Our second family vacation to DC

I posted pictures yesterday of our trip so far but need to recap where we've been and what we've been doing.

We arrived last week at Baltimore International Airport after a wonderfully long red-eye which allowed us to change planes in Houston. I'm an flying enthusiast and any chance to go on a plane makes me happy. The kids and Carlos took the bulk head and I took a window seat on the other side of the plane. Our change in Houston gave us a chance to wake up after sleeping the whole ride in. After Starbucks and a muffin, we were back on the plane for the 3 hour Houston-BWI flight. This time we all had a bulk head seat and were able to get a finishing nap before arriving at 11:27 am EST. My sweet son graced us by getting airplane sick in the bathroom. This is not new as he tends to get sick on any moving vehicle (except the RV). No fear though, he got sick in the car on the way to Ft. Belvoir too. Unfortunately, he got sick the next day and the next too. Motion is not his best friend. But as always he overcomes it after we have been on vacation a few days.

We spent the night in Richmond and traveled west the next day. Our first stop was Appomattox Courthouse, the site in which General Lee, CSA surrendered to General Grant, USA. It was a beautiful day and although the kids and I had been there last year when we came to Virginia with Carlos, they were happy to show dad around. I'm very humored when we venture to historical places because if you ask Carlos if he enjoys history he always says no, however, he is usually the one we are waiting for because he is reading the plaques or asking a lot of questions. This time was no different as the traffic was light and we had an opportunity to linger in the McLean House where the signing of the surrender took place. Park Ranger Price, a true Southerner was helpful in answering all of our questions. We even put him on the spot when asking about the Confederate reasoning for the Civil War since he was raised in Alabama. But he was able to answer the difficult ones. He was joined by another Park Ranger who had an incredibly thick southern accent who jokingly told there was only one side to the war, the Confederate side. Joking aside though there Southern hospitality and kindness was great.

From Appomattox we ventured West again to the beautiful town of Lynchburg, Virginia, home of Liberty University. The university is the heart beat of the town. The late Rev. Jerry Falwell created in 1971 a college that today has over 11,300 resident students and over 30,000 online students. Here we would relax and attend the graduation for Carlos. Friday Carlos had graduation practice along with a Seminary reception. While there he was able to reconnect with a fellow classmate from one of his intensives, Josh. Saturday Carlos had to be at the stadium and 7:30 am and we ventured out with him (Faith and I anyway while we let Caleb continue to get well). The beautiful Virginia sky was filled with clouds and rain, however, Liberty passed out beautiful white ponchos for our enjoyment. But God must have been shining on us that day because before the procession of graduates started the sun had come out and the humidity had gone up. There was 3500 students who were there for the commencement exercises. Thank God they split up the diploma ceremonies. After the commencement we picked Caleb up so that we could get lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Cracker Barrel. While most of Liberty was getting their diplomas we were enjoying chicken and dumplings. The diploma ceremony for Carlos started at 2:30 and it was much nicer to have eaten than to starve. Caleb was feeling better and was able to join us for the ceremony. Once that ended we were invited over to Carlos' classmates home for dinner and fellowship. We had a wonderful time with Josh and Cindy Solovskoy and their 4 boys, Nehemiah, Micah, Zachariah and Jeremiah, along with Josh's mother Cindy from California.

Sunday we took our self East towards the Atlantic Ocean. Our stop, Colonial Williamsburg. Before going we had asked lots of people what they thought we should do once there. Thanks to my ES Jacey and her mom Janet, we chose not to purchase the outrageous tickets to Colonial Williamsburg. We weren't really interested in going in to each of the buildings which is basically what the $44 ticket would buy so we chose to walk through the streets where we were still able to see the riding of Gen. George Washington to the Revolutionary City area and where the re-enactment of the rallying of the city took place. Once done we were free to get dinner and go back our hotel.

Monday was a different story. We went to Jamestown, the first English settlement in the New World and were glad we purchased tickets. The villages of the Powhatan Indians and the James Fort was a delight to see. The replicas of the Godspeed, Discovery and Susan Constant were incredible and were even able to go on each of the ships. For you Disney fans, they even had a part of the museum dedicated to setting the story straight that Pocahontas does not marry John Smith but rather she marries John Rolfe after her kidnapping and conversion to Christianity and sails back to England to live out her life there. From there we traveled 150 years ahead in time to Yorktown on the other side of the Peninsula next to the York River. There we visited the Encampment of the Continental Army as seen in 1783 when General George Washington lead the final attack on the British General Cornwallis. Here is where Cornwallis surrendered to Washington after facing defeat and the American Revolution was over. The theater there has a short film that is very depicting of the time period.

Today, Tuesday we traveled North towards DC. Our goal today was to visit Mount Vernon. We had heard from my sister-in-law Tara that it was incredible and after visiting we all agree. From the moment you are on the premise until the time you leave you feel like you are a part of the history. The mansion is not as ornate as Jefferson's Monticello however the beauty of Mount Vernon is in the care that it shows. The view of the Potomac River is incredible and it would have been amazing to grow up there as a child playing on the greens of an estate such as that. Even Carlos and the kids were impressed. In the museum George Washington's dentures are on display. They are not made of wood but rather of lead along with animal and human teeth. Very interesting. There are also original uniforms and swords and guns from George Washington. All in all the afternoon was incredibly spent and well worth the time there.

Tomorrow...we'll let you know.