This is another in my efforts to catch up in blogging. This post is devoted to our trip home from Philadelphia. We made the trip in three days, with three big stops!
We left later Tuesday evening (instead of Wednesday morning) so we'd miss the morning traffic in the Washington DC area. Before we actually headed out of town, we took one final picture from the top of the Museum of Art steps.
After saying goodbye to Philadelphia, we headed towards DC and arrived there around 10 p.m. which worked out in a way, as there wasn't very many people out at all the monuments. We saw the Washington Monument, and my new favorite, the World War II Memorial.
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| Ian got some good shots of the Washington Monument, the grounds of which were recently redesigned by Olin. |
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| They keep the Capitol building well lit. |
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| The World War II Memorial is just beautiful. |
We spent Tuesday night across the river in Arlington, then left early the next morning. Our next big stop was
Monticello, just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. The ticket was a little pricey, but it covered a tour of the house, and then you were free to roam the grounds, with several other tours of the grounds for no extra charge. It would definitely be a great deal for a family to spend the day there! Here are some of our favorite shots.
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| We couldn't figure out how it worked that the tree was growing into the ground, then back out. Since when do trees send out runners? |
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| Ian enjoyed the steps up to Monticello. |
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| Monticello on the nickel at Monticello. |
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| They had activities for kids, one of which was writing with a quill. These are some of the kids' efforts hanging up to dry. |
Thomas Jefferson was quite the gardener. They still keep the garden growing from many of the varieties he created (vegetables, orchards, vineyards, and more), and harvest and share with the families of the workers.
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| Thomas Jefferson's grave is in the family plot. |
We spent that night in Lexington, which gave us a lot of time the following day in Louisville! We first stopped by the Louisville football stadium, then toured the city.
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| Here's a self-portrait of us on the field at Louisville after meeting Ian's Uncle Jim's friend, Louisville's equipment manager. |
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| Unfortunately, it was off-season at Churchill Downs, so we didn't get to see any horse races. |
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| Ian in front of the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory: we had to take the tour! |
Ian wanted to see the riverfront, designed by Hargreaves Associates.
As we walked along the riverfront back to the car, we saw this sign and wondered if they were serious... they wouldn't pollute the river like that, would they?
After departing Louisville, we made our way to St. Louis to spend the night at Anthony's house. It was fantastic to see familiar faces again, and Anthony's folks are amazing! The next day, we cruised into town just in time to check into our apartment. Home sweet home! And once again, thank you to our friends and family for putting your time and muscles into getting our stuff into the apartment and getting us settled. We love you all!
