Off Topic Off on a road trip

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Hey guys,

I am off on the road trip to D.C. and Philly, via IGC and the GK outlet!!! :D

I'll be checking in when I can and GT will be back from Woodward tomorrow, hope he had a blast.
 
Are you really coming into DC? Down my way? ... and for the 4th of July and all the traffic mess involved around that??

Have fun at the GK outlet... don't spend TOO MUCH MONEY!!! It's so hard to resist! Keep us updated on your DD's camp as well!
 
Here I am in sunny Syracuse, went to Target as they do not have it in Canada, very nice and a bit of cash lighter. Off to an Irish pub for dinner, need a pint of Harp.

We will be in DC from Sunday night until Thursday morning, very excited as I have never visited before. I have reservations for the Holocaust Museam, we will do the Smithsonain and few other things. I am hoping that the whole traffic thing will be over by Sunday night, we shall see.

Gymmom, what camp are you off to? It would be fun to be a chaperone, but IGC does not work that way, they seem to hire staff for the whole summer. Though it will be lovely to have some grown up time with hubby.
 
Hey guys,

I am off on the road trip to D.C. and Philly, via IGC and the GK outlet!!! :D

I'll be checking in when I can and GT will be back from Woodward tomorrow, hope he had a blast.

Have fun, bog! We should arrange a meetup of some sort next time you find yourself in east coast USA.

And thanks; I definitely had an absolute blast at woodward.
 
Here I am in sunny Syracuse, went to Target as they do not have it in Canada, very nice and a bit of cash lighter. Off to an Irish pub for dinner, need a pint of Harp.


We will be in DC from Sunday night until Thursday morning, very excited as I have never visited before. I have reservations for the Holocaust Museam, we will do the Smithsonain and few other things. I am hoping that the whole traffic thing will be over by Sunday night, we shall see.

Gymmom, what camp are you off to? It would be fun to be a chaperone, but IGC does not work that way, they seem to hire staff for the whole summer. Though it will be lovely to have some grown up time with hubby.

We are going to Beach Break in Myrtle Beach NC. I will just be chaperoning at the house we are renting. Not at the actual camp. I am looking forward to it.
 
Have fun, bog! We should arrange a meetup of some sort next time you find yourself in east coast USA.

And thanks; I definitely had an absolute blast at woodward.


Glad you had fun, how is that vault coming along?

A meet up is a great idea, I'll let you know ahead of time next time I am coming down the coast. The girls are already begging for two weeks next year and they haven't even been to IGC yet!

Leaving the hotel at 9 for the last few hours of car torture, Should be in DC for dinner, yippee. Hoping the Obamas have the tea ready.:D;)
 
Hi Bog! Yes, traffic should have abated somewhat by the time you arrive! Get lots of tissues ready for the Holocaust Museum. Make sure you visit "Daniel's house" first! (It's IN the museum, in the lobby... just a little walk-through before you begin the actual tour). Which of the museums will you visit? The "Smithsonian" is actually a collection of large museums located on the mall between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. The two big popular are always the "Museum of Natural History" and the "Museum of American History" (that one just reopened last fall). Today is also the last day of the "American Folklife Festival" which is held on the mall every summer. I hope you're staying in a hotel close by that has easy metro access? If so, you can just take the subway to the "Smithsonian" stop, and you'll be right smack dab in the middle of all of the museums!

Enjoy your visit! I'm actually thinking about going downtown today to do the same!
 
Have fun, Bog! we love family road trips and all the sightseeing along the way. It's one of the few times when we are all together as a family for more than a few minutes! Museums are my fave when we get the time. The Smithsonian is awesome. Keep us posted on your sights! :)
 
What a day, drove from Syracuse to IGC, we had the company of Emily the British GPS system. Emily is not very smart and she is very rude, she almost got thrown out of the window!!! Google maps rock, they don't tell you stuff that isn't true!!!

IGC is such a beautiful camp, they have more staff than I have ever seen, from all over the world. You are welcomed at every step. The gyms are lovely. The Romanian coach is the beam gym was such a nice guy in fact they all seem to be nice. All the kids who were staying over from the previous week were nice and friendly. My girls were in cabins which each had 3 staff staying there. I certaibly got the feeling that my kids would be well taken care of.

Left there and drove to the GK outlet in Reading, it is very cool architecturally, I have never seen buildings that European looking outside of Europe. PA is green, very green, hilly and beautiful. The outlet is HUGE I bought the requested Adidas suits and shorts at great prices with great service, Bruce was there,, nice guy, knows his leos. The outlet is in a dodgy area of twon, but we live to tell the tale.

