A Blog In A Life: East Coast Winter Trip

Friday December 06, 2006

Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Josh and I just returned from Philadelphia where Kelsey has been working for the past month. We saw so much in a short time--6 states and Washington D.C. We took the train in to the city just after arriving and saw the historic part of downtown Philly the first day. I appreciate getting a better perspective on our nation's history by actually seeing the places I've studied in school. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Carpenter's Hall, the deck at the House of Commons where George Washington and Thomas Jefferson waved after they took office, James and Dolly Madison's house, Ben Franklin's final resting place, Betsy Ross' house, and the extraordinary blocks of colonial architecture. It really was amazing...over 300 year-old buildings still looking almost new.

Atlantic City, New Jersey

The next day we rented a car after Kelsey got off from work and drove to Atlantic City. New Jersey is only about 50 miles from Philly. Amazing how small the states are over there. We crossed the Delaware River in to Camden, NJ, which is not a place to stop to use a bathroom if it can be helped, but the rest of the trip through the state was pleasant. It was quite rural, which surprised me as I'd pictured NJ as non-stop city. We walked the Boardwalk and played on the beach as the sun was setting. The ocean was warmer than the Pacific as Joshua's feet found out. :) It was my first time seeing the Atlantic ocean! We had dinner there and drove back in the dark.

Valley Forge, PA

Kelsey worked Monday and again after he got back from work, we headed out. This time we followed the Schuylkill River up to Valley Forge. It was absolutely beautiful! It is a large park now surrounded by a ten-mile loop drive. There are many old buildings remaining and a nice museum with lots of info and relics. There must have been 1000's of deer there; I've never seen so many in one place. It was getting dark and did I mention, cold?! so we didn't stay too long and journeyed on to Lancaster, PA--Amish country! We drove around town at night and found a motel to stay in. The next morning we had breakfast and drove around the Amish/Mennonite farms. We talked to an Amish girl and browsed around a tourist village with lots of Amish goods for sale.

Pennsylvania Dutch Country

From Lancaster we drove to York and saw the Harley-Davidson plant after crossing the Susquehanna river heading towards Maryland. We were only an hour from Gettysburg but were running out of daylight. It snowed on us a bit in this stretch but dried up as we approached Baltimore. We circled around the city continuing south to Washington D.C. Our first taste of DC was the traffic, and like Camden, NJ, it's not really somewhere I'd like to hang out. But when we reached the inner-sanctum of government buildings, it was really impressive. TV doesn't do it justice. I truly hope to return someday to tour the Smithsonian museums. Driving is challenging and there is hardly anywhere to park but we finally did and went to see Lincoln's memorial. We headed over to Arlington, VA, just to set foot there and then back to DC and on to Annapolis. We stopped for much needed dinner and continued over the Chesapeake Bay bridge and drove 50 or so country miles on a back highway to Delaware, finally arriving back to Philadelphia at about 10pm.

Lincoln Memorial

Washington D.C.

Washington Monument view from Lincoln Memorial

We slept quickly and hopped an early flight to LaGuardia airport, NYC, on Wednesday. We caught an hour-long cab ride to 59th and 5th Ave letting off at the SE corner of Central Park adjacent to CBS headquarters. A friend of Kelsey's picked us up and drove us all over Manhattan showing us everything of interest. We crammed so much in to those few hours. Thank goodness he was driving and not me! The traffic there was really beyond description if you haven't yet experienced it yourself. I'm so glad to have visited there and see all the places I've only heard of, but am so thankful that I don't live there! The buildings go on forever and so do the people. Argh. After living in the wide-open desert I felt claustrophobic but there were beautiful things about it and I'm glad to have been there. We did stop at Ground Zero and saw the Statue of Liberty. We went to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, all around and through Central Park, saw where John Lennon was shot, Broadway, you name it, we saw it. Oh, and, we stopped at a NY deli to eat! The weather was crisp but clear and as Kelsey's friend drove us through all sorts of secret shortcuts through Queens and back to La Guardia during rush hour, I really thought we might die-- but we made it after literally running to our gate, and returned safely back to our hotel again. Josh and I flew home yesterday and I'm am truly spent!