Jour Four

Waking up in sleepy little Gettysburg after leaving Manhattan was as stark a contrast you can get in American life. It’s like the first 10 minutes of the Wizard of Oz replayed backwards. Part of you wonders how the sprawl of such a huge place like New York City could possibly end, and sure enough 200 miles away there was no sign of Manhattan, no skyline, no noise, no smells, just some fields and farms and simple little buildings that make up a small town thrust into history more than seven score ago.

This was not my first time to Gettysburg, but I wanted to go back and show Ashlee. For some reason when I visited this place when I was 17, it moved me. I couldn’t fathom the magnitude of this battle in this quiet countryside hamlet. Sure enough it did happen, and it changed the fabric of America permanently. Ashlee read the Gettysburg address for the first time, and she was fortunate to do it in the exact spot where it was delivered. I think it moved her. In hindsight it was a great preview of what she was going to see in DC that very night.

We drove by the battlefields and went into the museum and let Lance play on the cannons by the cemetery. He really loved the cannons. Mostly because he knows that’s what makes the big noise in the 1812 Overture. Our stay was brief but purposeful. It reminded me of what I once felt about freedom and struggle and purpose. It opened Ashlee’s eyes to the fact that history does happen in real places to real people, not just in some mediocre textbook and on a chalkboard.

Our next stop was Reston VA, the home of the Mudrick family. This was to be our base of operations for the next couple of days while we visited Washington DC. Ashlee was thrilled to be able to help cook a meal and let the kids just play on the floor. We went grocery shopping with Ben’s dad, David. I avoided the temptation to purchase an authentic Virginia ham (another Blog entry for another day). We had a wonderful meal and headed out to see the Nations Capitol at night.

It is moving to see the Mall at night. It was probably my 6^th time being there at night and I love it more each time. Ashlee had never been and I could tell she was in awe. Especially with the Lincoln Memorial. It is truly a temple, a holy place in our nation. Lance was even reverent and in awe of the giant statue of Lincoln. Ashlee read the giant reproductions of Lincoln’s most important speeches and we sat on the top steps and took it all in.

We proceeded to head to a monument I had not yet seen, the World War II memorial. This is a very special place and a fitting tribute to those who served and sacrificed. We spent over an hour looking at the whole monument, and finally had to leave because most of the lights were shut off and the fountains stopped. Both Ashlee and I have grandfathers that served our country during WWII. We then walked back down to the Vietnam Memorial. Being there after midnight was a unique experience. I think I valued this visit to that memorial more than before, mostly because I have a greater understanding of that conflict than I did years before.

We finished our long walk in the perfect night air, got back into our mini-van and drove around the District some more. We saw the Capitol, the White House, National Archives, the Smithsonian buildings and many other buildings that make DC so unique. After getting lost looking at some of the cool neighborhoods we set the GPS to head us back to the Mudrick home 20 or so minutes away. We went to sleep very tired and very happy, glad that we were on this trip, glad to be seeing the sights, glad to be doing it together as a family.

Finally back to Day 3 of the East Coast Trip

Let's just ignore the fact that it has been close to 6 months since I have last posted about the trip we took in spring. Yes, moving right along... So it's Monday morning and it seems that NYC does not know the difference between a week-end and week-day, everything looked the same, it was just as busy, just as crowded and just as wonderful. Ashlee and I were kind of sad to know we would be leaving the big apple to continue our trip southward.

We decided to use our Double Decker bus pass to its full extent and grabbed the bus that went up the West Side of the island of Manhattan, then to Harlem and then by the Museums. Ashlee especially enjoyed this part of the bus trip because she was beginning to really appreciate the architecture in the city. She took a lot of pictures that I have been enjoying as a screensaver on my workstation. We passed Central Park again, kept going north and got a nice view of Grant's Tomb. Then we headed into Harlem where I saw the funniest Muslim friendly restaurant claim on the marquee that there is "no pork on my fork". About ready for lunch ourselves we got off the bus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yeah, that’s a bad idea on a Monday. Many Museums in NYC are closed on Monday (who's Sabbath is that?). So we started our walk.

We initially wanted to look for some food and just kept on walking and walking all over the Central East Side. Seriously we walked for several miles and we were getting sick of it. Especially because at my insistence we did not take the stroller, so we were carrying the kids. They became uncomfortable and so did we. We knew we had to go back to the airport and get the rental van before 5 but we weren’t sure how we would do it. It was a logistical nightmare. Our bags were back at the hotel and our van was in Queens. Plus the kids’ car seats were at the hotel as well. After some frustrating deliberation we took the subways and trains out to JFK and arrived in time to get our Van. We had to rent car seats because the Renee and Lance were obviously with us.

This was the part of the trip where I broke out the not so secret weapon of modern travel. The GPS. Oh yes, drive like a local even if you have never in your life been somewhere, you know as much if not more that the guy that has lived here for 30 years. I borrowed my dad's Roadmate 700, and have to mention that after this trip I purchased my own. I can't recommend travelling without one. So we headed back into the city to get all of our gear at the hotel on Times Square. Seriously driving with that GPS made what looked like a total nightmare seem really fun.

From there we went to get Sushi, which I admit was entirely selfish of me, But it was tuna night and I was getting a deal. This Place was called East Sushi. It’s a Kaiten sushi bar which means the sushi passes you on a conveyor belt. I think it would have been no big deal to eat there, but they were playing music like it was some European discothèque, and I could barely hear myself think. Let alone hear what Ashlee was thinking. We were seated after about 20 minutes, and ordered food for Lance and Ashlee and I just ate the stuff coming off the belt. Ashlee’s mood changed quickly as some lady made some weird comment to Ashlee about having a baby with her. It became impossible to communicate and we tried to leave as quickly as possible.

We loaded up the Van again and set the GPS to take us to Gettysburg PA. 210 Miles South East of Manhattan. We drove through the night and ended up in the hotel after 2 am due to a few construction delays. Something I hear newer GPS units will be able to warn you of. This was easily the worst day of the trip (still beats the best day at work), and we were glad it was over.