Drove to Washington DC, discovered that they do not sell alcohol on Sundays here WHAT????? Fortunately there is an Irish pub over the road from the Omni Shoreham, right next to the metro station. Good location a small crawl from all the stuff we need.

Went online to email the girls and found photos of them both on the IGC camp website,smiling and having fun, also found photos of us arriving, looking like the Adams family :D:eek::rolleyes:.

Off on the open top bus tour tomorrow. We will do the natural history, air and space museum and probably go to the aquarium as Hubby has a thing for fish! Whatever!:confused: MIght check out the cathedral and go for a wander around, I like to walk a lot. I am so looking forwar to the holocaust musem, thanks for the tips ladies.

I do love road trips, amazing how far you can drive in the US without falling in water. This country is HUGE!

Get back to you tomorrow. Need some sleep.
 
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Heh, wow, small world.... I'm going to DC with my dad in a few days and I think your hotel is right across the street from the one we always stay at (Marriott Wardman Park).

Oh, and you should definitely walk around Georgetown and Georgetown University while you are there. It has a beautiful campus and there are plenty of wonderful shops and places to eat there too. My future home :)
 
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Yep, I walked past your hotel this morning, very nice it is too. It is a great area, very easy to get downtown. The metro station has the longest/steepest escalator I have ever seen.

I didn't realise you were going to school here, NICE!

We did an open top bus tour this morning, what a lovely city, beautiful buildings, clean and so green. CHecked out Union Station, wow what a great space. Followed by the Museum of AMerican History, loved that but it was packed with a seething mass of humanity! Walked over to the Aquarium, snigger, my hubby was so dissapointed as it was so tiny and the biggest fish was about 15 pounds!!! Do not go there.

Back at the hotel, we moved rooms as last nights neighbours were a 60 year old couple who yelled at each other until 1am and began again at 6am, I don't think they were mad, but perhaps deaf. New room is a a higher floor, so the view is lovely.

Off for Indian food tonight,my favourite. I am not sure we'll be burning the midnight oil the heat coupled with the hiking about should have us snoring by 10. Though I am in the US so I could actually watch MIOBI on tv. Hard to decide if it's worth my time.

Air and space museum, natural history museum tomorrow. Who knows what next, there is such an endlesss amount to see and do here.
 
Bog, I'm so glad you're having a great time. Yes, all the walking will wear you out! I almost wrote this a.m. to tell you not to bother with the Aquarium (in the Dept. of Commerce Bldg, right?), but didn't want to discourage you. The Baltimore Aquarium is the one to go to, but you probably don't feel like making that drive just to visit an aquarium!

If you can, you've got to hit the Holocaust Museum!!! Very touching, a part of the entire world's history!! You're going to run into crowds at the Natural History Museum as well. THat's one of the most popular museums... along w/Air & Space. Although I get bored at the Air & Space museum... Just not my thing I guess! But the guys always HAVE to go there! As you've discovered, there are TONS of places to eat as well. The prices in the Museums are definitely a bit pricey for food.

Keep us updated on your travels! I'm so enjoying hearing what you like about DC. I've lived here all of my life and remember visiting all those museums, the halls of Congress, the U.S. Capitol, etc. when I was first only about 7 years old!

How long will you be here? The entire week until you pick up DD from camp? With the weather being so nice (yes, this is really nice for us for July... it's unseasonably cool right now!), you should maybe visit the National Zoo as well. That's a subway stop away as well!

Keep us all updated!
 
Just got back from a fab Indian meal on Connecticut and Calvert, sat on the terrasse with a cold beer and great food watching the world go by. DC'ers sure like to run, I counted 23 of them in 75 minutes! Went for a walk up the road and saw the lovely homes in the streets just past the Omni.

We will stay in DC until Thurs am and then drive to Philly, where we will, hopefully take the ferry over to NJ to the Aquarium there. Hubby was so let down by the sad one in DC! But he would've gone anyway, even if I had told him it was crap! He's stubborn like that.

I will suffer the air and space museum, hubby really wants to tgo, I just wanted to know if I could get on the concorde and test the seats. I book tickets for the holocaust museum way back when as I cannot miss this. When I was a teen I worked as a nanny for a family whose grandparents had surivived Auschwitz/Birkeneau. Seeing the number tattoed on their arms and hearing their stories has a huge effect on me. I feel very strongly that genocide needs to be highlighted and remembered. I understand they have a Darfur exhibit too.

I think we will try the natural history museum, but as it is free we will leave it it is too crazy. I would like to do the zoo on Wed, it is not far from here and the walk will do us good, too much good eating here.

