My Summer Vacation: Home in one piece
Posted on June 16, 2008
Filed Under Travel Diary, Off the beaten path
When I last left you, we were knee deep into our Chesapeake Bay vacation. Unfortunately, sporadic internet connectivity kept me from keeping you all up on our progress. As I’m sure you’ve been on pins and needles waiting to hear about our trip, here’s some of the highlights.
‘Cap’n we just don’t have the power’ -As you may know we opted for a vacation rental instead of the traditional hotel on this trip, which on the whole was a great choice, but for the 4 hours on Monday night that the power was out…not so much. Fortunately the power kicked back on before the temperature got too hot, but it definitely made for an interesting evening mostly because we had to wait until we got home to catch up on ‘The Mole’…oh the humanity!
The tour that was and the one that wasn’t -Our plan for Tuesday was to venture into DC and tour the Bureau of Printing and Engraving (read the Mint) and then the Holocaust Memorial. Having secured tickets ahead of time for the Holocaust Memorial, we just needed to get our Mint tickets. Turns out the only tickets harder to get than Springsteen tickets are tickets to the Mint tour. On the plus side we did make our tour to the Holocaust Memorial. It’s hard to put into words the effect this memorial has on people. We saw tears, someone get physically ill, and various other reactions. The memorial puts visitors in the shoes (almost literally) of the Jews and others who were tortured and killed under Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ during WWII in a way movies like Band of Brothers, The Pianist, and Saving Private Ryan can’t. It’s truly unforgettable, which I think, is the point. Definitely a must see if you make it to Washington DC.
Thanks for nothing ‘National Treasure’ -One of our other stops was the National Archives, home to original versions of the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Constitution, and of course the Declaration of Independence. Arriving just after opening I was certain, we’d get in and out fairly quickly. I was also fairly wrong. Word from archives employees was that with the popularity of the movie National Treasure, attendance at the archives has skyrocketed. Needless to say we still made it through, but it took well over an hour. No word on if the Declaration of Independence contains a treasure map.
Babies and aquariums, who knew? -While most of our sightseeing on this trip was primarily for Deb, myself, and my son Chad, our final full day took us into Baltimore and the Aquarium. I wasn’t sure if our 16 month old daughter Evie would get anything out of the visit, but it turns out it was a highlight for her. While Deb, Chad, and I had a great time, I think the best part was watching Evie and seeing how much she loved the different types of fish, mammals, and assorted wildlife. The aquarium doesn’t allow strollers, but provides backpacks for the little ones, so Evie had a great view of all the exhibits and clearly loved it, repeating words like fish and shark over and over.
The long voyage home -With our week wrapped up, we did one last drive along the bay and then it was time to head for home. I can honestly say, it’s one of the few vacations where I didn’t want to leave, a feeling echoed by Deb and Chad as well, I even think Evie wouldn’t have minded a few more days. But the Chesapeake isn’t going anywhere and I’m sure we’ll return again in the future. As eventful as our flight to Baltimore was, the return was the opposite. We arrived at the airport plenty early, all bags got where they were supposed to be and with the exception of nasty US Air flight attendants and our flight being an hour late, our return was uneventful. Needless to say we all slept well back in our own beds.
So that wraps up our sumer vacation for this year, thanks for tagging along.
Until next time…
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