aim.

The armory.

Amara exhibited her drumming skills.

Aleya is sad she is too short for the stockade.

If only we could leave them there for the rest of the day.

The silversmith.

The Capitol.

The jail.

Patrick Henry and Christian. This actor played the part respectably.


We ate dinner here at Shield's Tavern . . . the oldest tavern in the town.

The food was delicious and the entertainment historic.

Aleya particularly enjoyed the music.

She began dancing to the music and entertaining us all.

ROADTRIP--24th Stop Mt. Vernon

We decided to skip Washington DC for a year and just go to Mt. Vernon on this trip.

We lucked out and met up with some friends from San Diego. They had been living in Newport, Rhode Island for the past year and were about to move to Germany with the military. They had been in Virginia visiting family and met us at Mt. Vernon.

Hope and Andrea have been friends for five years, now.

Mark and Joseph still text and facebook each other. We may not see these friends again for a few years. It will be interesting to see how much they change.

Orrin and Matthew were lucky to be in several classes together at school and are great friends.

We joined Washington and his family.

Washington had a large plantation with fields, orchards, and livestock.

There were a lot more buildings and things to see at Mt. Vernon than we expected.

We enjoyed touring the mansion.

Quite a fancy outhouse!

He had beautiful gardens and large greenhouse.

We lucked out and met George and Martha, making small talk in their parlor.

The museum and theaters were unexpected and impressive. We didn't allow enough time to see it all.


We enjoyed ourselves so much that we feel we need to return and see all that we missed.

ROADTRIP--23rd Stop Philadelphia

We made it to downtown Philadelphia, but where do you park a van with a trailer? Christian had a tricky time doing that. He accidentally hung over into a taxi area and received a parking ticket. Ugh.

On to the landmarks . . . first we saw the Liberty Bell.

In the Visitor's Center, we enjoyed some colonial music, actors dressed in period costumes, and watched a movie. It is about time they make a new movie . . . it was very dry and BO-RING. We could've skipped it and been fine.

We visited Ben Franklin's grave.

We saw the first Post Office, next to Ben Franklin's office.

This is the passage to Ben Franklin's office and home.

Here is Betsy Ross's home. We didn't really have time to tour it.

I hadn't reserved tickets ahead of time, so we had to wait in the standby line for the express tour.

My step sister, Angela, had met up with us downtown to see the sites. She lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

The Declaration of Independence was debated and signed here, as well as the Constitution. The chair in the back was the actual chair George Washington sat in to conduct the meetings.


That night, we ate dinner at my step sister, Angela's, home. It it so great to spend time with family.