Day 4

Eat...chocolate in Hershey, PA

Pray...and feel the strong spirit in Gettysburg

Love...hanging out with "Uncle" Brian and family



My wish for our vacation was to stop at the Hershey Museum in Pennsylvania. It was darling. You actually get to hop in a "car" and go for a ride where cows sing to you, chocolate is stirred, kisses line up by the thousands, and the smell of cocoa abounds! I was in Heaven--as were my sweet-toothed kids. They got to meet Steve's partner, his wife, and 3 of their girls (they have 5 girls) and hit it off from the start. Chocolate really is the perfect medium for friendships. :)

Just look at the "ooohs" and "aaahs".


I had to. It was a moral imperative. Here we are in front! Darling!

The ride isn't very long, and of course, it spits you out into the main store where you can purchase any Hershey product of your dreams. Each child got to pick what they wanted (within reason) for their treat. It was like Christmas!


Starr took us down the main street in Hershey. As I looked up to see the street sign named Chocolate Avenue, I was delighted to see the street lights. They are Hershey Kisses!!!! How fun is that?!!!

About an hour and a half away is Gettysburg. In preparation, Steve and I had shown clips of the movie Gettysburg to the kids in the van. I'm so glad we did so that it gave them a frame of reference and they could visualize what happened, the type of fighting took place, and who the great men were that had memorials built for them.

We are so proud to be from the "Land of Lincoln."

This is the memorial for the 20th Maine, where Chamberlain and his men defended the Union flank and prevented the Confederates from overtaking the high ground.

Here the kids posed and imagined what it was like for Chamberlain and his men to hold the line.

Emma and Evan in a castle--really it's a memorial, but it sure looked like a castle!

This is the memorial for Picket's charge at the cluster of trees which were the goal for his men.
Listening to history and stopping at stones and memorials day after day can get tiring, especially for kids. Steve challenged all the kids to race each other (not himself) to one of the memorials and back.

In the race below, the boys did NOT have to climb over the fence and touch the memorial, which leveled the playing field. Evan clearly won, but I love how competitive Carter and Audrey got. He was not about to let her win. They were so funny!

On the way to the McClatchie's home, they took us by an old Mennonite meeting place, where they had this really long, slippery slide. All my kids got hurt the first time down and weren't prepared; however, they got the hang of it and had a blast!

Even Brian went down with cute Emmaline.

Lizzie wanted to hold hands, of course.

Carter and Audrey racing--again. :) If I could arrange marriages...

Check out this old merry-go-round! It made me sick to watch it for too long, but the kids loved, loved, loved it!

Day 3: Eat, Pray, Love

Eat--a Philly cheesesteak sandwich
Pray--we can endure the heat and the line to see the Liberty Bell
Love--learning the history

We started our morning at the visitors' center to get our tickets for Constitution Hall and find out what the best sites were for our young family of 7. We met a musician playing a fascinating instrument. Intriguing.

Benjamin Franklin's museum and printing office were next. Very interesting.

A lady was handing these foam swords and coupons out for the National Constitution Center. They proved useful and not-so-useful. Terrific tools to beat the heat. Not terrific to beat your siblings in museums.

The room where the Declaration of Independence was signed with the original painting!

The room where our founding fathers created our Consitution, an incredible and divine document that I am increasingly grateful for.

The Liberty Bell!!!

The National Constitution Center was incredible! It had lots of hands-on exhibits. My children , explored, and played, and learned...sometimes in different ways than I expected. For example, in the area where it describes the Supreme Court, its function, responsibilities, etc., there are black robes for the kids to put on. The girls wore them, sat behind the judge's desk, pretended properly. Minutes later, while the boys were getting their turn, I found them running around with their heads inside the robes pretending to be dementors from Harry Potter. Definitely unexpected.

The last room allowed photography, so I took full advantage. There were life-size statues all over the room of all the signers of the Constitution. Steve was trying to sneak a peak at the document here.

We sure learned to appreciate the vision and determination of these men.

The kids loved the opportunity to sign the Constitution themselves.

What trip to Philadelphia would be complete without visiting the Rocky statue?

Dum dum da-da-dum da-da-dum da-da-dum

They've got the eye of the tiger!

Victory!

Day 2: Valley Forge

After driving nearly 7 hours, we made it to Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. We got there around 2pm (knowing it closed at 5pm) and were shocked by the heat and humidity. The kids savored their ice cream sundaes.

