Merry Christmas Everyone!

We made it!  Christmas in Florida. 

 Andy and I gave up our dreams of a White Christmas for David and Kristen's dream of a White SANDY Christmas.  We have had white Christmases before but never a Christmas at the beach.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

Yes, it rained on Christmas day, but it was the perfect day to spend inside hanging out together. 

Andy opened a gift with a $20 bill from his Uncle.  He examines it and says, "Hey, I've been there."- a new favorite catch phrase of the trip.

Looking forward to our week at the beach and so thankful we made it away from the East Coast before the blizzard hit.

Family History

The next day we travelled into central Georgia to show the kids some of my family history.  My paternal grandfather was born and raised in a small town in Georgia.  Although he relocated to southern California after serving in World War II and remained there for the remainder of his life, we returned to his Georgian hometown 25 years ago for his memorial and burial.

Downtown Adrian just how I remember it from 25 years ago.  The population has held steady- 579.  My great grandfather, Uriah Anderson,  is listed as one of the founders of the bank at the end of the street.

It was very easy to find the family plot and my grandfather's grave.

Despite it's prominent location in town, it took some phone conferencing and photo messaging with my Dad to find the house where my grandfather was born.  Although the current owner removed the large addition from the back he kept the original columns, porch and roof line in the front.  Thanks to his meticulous work this house should stand for many more years to come.

Fort Sumter and Charleston

Fort Sumter witnessed the FIRST shots of the Civil War.  Our favorite part was sitting in the sun watching the dolphins swimming at the dock.

Our day in Charleston was warm, but not quite warm enough to jump into this fountain. 

 We spent the afternoon wandering the historic district, checking out the Charleston Public Market and the beautiful, tropical, southern architecture.

South of the Border

No we didn't take a wrong turn and find ourselves in Mexico - this is south of the North Carolina border.  What started as a truck stop to sell items that were prohibited in North Carolina and legal "South of the Border" is now a bizarre roadside attraction.

At Wall Drug in South Dakota Kristen acquired a Jackalope stuffed animal.  She couldn't resist giving a hug to the "Jack" statue. 

The place is full of unique statues, carnival rides (closed for the winter) and a gator land-sorry no love of reptiles here.  The ambiance was fun, but we all agreed our dinner at the South of the Border Cafe was the worst meal of the whole trip.  Still worth the stop, and we won't forget it anytime soon.

Airborne and Special Operations Museum

To break away from the whole "BIRTHPLACE of everything" conundrum we headed to Fayetteville, North Carolina's Fort Bragg to see the Army's Special Operations Museum.  I thought a little good old fashioned weaponry would get Andy excited about site seeing again.

Getting ready to make the jump from a airplane.  I think they are a bit under equipped- like maybe parachutes??

They had a great D-day exhibit complete with planes overhead.

I don't think Andy really grasped the seriousness of war, but he did have a great time that day.

The Birthplace of the United States????

As we drive into Roanoke we pass signs proclaiming "The Birthplace of America."  We are headed  to the site of the FIRST English settlement in the Americas. 

So Andy has now begun to protest....How many FIRST places can we go to.  How can everyplace we go to be the Birthplace of America.  We have seen Plymouth, Jamestown, Williamsburg, etc. all proclaiming to be the birthplace.  OK, in history's defense all these places do have some unique attributes of firstness...Plymouth is the first time families came to settle in America, Jamestown was the first successful fort and the "Civil War" sites advertised as birthplaces are in reference to our nation staying unified, etc., etc...

Personally, I think Andy is just frustrated because everyone advertises being first, being the SECOND child he would like someone to own up to being SECOND.  Kristen of course is now searching for things that were last.

Where are we going today, what is it the FIRST of?

A monument to Virginia Dare - the FIRST child of English heritage born in the Americas.

An earthen fort marking the location of the "Lost Colony" settlement..

We ended the day at a campground across the street from the BIRTHPLACE of our own boat. 

Kitty Hawk- December 20th

We arrived in Kitty Hawk on December 20th, exactly three days after the 107th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's historic flights.  We experienced the weather they experienced and clearly understood why they picked Kitty Hawk for their "flying machine" experiments- consistent wind and a soft landing.

A monument marking the commencement of the first flight.

From this...

...down this path

And now to this.

 While we were exploring the Wright Brother's National Historic Site we watched an Army dignitary arrive by helicopter.

