Rockets red glare!!!

One of the mornings when Marc left for meetings, Mariah and I headed out in search of something to eat for breakfast. We found this cute little French crepe place on the harbor.  They were fabulous and we were stuffed!

Tomatoes, cheese and avocado!!!

Back at the bus stop.  While we were standing there a "bum" walked up.  Most people in the city just turn and act like they aren't there.  The man mumbled something and Mariah said, "Sir?"  He looked so shocked that she responded and he perked up and said,  "It's cold today, isn't it?"  She said, "Yes sir, it is."  She went on to talk to him another minute about her boots that she was wearing.  It was so sweet. and I was so thankful that my child didn't think she was better than another human being or fearful of talking to him.

Headed to Ft. McHenry... one of my favorite things that we saw.

An elementary school named after Francis Scott Key! :)

It was so much fun running around with this girl all week! I have so many good memories and I hope she always does too.

We visited the museum and it was so good!

This is one of the coolest things we saw!  The original manuscript when Francis wrote our national anthem!  Surreal to see it!  Really neat to see where he crossed some of the words out and changed them.

Prison cells and bomb shelters.

She was mortified that I asked to take her picture with this union "soldier". :)  Gotta' love thirteen year olds!

The prisoner of war holding cells were really tiny!

Just the neatest thing to stand there and look out over the water and think about that night.

She was "sweet" on General Armistead. :)

Getting  down to some serious work!

Another late night dinner on the harbor!  We ate a lot of yummy food after walking for miles every day!

A relaxing night swim at the hotel.

I have so many pictures to share!  I guess that is it for tonight!

 

~Goodnight

Planes, trains and buses...

 

 

 We recently took a trip to Baltimore and Washington DC.  Marc had a business trip and we decided that Mariah and I would tag along!  We had to get up super early for our flight out!  I was excited about going and spending some time with  just Mariah but nervous about leaving my others back home!

 

 

 

 This was Mariah's first time flying! She wasn't really scared of it, but her ears bothered her the whole time. :(  I on the other hand.... do NOT like to fly!

 

 

 

 

 We stayed at a hotel right across from the Baltimore Harbor.  It was very nice but we didn't spend much time there at all!  There was way too much to see!

 

 

 

This was the view from our window.

Headed out to explore!

 

Tons of shopping all around us and we didn't shop at all!  There were way too many cool historical sites to see!

 

 

We became quite acquainted with the train stations in Baltimore and Union Station in DC.

Our first stop was the US Capitol!  We took a tour of it and actually went back on our last day and had tickets to see the House and Senate in session!  (I will post pictures from that day on another post.)

 

The architecture in DC is so beautiful!

 

These were the old Senate and House rooms.  So cool to think of all of the men that served here over the years.

We walked to Washington Monument.  The weather was beautiful!

 

And.... we walked to the White House.  We couldn't get tickets to tour it but hope to do that on our next trip!

 

I don't have all of my pictures on my computer, but I took a picture of Michelle Obama's garden. I have read about her gardening, so it was kind of funny to see it in real life. It wasn't anything spectacular. :)

 

The rotunda in the capitol was being renovated. 

Mariah is studying American History this year and also reading through some of our hero classics.  It was neat for her to see things and names that she recognized!

This was the National Archives. I think this and the American History Museum were two of my favorites. Oh..... I don't know!  There were SO many favorites!

Benjamin Franklin's walking stick.

This was another ceiling in the Capitol.

A horse from the War of 1812.

 

A drum from the war.

 

A cast of Abraham Lincoln's face. It was kind of creepy.

 

 

Dinner on the harbor after a long day!

 

 

The next day Mariah and I ditched the cute shoes and wore our running shoes!  We got on the train in Baltimore and went to DC for another day of exploring!

 

One of Mariah's highlights was seeing a traveling Amish family. :)  We laughed as we looked around at the people in the terminal and said we probably had more in common with them than the others around us. :)

What do you do about breakfast when you hit the ground running and don't take time to eat? You grab a coke and a donut while you wait for your train! :)  A VERY rare treat for us!

Not sure if this was on a bus or the train.  We spent a lot of time on both!

Well, that is all for tonight!  I will post more next time!

~Goodnight