I really enjoyed Valley Forge. They had a wonderful visitors' center with a well-done movie. In addition, they offered a junior ranger activity book, in which if the children answered questions and completed a certain number of activities all based on the museum, movie, and sites at the national park, they could receive a Junior Ranger badge. Zowie! And for free!

Here are replicated huts like the ones the soldiers built in 1777.

This doctor knew his stuff. Complete with a real pipe (my kids kept asking me if he was really smoking), he answered all of our questions about each tool on his table. Sadly, most tools were for amputation or drilling into someone's skull. I am so grateful for modern medicine!

A real brick oven!

The National Memorial Arch to commemorate the "patience and fidelity" of the soldiers who wintered here in 1777-1778.

George Washington's Statue

Inside Washington's Headquarters...Here we met a park ranger who had been recently been given a Book of Mormon and was reading it between visitors. We had the opportunity to bear our testimonies and talk to her for a bit. This was a great experience for my whole family. Of course, our conversation was interrupted by us finding Lizzie leaning out of a window (following her big brother's example--CARTER!!) and nearly falling. The site-seeing was done at that site.

von Steuben's Statue--the general who drilled and trained our troops. I wish he could stop by for some training of my small troop. I'd love more reinforcements.

Eat, Pray, Love...and Learn--Bird style

Chapter 1: EAT
My family and I recently returned from a fantastic vacation focusing on our American history. We crammed in as much as we could in as little time as possible. Because Steve is such a foodie and wanted to make eating part of the experience, he researched what eateries Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and Man v. Food had featured along our route. Needless to say, we ate well.

Our first stop was in Cleveland, OH. Geraci's Restaurant, an upscale pizza place (with white tablecloths) where they make their own pepperoni. We got 4 different kinds and loved all of them. The manager was sitting near us and overheard our conversation with our waitress and the neighboring booth and had them comp us a dessert that tasted like donuts, but may have been pizza dough, fried, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. The girls licked every bit of powdered sugar off of the plate.

Silk City, in downtown Philadelphia, PA is known for starting out in a trolley car by a French chef. They're known for their wings, empanadas, and spring rolls. Everything had a gourmet twist and was mah-velous!

We were seated outside (in 90+ weather with 80%+ humidity) due to the size of our party, but were kept entertained by our surroundings. A mermaid fountain was hiding in one corner, so the girls loved checking on her. The boys were totally mortified by the lack of her modesty and quickly turned around and walked back to the table with cheeks blushing and giggles muffled. I strategically took this picture of the girls with her so that no one else would be embarrassed.

Below is the gate looking into our patio seating. Bright and cheery.

After a full day in Philly, we had to get ourselves a philly cheese steak sandwich. Tony Luke's was featured on Man v. Food. Adam, the host, had to eat a philly cheesesteak loaded with 5 lbs of meat and 1 lb of cheese. We bought this bad boy for our whole family (and added a hot dog for Lizzie). All I got was the meat that fell out of the boys' sandwiches and the mushrooms meant as a side or topping. Sadly enough, the Steve and Braxton came away still hungry. Unbelievable!

The challenge!

In Washington D.C., we had to visit Ben's Chili Bowl. The service was impeccable! They seated us in a backroom (to accomodate our large number) and even showed us the 10 minute video about the beginning of the restaurant, it's airing on DDD, and the recognition it has received from the city and its famous residents. Pictures of Obama, Denzel Washington, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, Bill Clinton, and many others adorn the walls.
Most of us got the 1/2 smoke, which is what they're known for. It's basically a chili dog. I do not like hot dogs, but I do have to admit, this was delicious.

Our descent home began at the Broadway Diner in Baltimore, MD. This was my favorite! It's a good thing I didn't see the desserts before I walked in because they looked amazing and I was too full to even be tested! Oh, well.

As you can tell, this was a thumbs up for the kids.

I got the featured potato encrusted salmon on a bed of spinach. I had eaten half before I realized how much was gone. Wow! To die for! Many of the kids got spaghetti and kept repeating the phrase "Mama mia" in an attempted Italian accent. I think they think it means "Oh, my goodness!"

Our last DDD stop was in vain as it had 1.5 hr wait to be seated and a 3/4hr wait for take-out. We couldn't waste that much time so we had to leave it behind. :(

We put some more road behind us and ended up in Toledo, Ohio. Olive Garden became the spot of choice (since Steve didn't want fast food). We did have the kids try calamari and it was a hit!

Food is so much fun!