Mom and I are still on our road trip having fun!
On Tuesday, we drove to Colonial Williamsburg. We got to check in early to our Colonial Lodging. It was so neat to get to stay IN Colonial Williamsburg!!! We were excited to see some of the new programming at CW. We went to the "Theatre of War" first, and the actors in it were so good! We decided to go see their later lecture/performance. At their later performance, they actually had us near tears. They were impersonating actual actors from Colonial times, and they did short scenes from Colonial plays. I may have googled a few of them to potentially use in the future... We went into a few of the different shops- always love doing that! Then, we had an early dinner and cooled off in our room. That night, we did the "Ghosts Among Us" tour. It was really good- some spooky stories, and then a reflection on an unknown soldier that was very sobering.
Wednesday, I woke up really early to watch the sunrise and see Colonial Williamsburg "come to life" so to speak. It was so odd to see the place so quiet, so vacant. I enjoyed that quite a bit. Afterwards, Mom and I went to Merchant's Square for some breakfast before beginning our day in Colonial Williamsburg. We toured the Governor's Palace, ventured into other workshops, and then we heard a reading of the "Declaration of Independence"- so moving. We took a break at the pool to cool down- it was so insanely hot! I swear, I haven't sweat that much outside of a sauna. We went to hear "Patrick Henry" speak, and shortly after we got there, something bad happened. My camera finally quit working. I left to see if I could fix it. Sadly, I could not. I got rather upset for a few minutes, but then I realized I could likely share Mom's camera for the remainder of the trip (which is what I'm doing- thanks, Mom!). We got some dinner and rested up before that night's activity- "In Defense of Our Liberty." We spent an hour being drilled as though we were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. I imagine it was hilarious to watch this, but it made me realize how hard being a soldier is, and that I am definitely not cut out to be one.
Thursday, we spent our final morning in Colonial Williamsburg. I participated in the "Storming of the Palace"which was rather amusing :) Mom and I went to a few final workshops and the Art Museum before we finally had to head to D.C. I must admit, it was really hard to go. We had a blast staying in Colonial Williamsburg. That night, after we checked in and got settled, we were so tired, we just got room service and vegged while watching TV.
Friday, Mom and I woke up early and headed over to President Lincoln's Cottage. It was cool hearing about him and his home outside of the White House. The tour was a bit different though- there was not a huge focus on daily life for him or his family; it was much more conceptual and discussion-based which seemed a bit forced with a group of strangers. I still liked it for the most part, but I feel like that should be mentioned on the website. Afterwards, we walked to the first U.S. National Cemetery. It began shortly before the Civil War and reached max capacity (2000) before the Civil War ended, so sad. Then, Mom and I ventured over to the International Spy Museum. It was so cool learning all about the different things it takes to be a spy, the different types of spies, famous spies, etc. I definitely recommend that one!
Saturday, we woke up even earlier to go to Frederick Douglass's National Historic Site. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing his home (from when he was a US Marshall), hearing more about his life and his family, and finding some more potential classroom resources :) Then, Mom and I came back to the hotel to change since it was much cooler than we anticipated before heading out again. We went to the National Geographic Museum which is conveniently just a few blocks from our hotel. They had an exhibit from Peru about a number of newly found artifacts from civilizations we had known very little about until then- lots of beautiful jewelry. Then, we went through the "125 Years" exhibit. First, you go through a hall with every single cover from the past 125 years. It was so overwhelming and amazing. We just looked at so many of them- and we met the granddaughter of one of the men whose photo was used for one of the covers! Then, we learned about different photographers, tools used for different places and extremes. I just loved it. That evening, we met up with Brenna and her fiance to catch up over some drinks nearby.
Today, we got to sleep in a bit for a change. We decided to go see the monuments and memorials this morning. We saw the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam War Memorial. We got in our walking with that- we've been getting in a lot of good walking on this trip :) This afternoon, Mom had to head to the beginning of her conference. I decided to relax a bit and hung out by the pool for awhile. I may have fallen asleep for a bit (no worries, no big burn like last summer).
Now, finalizing plans for the rest of the week :)
Photos of the Week:
Colonial Williamsburg
Lincoln's Cottage
International Spy Museum
Frederick Douglass's home
National Geographic Museum
Tip of the Week: Take advantage of fridges/microwaves/kitchenettes when traveling to help stay on track and avoid having to eat out for all meals.
Recipe of the Week: Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal
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