{All In a Day} President James K. Polk Site - Pineville, NC

We ended out the year with another little Presidential Day Trip  - this time, to Pineville, NC, and the birthsite of President James K. Polk...

There is a memorial to President Polk honoring this land as where his family's home, the place where he was born, once stood...

Though the structures on the site are not actually from his family, they are authentic and of the correct time period...

The little ones loved going inside to tour them and running around to explore the outside of the homestead, as well!

We learned that they didn't actually keep animals in barns, but that barns were used to store their equipment.

The museum showed a great movie that taught us more about B's most favorite (who knows why, but that he is #11) President...

On the way out of town, we stopped a the possible NC birthsite of President Andrew Jackson.  I believe that it is mostly accepted that he was born in SC, but since the borders were not so clearly defined and NC claims him as well. 

Awhile back, Hubby took both B and L to the SC site, so with today's stop, B has officially been to BOTH of President Andrew Jackson's possible birthsites - phew!

{All In a Day} President Andrew Johnson Site - Greeneville, TN

Today marks the 205th birthday of our 17th President, Andrew Johnson, and I've been itching for a little family road trip anyway!

So, armed with our trusty (National Parks) Passport Books, we headed over to Greeneville, TN (about a 2 1/2 hour trip from home) after lunch, and learned a little bit more about Andrew Johnson.  Unfortunately, our resident family expert on all things Presidential got a little queasy riding the winding mountain roads we took to get there, so he isn't in a lot of the photos.  He mustered up the energy to tour the two houses, but didn't really feel like smiling, opting to skip dinner and sleep the entire way home.

We made it!

How neat to see Andrew Johnson's REAL tailor shop inside the Visitors Center!

We checked out the early home...

and then headed over to the main homestead...

 

 

before checking out his gravesite (at the very top of Signal Hill)...

 

 

and bidding farewell both to the President and to Greeneville, TN!

{All In a Day) Hiking + A Dive

 Baby it's COLD outside!

 After church, we headed up to one of our favorite outdoor spots, DuPont State Forest, to spend some time outdoors with Uncle B, Aunt E and Cousin A.

The stump chair...

 

 Beautiful falls...

 

 

Where did they go???

 

 

Hey!  Wait for me...

 

Our adventurous B...

 

 

The covered bridge...

Sweet M...

 

Examining the path...

 

 

Group shot!

 

It was seriously COLD, but we had a good time!

 

After our adventure, we headed to one of B's favorite dinner spots...

  

 

 I think that this...

 

 {they take your order by phone}

or maybe this...

{banana split - 5 spoons, please!}

 

is why he likes it so much!

Washington, D.C. {2013} - Day 4

Today Hubby got up super early and headed out with his friend, C, to get ready for the 8:00am Army Ten-Miler race.  The 3 little ones and I, along with friend A and AH, arrived at Mile 7 in perfect time to cheer on our guys and see them run by...

After seeing them run by, we grabbed brunch before making our way over to meet back up with Hubby for the Youth Run...

where all 3 little ones were planning to participate.  The Presidential mascots from the Washington Nationals baseball team were a HUGE hit with my President-loving B...

The little ones did great in the brief Youth Run...

and I was able to get a shot of ALL of my runners, along with Honest Abe...

Happy to be home and ready to get settled back in for the week ahead of us!

Washington, D.C. {2013} - Day 3

After our busy day yesterday, and in anticipation of an early start tomorrow, we took it easy today and rode the Metro in to the National Zoo...

where the definite highlight was seeing the panda...

I like complete sets (I know, totally O.C.D.) and am thrilled that we have now visited to 3 of the 4 zoos that house Giant Pandas in the United States ~ Atlanta, Memphis and now Washington, D.C.  Next stop?  San Diego...

Might take a little more time convincing Hubby on that one, but I have faith that we'll get there one day!

So, the zoo was very crowded.  I'm guessing that has to do with the fact that it is first of all, FREE.  Also, it did just open back up from the shut down.  Regardless, I can't imagine visiting in the summer when I imagine traffic is at its peak.

I love a good zoo, but my initial thoughts are that - 1) It's sometimes worth it to pay a zoo admission, might cut down on groups of people and 2) Our little Greenville Zoo is pretty darn good.  We actually have a lot going on - elephants, giraffes, lions, orangutans, just to name a few.  Hey, we even have a live webcam of our baby giraffe, Kiko, who turns a year old next week!

After covering the zoo from top to bottom, we headed back to Annandale, and the home of our friends, for dinner and got the little ones in bed in time to cheer on our Clemson Tigers...

Needless to say, our decision to go ahead with our trip to Washington, D.C. looked a lot smarter a few minutes into that hideousness of a game!

Washington, D.C. {2013} - Day 2

We started off our day early and headed into town to catch our tour of the U.S. Capitol.  Our luck that the government opened back up just in time for our trip, huh?  By the way, with our trip planned no matter what because of Hubby's race, I've got a great list of things you CAN still do if the government shuts down should anyone ever need it ~ here's hoping not anytime soon!

Making the connections on my last trip to D.C. back in May, I arranged our tour through our South Carolina Senator, Lindsey Graham's, office.  Whether it's actually unique or not, it sure feels pretty special to be whisked through the underground corridors connecting the Senate building

to the Capitol

being led by an intern on a private tour...

Center of the City...

 

Abraham Lincoln...

the super expensive chandelier...

the Rotunda...

 {love this pic ~ looking up in awe}

James K. Polk!

When we got back, a tour of Senator Graham's office!

 


After lunch, we headed over to Ford's Theatre...

 


before crossing the street to conclude our day at The Petersen House...

and catching the Metro back to Annandale...

Another adventure on tap for tomorrow...