Washington, D.C. {2013} - Day 1

With the little ones on Fall Break the end of this week, and with Hubby registered to run the Army Ten-Miler on Sunday...not to mention B's love of all things Presidential, we headed up to D.C. for the long weekend much like last year...

We didn't get off as early as expected yesterday, but managed to make it into Virginia Wednesday night.  We spent the morning in Charlottesville at Monticello...

There was a great "hands-on" children's gallery that showcased touchable reproductions of many items in the house.  The little ones really enjoyed exploring this area before heading into the house...

I have always loved Thomas Jefferson's bed and remember thinking that it was the neatest thing ever when I visited as a child...  Finally, Hubby knows what I have been talking about when mentioning his bed and how it was built into the wall where he could get out of bed on one side and be in one room and get out of the bed on the other side and be in another room!

After lunch at Monticello, we headed down the road and made a stop at President James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland...

After the late afternoon tour, we continued on to Annandale, VA to settle in with friends, A & C and their daughter, AH...

Busy day tomorrow...

{Weekend Adventure} To Syracuse and Back

 I generally think of myself as a very planned and organized person, almost to a fault at times.  Well, one of the many things that I love about Hubby is that he shares the same sense of adventure with me and brings out a little of my spontaneity.

 

Sooo...  With the whole government shutdown thing, on Wednesday we found ourselves suddenly with a free weekend as Hubby's Drill Weekend was cancelled.

 

Right then and there, Wednesday night, I decided that we should go to the Clemson game on Saturday...

 

The kicker???

 

Oh well, it was just an away game - in Syracuse, New York.  Yes, that's what I said...  SYRACUSE, NEW YORK!!!

 

So, Hubby took a little more convincing, but by Friday morning he was game.  He bought our tickets, came home an hour early from work, and off we went...with all 3 kids...a 7 1/2 year old, a brand new 5 year old, and a 3 year old...  Phew!

 

But wait...it gets better...  So, my car (a Suburban with plenty of room) had been in the shop all week, so I'd been driving Hubby's car.

 

So, yes, our family of FIVE went to Syracuse, NY for the weekend in a Honda Accord...

 

Most people would think that was pretty nutty...  Actually, I kind of think that's pretty nutty, but we had a blast.  We really did!

 

Now, full disclosure...  1) - With one of my grandmothers on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and another in Pennsylvania, our little ones are no strangers to long car rides, so that is really not a huge deal for them.  Our oldest can now recognize most all state license plates.  2) - Our little ones will also sleep in the car...no problem.  In fact, we plan our travel knowing that they'll fall asleep after both lunch and dinner...all 3 of them.  It's really like clockwork.  We're lucky in that arena - never have had any sleep issues.  They sleep, and they sleep hard.  We can literally transfer them from their car seats to the hotel beds with no one waking up!

  

 

So, maybe it isn't as crazy as it seems???

 

Nah, it's still pretty crazy, I guess, but it's the kind of crazy that I have to admit I love...

 

We left Friday late afternoon and drove into West Virginia before stopping.  We continued on to Syracuse Saturday morning...

  

  

and went to the game...

 

Welcome to the ACC, Syracuse University!

  

  

I just love how the team came over to salute the fans at the end of the game...  We REALLY loved that Clemson's beloved C.J. Spiller made the trip over from Buffalo to show his support, too.

 

  

We fed the little ones dinner at the game, and they were fast asleep before we even got out of Syracuse...  We drove until we were about an hour north of my grandmother's house and stopped to get a good night's sleep...

 

The next morning, we got up...

 

 

and dropped in on my 98-year-old grandmother.  The little ones burned off a lot of energy...

 

 

before we packed back in the car to continue south...

 

Can you believe that my grandparents planted this tree when they first moved to this community in the mid-1980s???

 

 

On the way home, we made one last stop at Old Stone Church in Virginia...

 

  

Established in 1740, this is where Hubby's many, many greats grandfather, General Robert Anderson, was baptized in the mid-1700s, though likely at the previous log structure that stood where the church cemetery is today. The cornerstone of this current building was laid in 1747 (when General Anderson would've been about 5 or 6), and this stone building has been in continuous use since 1749...

