{All In a Day} Nashville - Pancakes, Presidents, and a Passion for Capitol Steps

It has been on my agenda for quite some time to get the littles to Nashville (for more than a drive through) for quite some time.  One of the most beautiful presidential sites, The Hermitage, sits not too far away from downtown.  Downtown is home to the Tennessee Capitol, and not to mention, Pancake Pantry!  Plus, the only home that President James K. Polk ever lived in, aside from the White House, that is still standing is located in Columbia, TN, just south of the city.

Have I mentioned that James K. Polk is B's favorite president?

With the kids on fall break, we got a bit of a jump on the road trip Thursday evening, and spent the night with my mother.  Being a Friday, Hubby was at work, so my mother accompanied me on the trek - I get it honest, I suppose!

We headed out super early and hit up our first stop, The Hermitage, first thing...

{Last time that I was here, I was the 9-10 year old, with my two little brothers in tow!}

We loved the tour, and the handheld audio devices even more...

While The Hermitage was being built, Andrew Jackson and his family lived in this log cabin (formerly one two story building).  Once the big house was complete and they moved in, the log cabin was separated and used for slaves quarters...

Our last part of the tour included the gardens and the final resting spot of our 7th president, General Andrew Jackson...

Next, we headed into town and stopped at yummy Pancake Pantry for lunch...

Bears in the Snow for the girls...

Sweet Potato Pancakes for me...

B had already devoured half of his Caribbean Pancakes by the time I got around to him!

We spent the afternoon learning a little more about our 11th president, James K. Polk, and tracking down a few of his sites...

The former site of Polk Place, now a hotel, where President and Mrs. Polk retired after leaving the White House, and where both died, several years apart...

{from Wikipedia}

Sadly, it was demolished in 1901...

Right near by, we found the Tennessee State Capitol...

and B ran up his 30th set of state capitol building steps...

The face of a little 9 year old guy that has just finished 3/5 of his (lofty) goal...

We also found the (now) final resting place of President and Mrs. Polk.  They were moved here in the late 1800s, a few years before the demolition of Polk Place...

From there, we continued south to Columbia, TN, and visited the James K. Polk Ancestral Home...

Here, we had a great little tour.  This place has many original artifacts that once belonged to the president and his wife...

The original (and official) presidential painting of our 11th president...

and a fountain that once graced the grounds of Polk Place...

Lucky for us, the home was offering a traveling exhibit on Polk Place in the building next door...  It was so neat to see photos of the inside of (the now long gone) Polk Place, along with some of the actual pieces of furniture from the photos!

 On the way out of town, we made a quick stop at the site of James K. Polk's boyhood home...

before heading on home

What a day!

Washington, D.C. Vicinity {2015} - Day 3

Today Hubby got up early and headed out to meet up with a few of his S.C. Army National Guard colleagues for the 8:00am Army Ten-Miler race.  The 3 little ones and I grabbed a quick breakfast in the room, and hopped on the Metro en route to the Pentagon to meet up with Hubby...

We just love it when the presidents show up!

We met up with Hubby and got ready for the littles' races...



We looove Champ the Cheetah!

ALL of my racers...

After the youth runs finished up, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up...

and made one last stop at Arlington National Cemetery...

saw the 3:00 Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...

paid our respects to both President Kennedy...

and President Taft...

before bidding adieu...

Until next time...

Washington, D.C. Vicinity {2015} - Day 2

Hubby got up early this morning and met up with a couple of his soldiers that had come to town to run the race this year.  After taking them to pick up race packets, he got back to us mid-morning.  On tap for today was hitting up a couple more state capitols...

First up, a new state for these 3...

and recreating one of our favorite photos from a few family road trips ago back in 2012...

{Photo 1 is in Texarkana on the TX/AR border & Photo 2 is on a small country road in the Delmar area in front of a soybean field (the actual state line can be seen on the road, and we weren't going to stand in the middle of the road, of course) on the DE/MD border}

Hubby and I think that we have both been to Delaware before this, but now we can confidently check this little state off... 

Our first stop in Delaware, was at Legislative Hall in Dover...

Looking back on these photos now, I think we might've been at the back door of this building.  It was a little confusing, as evidently it had to be evacuated a couple of days ago because of a fire.  A ton of fire fighters were there today working on the building and making sure it was safe, so we didn't venture around too much...

We did climb the back steps, though!

Hooray for our First State's capitol building!

We'll just have to come back again sometime and make sure to climb up the front steps, too...

From there, we grabbed a late lunch and headed back into Maryland to make a stop in Annapolis at the Maryland State House...



Up the steps...

a photo at the double front doors...

and back down the steps...

Maryland State House ~ his 29th set of capitol steps scaled ~ Annapolis, MD.  I'm proud of this little guy for setting a goal all on his own and working to achieve it.  I have to admit that, so far, it has been pretty fun orchestrating him getting to each of these 29 capitol buildings, too!

Meeting up with some of Hubby's soldiers for dinner tonight, and off to race tomorrow!