Off to Pennsylvania

We started the day heading to Union Station to pick up a rental car, then headed north to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Gettysburg National Visitor Park Visitor Center is quite impressive. We were excited to get tickets for a bus tour of the battle fields. Unfortunately, the rain started just as we were loading the bus, and it only got worse. I ventured out of the bus a couple times, but was soon drenched, so thought I was better off staying inside. The good news was that we had a great tour guide who really brought the Battle of Gettysburg to life for us. He not only gave facts and figures, but some personal stories from the 170,000 Americans involved in the largest battle on American soil. Despite the rain, we got a good feel for what happened on those farm fields over 150 years ago. The monuments are everywhere and recognize both Union and Confederate lives. Now I want to come back and see them in the sunshine and take time to explore at my own pace.

After leaving Gettysburg, we drove 2.5 hours to my cousin Nancy's place outside of Philadelphia. It's so good to be here. Her husband Howie prepped a huge prime rib for at big family dinner tomorrow. So excited to see everyone and for them to meet Will.

Short entry today as much of the day was in the car. The trip is winding down.

Goodnight all!
Rich & Will

Last Full Day in DC

Today was our last day in DC. After a relaxing breakfast out, we walked to the Holocaust Museum. We did not know that we needed to be there early to get free tickets to the main exhibit, the chronology of the Holocaust. But there was still plenty to see. There were 3 or 4 other exhibits that dealt with not only the Holocaust but also genocide in general and the horrors in Cambodia. We can't even imagine what the Jews went through, but the museum certainly does a good job of illustrating the atrocities committed by not only Hitler and his people, but also the complicity of the "friends" and neighbors that betrayed their Jewish colleagues. It's scary to think that this was not even 100 years ago and that there are many people who think this way still today.

After the Holocaust Museum, we walked across the mall to the Natural History Museum. The exhibits here are so well done and very educational...thus the huge numbers of school groups in attendance. Many were well behaved, but unfortunately, there were many that were unsupervised and running amok, so sad. We really enjoyed the photography exhibits of animals and nature. Such exquisite photographs. The dinosaur exhibit is always a fun one as well.

After lunch, we walked up to the National Portrait Gallery and Art Museum. Such a cool variety of portraits from early Americans to modern stars.

We had an outstanding dinner at CIRCA Foggy Bottom where I had the best blackberry margaritas ever. Then, we walked a couple blocks to Captain Cookie & The Milkman for dessert...it was as good as it sounds!

We're all packed tonight. In the morning we go to Union Station to retrieve a rental car, then drive north to Gettysburg and on to Philly to see family.

We have loved our time in DC and highly recommend it.

Sleep well all!
Rich & Will

Museum Day!

We got a late start today after our marathon yesterday, but still managed to squeeze in three museums.

We started at the Newseum...or museum of news. It was absolutely amazing. It is the only museum that changes an exhibit every day! That, of course, is their exhibit of front pages. They receive thousands of submissions every morning of digital front pages. They have to narrow them down to several hundred which are then printed and pined up on displays on the sidewalk as well as in the museum. There are front pages from every state in the union as well as many foreign countries. It was very interesting. One exhibit had rows and rows of newspapers from the first printing press up through today with historic headlines such as Jesse James, the

sinking of the Titanic, the assination of JFK, and so many more. It was a newspaper timeline of the history of our country. Other amazing exhibits included a huge piece of the Berlin Wall and a entire guard tower, a mangled news antenna from the top of the Twin Towers framed by front pages from 9-11, history of news coverage from many wars, a photo wall of all the journalists across the world who have lost their lives doing their job, a 4-D movie experience about some famous historical journalists including Nellie Bly and Edward R. Murrow, lots of interactive news screens, and lots, lots more. We could have spent the entire day there.

Next, we took in the National Archives. This was so incredible. We got to see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of

Rights. I use to teach about these documents, so it was very special to actually see them in person. The National Archives has many other exhibits as well, all about famous documents and how they have impacted our world, as well as the preservation of these documents. The digital age has brought new challenges to the world of document preservation.

We finished up the day at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. It is amazing how many planes of all types and space vehicles have been fit into this building. The story of flight right up through the

modern age of space exploration is illustrated with historical and current vehicles.

Our treat for the evening was dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill. The grill is the longest established restaurant in Washington D.C., being founded in 1856 as a boarding house and saloon. The meal was fantastic!

Tomorrow is our last full day in DC as we leave Friday morning for Gettysburg and then on to my cousin's place outside Philadelphia.

We're trying to prioritize what we want to see before we go...there is still so much.

Thanks for reading, and good night!
Will & Rich