Credited with "first flight," the Wright brothers were scientists committed to accuracy and detail.  The historic site's exhibits delve into their never give up attitude combined with the thoroughness and accuracy of their experiments. It was no accident that the brothers flew that day.

The 1903 Wright Flyer is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the Mall in D.C.  There has been a bit of controversy about who was first in the flight arena but regardless of who, what and when,  the Wright Brothers made scientific discoveries and collected data that is still used in flight technology today.

Historic Jamestowne

 Up until 1994 and the work of a renegade archeologist, William Kelso,the location of the original fort at Jamestown was thought to have eroded away.  This monument from 1907 is just steps away from what has now been confirmed to have been the site of the original fort.

 Andy had been asking the day before if there were still things to "discover" here on Earth.  Now, thanks to a scientist who was not deterred by critics we stood within the replicated walls of Jamestown exactly where they stood more than 300 years ago.

 A painting of the wedding of Pocahontas to John Rolfe hanging in the Capitol Rotunda.

The wedding site was just rediscovered two years ago and is now an active acheological dig

 (on hiatus for the winter).

This is such amazing history being uncovered.  They have an artifact museum that is constantly being updated with thousands of new finds every day in the summer.

Colonial Williamsburg- Saturday, December 18th

Favorite Things about Colonial Williamsburg:

David:  the judge in the court re-enactment

Andy:   the blacksmith

Kristen:  the silversmith

My favorite part of Colonial Williamsburg

After an exhausting day exploring the city we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate while we waited for the "Christmas Illumination."  We had no idea what to expect.....

We never could have imagined this.  The torchbearers went to each house, gave a musket salute, and lit a wood filled cauldron out front.  From our angle. the very beginning, with the Fife and drums and torches in front of the Governor Palace we thought we might actually be witnessing the burning of the town and the start of a revolution. 

It turned out to be absolutely beautiful, concluding with Christmas Carolling accompanied by the marching band.

Farewell to Baltimore- in the Snow

The day before we left we woke up to SNOW!  Just enough to sled in and enough to keep us from driving anywhere that day.

 The next day it was a little cold at Fort McHenry, but we couldn't leave Baltimore without seeing

 "The Star Spangled Banner."

As it turns out Francis Scott Key came into this harbor the morning after the Battle for Baltimore.  I probably could have lived my whole life without needing to know that historical truth.  I will continue to picture him sitting out in the harbor observing the flag from afar.

A little bit of Christmas at Ford's Theater

Purely by chance we arrived at Ford's Theater ten minutes before a matinee showing of  "A Christmas Carol."  We got a great price on "obstructed view" seats and headed to the second row of the balcony.  Turns out we were about six seats from the presidential box where Lincoln was shot.  The obstruction is the curve of the balcony and it wouldn't have been an issue at all if it weren't for the very tall man in front of us.  Regardless, the show was spectacular and it was the perfect afternoon to spend inside the historic theater.

After the show we had a short break before our scheduled tour of the museum and theater so we went across the street to the Lincoln Waffle Shop for yep, you guessed it - WAFFLES.

Andy wanted to show just how small the gun that killed Lincoln is. 

Here the kids are "entering" Lincoln's box from the hidden hallway.  Our park ranger was great about retelling all of the details of April 14, 1865.  He explained that John Wilkes Booth never had to "sneak" into Lincoln's box.  In reality he used his prestige as a famous actor to monitor the theater all evening; he handed his calling card to the messenger just outside this hallway and walked right into the box.  Following the assassination the theater was not a theater again for 100 years.  After being federal offices it was rebuilt to it's 1865 appearance in 1968.

The house where Lincoln died is currently being renovated and should be open again in the spring.

Arlington Cemetary and a night of memorials

They were both amazed by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changing of the guard that happens every hour 24 hours a day seven days a week. 

Before this trip my kids could not have told you who John F. Kennedy was, now they looked forward to seeing the eternal flame and they both recognized the speech etched on the walls behind us.

Ever since he came to life in Night at the Museum the kids have been dying to see Lincoln.  He was even bigger than they expected, not as close to the Smithsonian as they had thought, and Kristen said the steps out front were way too small for him to walk down.  Oh, Hollywood magic..

"I have a dream.."  that one day my kids will live in peace with each other.

The Korean War memorial depicts a platoon (consisting of all of the branches of the military) on patrol.  The statues are incredible and it really does fulfill the artists wish to depict the rugged terrain and uniqueness of Korea.