It really is a lovely city, and We have only had great encounters with the locals, friendly, happy and helpful, even when we were too stupid to work out how to buy metro tickets.

Now lying on the bed wondering why I ate so much, good job I have to walk a lot tomorrow. Time to email the girls at IGC.
 
Wow, sounds like you are having quite a good time! Yes, I am going to school here, but not until 2010. I decided to defer a year so I can work for a year and do some volunteering. And catch up to everyone else age-wise (I really should have finished junior year of HS this year). And stay in gym :)

The botanical gardens are lovely, and right next to air and space museum. Definitely go down to DuPont Circle because there is a lot of neat stuff to see there. You can walk there from where you are staying if it is nice weather. Oh, and there is a good place to eat breakfast on Calvert Street called Open City diner.

We'll be coming in the day you are leaving.
 
Actually didn't wake up until 8:35am, I must be getting used to no kids!

Took the metro to L'enfant Plaza, stood looking confused for a few minutes until another lovey DC'er pointed us in the right direction. Walked over to the Air and Space museum, hubby iked it, but I think he woud've preferred the museum in Virginia with the big planes and the Enola Gay, we'll save that for another trip.

Walked over to Holocaust Museum, another hot and sunny day in paradise. The exhibit was stunning in so many ways, so much to take in, too much to take in. A must for any teenager or adult. Tough for the under 10 crowd, but Daniels house would take care of them easily. I was impressed at the presentation of inforamtion, they didn't restrain themselves in the truth department. Probably the most educational stop yet.

Walked over to the Lincoln Memorial, hot stroll by the reflecting pool, hubby quacked at the ducks, is that a male thing??? Treated myself to ice cream as I had walked all that way. The memorial was a great place to sit and admire the sights.

Back to Woodley Park/Adams Morgan for a margarita at a terrasse. AHHH! Had dinner at Open City Diner, great service and the food was great.

Back to room, looking forward to checking the IGC photos, it is so fun to catch a glimpse of the girls doing their thing. At Gymrep we get nothing until pick up day, so this is lovely.

Tomorrow to the Zoo, Natural History museum, unless it is full of kids! Followed by either Dopont Circle (thanks NY) or Georgetown. DC continues to be fun, people continue to be great.
 
I'm so glad you're having fun.... IF you had decided to go to Udvar-Hazy, you'd have been right outside my neighborhood. It is a HUGE, OPEN museum. The space shuttle is in there too!! Anyway . . .

Did you get a chance to peek at the World War II memorial? It's so awe inspiring and very moving as well.

Keep us posted! I'm enjoying your posts so much... it's nice to hear what "outsiders" have to say about our lovely city!
 
Drove to Washington DC, discovered that they do not sell alcohol on Sundays here WHAT?????

Yeah, we discovered the same thing when we moved out of CA. First, in FL, we were grocery shopping on a Sunday for some BBQ items for later that day, only to discover that we could not purchase the bottle of wine, b/c it was 11:30 am!

Now, here we are in TX. Not only do we have to wait until Noon on Sundays to buy wine/beer at the store, but we live in a 'dry' county, where you cannot buy 'hard' alcohol (Rum, Vodka, etc.) AT ALL, unless you are consuming it at a bar. So we have to travel approx. 30 min. outside our county if we want fixings for Margaritas or something. And it's only at a few special liquour stores, none of the grocery stores sell the hard stuff.

It's fine, we really don't consume that much 'hard' stuff, but it's just a hassle! If we decide to have a last minute get-together and we are out, then we are simply out of luck!

I guess it keeps us out of trouble :rolleyes:!
 
Back at hotel, I think I have worn out hubby, he is napping!!!

We did see the WWII memorial, so lovely and it made me want to get in to cool down!

Went to the park this am nice and early before the 10,000 day camp kids arrived. Saw a lot of the Pandas and the cool orangutan exhibit where they have wires for them to traverse the park. They actually went wandering right over the top of us.

Took the metro to CHinatwon and had some great food there, walked around a bit and then on to the Natural History Museum, realised that is not as fun when you have no kids to be awestruck by the scale of the animals. But still a Triceratops is cool by anyone's standards.

I still have found any Egyptology on the SMithsonian, maybe I am not looking in the right places, but I think I have read the whole guidebook and not a mention of a mummy. I do have a bit of a mummy fetish and was hoping to get a fix here. Let me know if there are any.

Last night here, I think I have eaten enough for the next month or two. I might just have ice cream for dinner.

Off to Philly in the am, another new city to entertain me.

Saw a photo of youngest on the IGC yesterday, she was concentrating hard on bars. Hope that she is having fun.
 

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