Our Time in Charleston and Savannah, Y'All

I just went back to the post I did yesterday. Wow! How bad am I at this computer stuff? I don't know how I managed to post the pictures twice and I don't know how to fix it. The kids will help me when they visit at Christmas. When I was describing our time in Williamsburg, I forgot to mention the drive along the Colonial Highway from Jamestown through Williamsburg to Yorktown. We thought Massachusetts and Virginia were beautiful, but that drive along the rivers with trees still showing some of their fall colors and forming canopies over the road was spectacular. From Williamsburg, we drove to Charleston where we had an apartment in an historic house in the French Quarter. We walked miles learning about the history of the city during the American Revolution and the Civil War. We also toured the Slave Market where domestic slaves were bought and sold. We are both big fans of Pat Conroy so of course we had to do the "South of Broad" tour. Charleston is full of beautiful and varied architecture. Food is also a big part of the Charleston experience so we had to try fried green tomatoes, okra gumbo, collard greens and of course, fried chicken. It is no wonder we have put on a few pounds. After a quick tour of the Citadel, we headed for Savannah. We have been here three days and have done all the walking tours of historic Savannah. The city is laid out in a grid of squares. Each one is a park, usually dedicated to either a revolutionary or civil war hero and surrounded by historic houses, churches and civic buildings with all different kinds of architecture. We read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" so a tour of the Jim Williams house was must. You can't come to Savannah and not go to Paula Deen's restaurant, y'all! Reservations are required even for lunch at 2:00. Tomorrow we are on the road again heading to Orlando for an appointment with a certain mouse.

An American History Buff's Paradise

Even though we stayed in Alexandria, VA for 5 days, took the metro into Washington, DC every day and walked for miles, we still didn't see everything we wanted to. Seeing the Smithsonian Museums was on the top of both of our "bucket lists" so this was a dream come true. Because each museum is huge, we took the "highlights" tours whenever we could. It was impossible to see everything but at least we saw the most important exhibits. We were so lucky that there was a Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Museum of American Art. Anyone who was ever in Darcy's office knows how much he admires Rockwell so seeing originals was fantastic. We toured the Museum of American History, the Museum of American Art, the Newseum, the Capital, the Archives (saw one of the original Magna Cartas and the Declaration of Independence), the Natural History Museum, the White House, Arlington Cemetary, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Darcy went to the Air and Space Museum while I toured the National Gallery. It is no wonder we were exhausted when we left. We decided to drive to Mt. Vernon to see George and Martha Washington's estate and tour their house. It was beautiful. Our next stop was the triangle of Jamestown (the first English settlement in North America), Williamsburg (where the Rockefellers donated land to build a replica colonial settlement) and Yorktown (where Cornwallis surrendered and the Revolutionary War was basically over). We love all the history we have been learning probably because we are a couple of relics ourselves. The next stop was Charleston and now we are in Savannah. I will leave them for the next blog.

Our New England Adventure

We left St. Margaret's Bay and headed to Annapolis Royal to see the other side of Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy. We thought it was windy in Peggy's Cove but was that nothing compared to the wind we had in Annapolis. We even had a little snow near the Bay of Fundy and couldn't get to the border fast enough. Concord, Massachusetts was out next stop. We missed their fall colors by about 2 weeks and it was rainy and cold but that didn't stop us from touring the area. I loved it there - all the trees, historic homes and quaint towns. Darcy was so patient letting me tour museums and homes of Thoreau, Emerson, Alcott and Hawthorne. We even went to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to see where all of them are buried. We saw the sites in Concord and Lexington where the American Revolution started and we toured the Paul Revere and Minutemen Museum along the route he took from Boston. These sites and most of the others we visited are run by the National Park Service. The rangers are full of interesting information and love their jobs. We also spent 2 days following the Freedom Trail starting at the Boston Common and ending at Bunker Hill. We learned so much about the American Revolution I thought our heads would explode. On the rainy days we drove all around the areas where Elizabeth worked and lived. From Concord we headed west to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where Elizabeth got her masters. It is a beautiful campus and cute college town but the football team was playing that day and the traffic was unbelievable. I wish she could have been with us. The next stop was Gettysburg where we toured their enormous museum and drove all around where the battle took place. Now we are staying in Alexandria, Virginia. This is perfect. It is only a ten minute walk to the subway and 20 minutes to downtown Washington DC. We have been walking miles and trying to see as much as we can but I will leave for the next post.