Life is Good

Thursday, June 4, 2015

2015.04.08 Washington, DC

WOW!! Everyone needs to visit Washington, DC. We spent the day exploring everything. We saw the Washington Memorial, Jefferson Memorial Vietnam Memorial, White House, Capitol Building...we saw it all. Unfortunately, we planned this trip kind of last minute and we did not have enough time to go on a tour of the White House, but we still saw it from the outside. Next time I go, I will plan a little but further ahead and get on a tour. We ended up walking over 24,000 steps today! That's a LOT of walking. It was a cloudy, drizzly and cool day, but we made it through. Lucky for us, the cherry blossoms are blooming! Yay!!

The Vietnam Memorial was a very emotional experience for Jeff. I think it hit him a lot harder that what he expected. He left a baseball for his brother Tom, as that is one of the activities they used to do together.

We toured all day, then met Jerry for supper. We ate right down the street from his house, so it was walking distance for us.

2015.04.07 Train Trip & Speakeasy

Time to leave Philadelphia and head to Washington, DC. There is still a lot that I would like to see in Philly, but it's time to move on. Suzanne dropped us off at the train station in the early afternoon. This was our first train trip, so it was an experience for us. Once we figured out when and where we were supposed to be to board the train, Jeff and I went and got a bite to eat. The train station was just as I had imagined it would be, with the tall ceilings and the columns everywhere. Boarding the train was an experience. Most of the seats were taken, so Jeff and I could not sit together. He found a seat right away and I headed up to the next car to find a seat. I was schlepping my luggage with me and asked someone if a seat was taken, when the conductor came to me and let me know rather rudely that I was in the "quiet car". Other than that it was a pretty uneventful trip.

Jerry met us in Washington, DC and helped us to navigate the subway system and get to his house. Once we had things settled, we went out to dinner, but first we stopped at a speakeasy for a drink. It was an official speakeasy with a black door and very dark inside. The bartender made special drinks for all of us, That was a fun experience.

Dinner that night was at Policy. It is a small plate restaurant, where we each ordered something different and were able to taste all of the food. I really enjoyed that and would like to try it again some time. I'm not sure why, but I did not take any photos. That is so unlike me.

2015.04.06 Downtown Philly

We spent Monday exploring downtown Philadelphia with Suzanne. Our first stop was to Independence Hall. It is so interesting to go inside all of these old buildings and learn about the history that was created there. At Independence Hall you go through with a tour guide, and that greatly helps the experience. One of the things that Jeff and I have learned, is that the Park Rangers are full of information that they love to share with others. It seems that most of them do these jobs because it is what they love.

From Independence Hall we headed over to see the Liberty Bell. Kind of a cool thing to see in person. Then we walked a few blocks and found a restaurant in an old house. The staff wore period costumes to enhance the experience and the dishes were very old also. It was a good experience.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around downtown, including a stop at the Betsy Ross House. Unfortunately, we were not able to get in to the US Mint, as time our time was getting limited. Our last stop of the day was at a cafe near Suzanne's where we finally got our Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. They were yummy.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

2015.04.05 Easter in Philly

When we made our plans to go out east, we didn't realize that we were going to be there for Easter. Suzanne had invited her family over to the Clubhouse for Easter Brunch and lucky for us, we were able to join them. It was quite a feast and it was really nice to meet her family that we have heard so much about through the years. She is a very lucky woman to have such a great family.

We went for a drive in the afternoon and found QVC so I had to snap some photos for Mom and let her know that I was there. I'm sure that she was really jealous and wishes that she could be there too. HA!!

2015.04.04 New York City (Day 3)

This was our final day in New York and we had booked the tour to Ellis Island since we did not get to stop there the first day and Jeff getting to see his grandparents' name on the walls was part of the reason for the trip to New York in the first place. We were on the first tour out in the morning, so it was pretty chilly, but at least the sun was shining a little bit, and it was not at all crowded. We opted not to stop at Statue Island and just head straight to Ellis Island. That was a good move on our part, as there were not many visitors there at that time of the morning and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Jeff was able to locate the names of his grandparents, but we had to search a little bit a make a phone call to his cousin. Some of the names are listed under the person that sponsored them instead of the actual immigrant. We did a little bit of searching though and found what we needed. Again, it was a great experience for us. I have never been a true history buff, but I find as I get older, that history and government has become a little bit more interesting to me.