  

  

There's not much more I love than spending quality time with my sweet crew, road trippin' and throwing in a little family heritage along the way...

 

Wonder where we'll go this weekend...

 

Just kidding...or, am I???

{Friends, Food & Fun} Detroit, MI

 I just got home from Detroit, MI where I spent a few days attending a volunteer leadership conference.  What a fun time! It was my first trip to Detroit, and because of what is often broadcasted in the news, it was honestly not top on my lists of places to visit...ever. Because our flight got in so early on Thursday morning, we got to enjoy some free time outside of the conference to visit some neat places.

Here are some of the highlights (friends, food & fun) from our trip!

I met my counterpart M, from Spartanburg, at the airport for our 6:00am flight... Needless to say, we made it to Detroit in plenty of time to grab breakfast!

We checked into our hotel (where we could actually see Canada from our window)...

and headed over to The Hudson Café for breakfast...

 

 where I enjoyed the Graham Cracker Crusted French Toast ~ way more than I'd ever eat for breakfast any other day! 

 

 

 From there, we took a taxi to the Motown Museum...

 

 Due mainly to copyright laws, unfortunately no photographs of any kind were allowed inside.  It's quite unassuming from outside, but what a treat once you step inside.  The story of Berry Gordy, the mastermind behind Motown, is certainly an inspirational one.  The museum, opened by his sister in the 1980s, houses many of the original furnishings from the height of Motown in Detroit ~ think, the actual sofa that Marvin Gaye would sleep on when he had a late night recording and the real dining room table that served as the original "packaging & shipping department" for the early Motown back in the day.  I'm a sucker for things like that!

 

We even got to sing a song in Studio A, surrounded by photos of the likes of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations recording in that very same space, preserved and mostly unchanged...

 

 

 

 Definitely make it a point to stop by if you ever find yourself in Detroit ~ you won't be disappointed...

 

We grabbed lunch near the hotel and caught a bus tour of Detroit organized by our conference hosts.  First stop was the Guardian Building, a beautiful example of art deco architecture...

 

 

 

From there, we toured Belle Isle Park, literally a beautiful island park designed by the famous Frederick Law Olmsted, and definitely a spot I'd like to bring my family back to.   

 

Then, on to Heidelberg Street ~ interesting to say the least.  Got to hand it to Tyree Guyton, seriously...

 

He took his crime-ridden street and flipped it around.  Though it might not be everyone's view of "art", a few strategic polka-dots placed on abandoned houses led to the creation of a nonprofit organization, The Heidelberg Project, charged with improving the lives of people and neighborhoods through art and turned this street into a quirky tourist destination...

 

Tyree's mother still lives in this polka-dot house on Heidelberg Street...

We returned from the bus tour and freshened up for the Opening Reception where we reconvened with our other South Carolina girls and grabbed a quick photo with THE Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas Motown fame. "Dancing in the Streets" during a "Heatwave" anybody???

  

 

On Friday we had a full day of sessions, and I was unfortunately feeling under the weather. My counterparts headed out to the Traffic Jam and Snug, set to be featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" later this fall... I really, really hated to miss out.

 

After a good night's sleep, I was thankfully feeling back to normal. I don't like getting sick, and I really don't like getting sick when I'm away from home. That just stinks!

 

  On the last day of the conference we had another full day of sessions...

  

 

 but were able to enjoy great views of both Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada, as well as the Ambassador Bridge that connects the two, from the RiverWalk during our free time.

 

 

 A couple of the South Carolina ladies had to head home that afternoon due to other obligations, but those of us that remained enjoyed a fabulous Closing Reception complete with a superfun Robin Thicke look-a-like DJ (seriously) and beautiful evening views cruising the Detroit River aboard the yacht, Ovation...

  

 

  M & I caught our 10:00am flight out of Detroit Sunday morning & landed at our local airport in time to grab lunch with our families...

 

Until our next adventure!