Leaving the motorhome at Randy and Audrey's house, we headed to Washington DC to meet Uncle Kent who was Grandmom's ride back home to Pennsylvania. We had a fun trip with her, and we're so glad that she could come along. Amy's college roommate, Christine, and her family graciously hosted us as we wanted to stay in the Washington area to see Mount Vernon. This was another stop where history really came alive for all of us. The house and grounds have been very well preserved and the tour was exceptional. Even more impressive were the museum and the 4D film that helps the visitor get into the story that unfolded during the American Revolution.
We headed back to Williamsburg the long way, through Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia's Eastern Shore across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. We celebrated Asa's 10th birthday at a very crowded Christmas town at Busch Gardens, and with a Jeep grill cake and classic Alaskan fried halibut dinner…yum! We attended Williamsburg Presbyterian Church's Christmas Eve candlelight service where Papa sings in the choir. Christmas day found us gathered around the living room with family (including Aunt Betty's family), sharing presents and eating Amy's (now) traditional Christmas doughnuts and other feasts throughout the day.
Surrounding Christmas there were lots of fun activities with the relatives including a ride in Uncle Randy's Cobra, creating an off-road Jeep course in the back yard, putting a National Park puzzle together, going to Cousin Kurtis' track meet, and walking through Colonial Williamsburg. Grandma and Papa arranged for a special trip into Richmond to see the Chihuly Glass Exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. We also took in some amazingly tacky Christmas lights in Richmond afterward.
Amy got to spend time with her old hospital work friends and thanks to some help from Grandma and Papa, saw 5 movies in 2 1/2 weeks!
We have really enjoyed staying in one place for a few weeks and Randy and Audrey were gracious hosts, putting up with us for almost three weeks! The grand finale was a lobster dinner with all the trimmings. One of their neighbors is a "Mainer" and still has a seafood market connection.
Now, we head south looking for 80 degree weather. We will stop for a while when we find it.
As we headed south along the coast we knew we wanted to spend some time in the Nags Head area. Unexpectedly, Amy's friends, Susan and Greg, blessed our family greatly allowing us to stay at their beach house in Manteo. It was so nice to get back into a school/work routine again without having to move from campground to campground. The weather also warmed up and the sun appeared bringing back good memories of previous beach trips to the Outer Banks. During the afternoons we visited the North Carolina Aquarium, The Lost Colony on Roanoke Island, historic Manteo, The Wright Brothers Memorial, and the beach of course.
After such a fantastic time in the Outer Banks, we reluctantly headed south to South Carolina. Our reluctance was short-lived. Charleston is a very historic city with lots to do and see. We took the ferry from Patriot Point to Fort Sumter where the first shot of the Civil War was fired. Between the interpretive ranger talks, museum, and walking the fort grounds we all had a great history lesson. With such a warm and sunny forecast Jerry convinced Jackson and Asa's teacher to take a field trip to Kiawah Island for a half-day at the beach.
We continued south to Savannah, and the unusually warm weather followed us. We met Jerry's co-worker, Wendy, and her family at Paula Deen's restaurant The Lady and Sons. It was classic southern cooking…the black-eyed peas were superb. We camped at Fort McAllister State Park. Continuing with our Civil War history lesson we toured the fort, listened to another interpretive ranger talk, and enjoyed the park's visitor center. The ranger was thought provoking with open discussion of the issues leading to the Civil War from the perspective of both the southern states that seceded from the Union and the northern states' role. The questions we left with were…
