March 22, 2012
by Sus
in Ben, Bonnie, Family News, Family Photos, Jenn, Josh, Sus
Tags: cathedral, family, I-95, interstate, museums, National Park, pictures, recommended, restaurants, road trips, things to do, Washington DC
Josh, Jenn, and I visited Ben and Bonnie in DC for Little Schmitt’s baby shower. We decided not to stop overnight, so on March 1st and on March 6th we drove the whole way from 7 am to 10 pm. (It wasn’t that bad. I’d do it again.)
The baby shower was fun with many of Bonnie’s friends attending and her mom and sister, too. The food and decorations followed a Peter Rabbit theme. You can see some pictures in my Facebook photo album from our trip.
We took three short trips while we were in town. We visited the National Cathedral one afternoon; this photo was taken in the foyer before our planned stop at Nielsen’s Frozen Custard in Vienna,Virginia (even with cold temperatures and a light snow flurry).
Jenn wanted to visit the National Museum of the American Indian, especially to see an exhibit on horses and Indian culture. We then crossed the mall to the National Gallery of Art and were really impressed! We saw original works by VanGogh, DaVinci, Rembrandt, Gaugin, Picasso, and more.
On our third trip, we went back for more of the National Gallery of Art and also visited the Renwick Gallery, too, which had an exhibit of decorative arts from the White House.
Mike needed to stay in Orlando because of the one-month-long system test and missed joining us for this family trip. You can see all the fun photos of the baby shower and our sightseeing activity as if you were able to come, too.
For more restaurant ideas, check out my list of Places to Eat in the D. C. Area.
October 30, 2011
by Sus
in Family News
Tags: DeLand, Florida, I-4, I-95, interstate, pictures, recommended, restaurants, road trips, Stetson, students, things to do, university
We went to visit Jenn at Stetson University recently.
We picked her up and headed over to one of our favorite places, DeLeon Springs State Park, which is not very far from Stetson (or DeLand, Florida).
The Old Spanish Sugar Mill restaurant is in the park (so you’ll need to pay park admission if you go). We ate in the mill and made our pancakes at our table. (See a 2006 photo of Mike making pancakes at the restaurant). It’s a fun place for breakfast!
A lot of people were enjoying a beautiful day at the park. Besides the usual swimming, boating, and hiking, we saw cave divers who had just finished scuba diving in the spring.
Before our hike, we looked through the small visitor center and chatted with ladies who were demonstrating crafts that morning. In learning about the park’s history, we chuckled at a short video of Queenie, the water-skiing elephant who performed at DeLeon Springs in the 50’s when it was a private park. In writing this post, I learned that Queenie just died on June 3rd.
On one of our visits to the park about two years ago, we took the 50-minute eco/history boat tour which follows the water from the spring as it flows into Lake Woodruff.
MORE PHOTOS: I made a short slide show of our visit to DeLeon Springs with pictures of our hike.
October 7, 2011
by Sus
in Family News
Tags: Charleston, Civil War, forts, highway, I-95, museums, National Park, pictures, recommended, restaurants, road trips, South Carolina, things to do, tourist attractions, travel
On our way home from Ben and Bonnie’s wedding last May, we made a planned stop in Charleston, South Carolina, for several hours. Our first stop was Fort Sumter. We took the ferry from Patriots Point Maritime Museum (you can also take a ferry from Liberty Square in downtown Charleston). The museum is billed as “the world’s largest naval and maritime museum,” but we didn’t have time for it. You need to allow about two hours to take the ferry ride to the fort and back, including the hour they give for exploring the fort (I would’ve liked a bit longer.)
It was very meaningful to visit Fort Sumter only one month after the 150th anniversary of the battle that began the Civil War. We hope we can visit other Civil War sites during the Sesquicentennial celebration.
After our time at the fort, we drove over to downtown Charleston and walked around a bit, enjoying the architecture and the beautiful day. You’ll have plenty of places to choose from for lunch. We passed the Mellow Mushroom, which we know has a great pizza menu (because we ate at one right off of I-95 in Florence, South Carolina, the day before for dinner) and settled on Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q. We loved the food and the atmosphere.
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