The US History theme continued for our trip to the North East. We flew into Washington and on our first afternoon we strolled through the walkway between the US Capitol Building and the Washington Memorial until the rain came and we returned to rest at our hotel. We returned the next day to scope out the Smithsonian Natural Museum of History. This is an epic Museum, that if you have the chance to visit, please do, especially since there is no charge. We did enjoy lunch there before we continued with our day. We walked around and enjoyed some sculptures and the wonderful cool weather.
The one place that Evie and I really wanted to go to was the Lincoln Memorial. The idea of walking to it was not pleasing to my knee or Isla’s little legs so Evie and I were dropped off for the view! We got to see it in all its grandeur. My bucket list is checked off.
Washington was our first stop, but the rest of our stay was in a beautiful Airbnb in North East Maryland called Persimmon Pastures. I wish I had remembered to take more pictures, but you can enjoy theirs or even book it for yourself. Every morning we woke up and could look out at the horses in the field and try to unsuccessfully coax the farm cats. Even for its country location, it was an easy and quick drive to the interstate that took us where ever we needed to go. The hosts were kind and the home was beautiful. I recommend it for any of your visits in the area.
When I found out how close we were to Lancaster Pennsylvania, all that I wanted to do was see an Amish Farm. We had learned about the Amish last year for US history. This led me to read the Dakota Series by Linda Byler. The lifestyle was so interesting to me and though I have seen Amish on vacation in Sarasota Fl, I have never seen a farm. The first time we saw a buggy on our drive was so exciting. It was still exciting after the 20th. We scheduled a tour with the Amish Farm and House. They have a farm and surrounding buildings that you can tour. Then we took a tour bus that drove us around the area. The driver shared information and we even stopped at an Amish farm store and later a bakery. The Amish farms are sprinkled among the English. The best way to tell an Amish farm is by the laundry line that is normally out. There are also no vehicles on their farm unless it is a family who repairs RVs. Apparently that is a common trade for them. It was such a fun experience and one I would recommend to all.
Only our Pennsylvania day, we also went to Hershey! It is a whole town centered around Hershey’s chocolate with a place called Chocolate World. We took a ride that explained how chocolate was made. We also got to create our own chocolate and packaging. We watched it go along the conveyor belt until it was packaged for us. The chocolate was delicious, but we also were able to shop at the giant chocolate store and get varieties that you cannot find in your local grocery store. There is even a whole theme park, but we skipped that. I could not imagine doing rides in the cold weather that we were not used to.
For our next day, we stayed in the state and went to Baltimore, Maryland. We drove around the old neighborhood that the grandparents grew up in and we went to the National Aquarium! It is such a cool aquarium that promotes this one-way traffic around as you slowly go up floors and around and then on the way down you have to spiral down on the other side. It was such a fun experience. If we had known and planned accordingly, we would have also loved to tour all the naval boats that were in the harbor. Unfortunately, some were closed, as was the science museum in the harbor. Instead, we enjoyed lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then went to the B&O Railroad Museum!
The B&O railroad museum was far more than we expected. First, we were able to have a really in-depth lesson on how trains were used as part of the underground railroad to get slaves to the north. We were able to follow some famous journeys. Then, they had a room full of all different era train cars. Outside there were train cars that you could tour inside and even a miniature train town inside a train car. Their final building had giant train cars that were somewhat ominous to stand beside. They were so cool to see.
The next day we did a new state and a lot of driving. Delaware itself was not far away but it is a long state that you cannot exactly cut across. Our goal was the go-to Lewes, Delaware. It is the oldest settlement in America and we were told that it had old homes there that we were curious to see. It is on the coast so we thought we would also check out the beach. It was cold and windy, and far from a beach day but we did get to see it and we did walk on the beach. We saw so many horseshoes crabs washed up on the beach from all the waves. It was a little strange. Their shores are far different from the ones we are used to in Florida. We also were able to see all the older-style homes with shingle walls. They also had a little village were old homes were moved to and modeled in the way a schoolhouse, store, and doctor’s office looked. It was fun to walk around a see the tiny little town. I would love to come back in the summer.
After our stop we took a couple of hour drive all the way to the other end of Delaware and then to Ocean City to see Chris’ cousin. If we had known how many mini-golf courses we would pass, we would have planned that for the day too. Isla wanted to stop at all of them. Another thing to come back for in the summer.
After so much driving, we deserved a day off and stayed in the Northeast. Chris got some Maryland crabs and we enjoyed a park and local stores and ice cream. Every long trip deserve some down time. I did not realize this until my body started failing, but now I know. Enjoy some relaxation.
One of my favorite days was experiencing a real fall festival. Cool-weather, real plants, you know. A fall festival in a place that experiences fall. We went to the Milburn Orchards which was close by. There were so many games for the girls to play. We took a hay ride through the apple orchards. We got lost in the corn maze and the girls played in this hill of pipe tunnels. I enjoyed some apple cider lemonade, the girls preferred regular lemonade. If you are in the area, this is a great orchard to visit.
We also visited a little zoo called the Plumpton Zoo. It is a little different then the typical zoo. There are a lot of rescues on sight and they encourage you to feed over half of the animals. We did not know this, but a mother on her way out handed us half their cup of food, and it made the girls experience even better. They fed so many animals and they spent forever playing with the cutest prairie dogs through the windows.
Our trip to Pittsburg was cut a little short by my lack of proper planning, but we did make it into The National Consitution Center and ‘meet’ all the presidents as they planned this most important document. We have to return to see the liberty bell that Evie really wants to see as well as so much more in the area. For this trip, I was very pleased with all that we were able to experience. If this little blog can help you find someone fun to visit in the area, let us know.
