{All In a Day} North Carolina State Capitol + President Andrew Johnson's Birthplace - Raleigh, NC

After spending the morning exploring the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, since we were already in Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina, we decided to walk the short distance over to the state capitol building.  In addition to learning about the U.S. Presidents and visiting sites related to them, B has gotten very interested visiting state capitol buildings and (in his words) "running up the steps to the top", so being literally just steps away, we walked over and took some pictures on the grounds...





 

 

before visiting a couple of markers related to the birthsite of President Andrew Johnson...

  

 

Lastly, on the way out of town, we stopped by the actual building where Andrew Johnson was born, which now stands in Mordecai Historic Park...

 

{All In a Day} Groundhog Day FUN at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences - Raleigh, NC

I've always loved a good holiday, and it's always been on my "Bucket List" to attend one of the actual groundhog ceremonies on Groundhog Day - yes, probably a weird thing to have on a "Bucket List", but it's there!  I guess that can be traced back to my kindergarten-teaching days where we celebrated Groundhog Day every year and did a coordinating unit on shadows...

So, since Groundhog Day happened to fall on a weekend this year (and Hubby was coincidently drilling), I decided on a whim to take the kids to visit a real groundhog.  So, General Beauregard Lee is still on my list, but today we headed up to Raleigh to visit Sir Walter Wally at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

First of all, WOW, what a wonderful museum!  Admission was free and there were at least 4 floors of fun to explore.  The littles had a GREAT time.

We ended up getting there about 10 minutes after the ceremony had ended (bummer), but we did get to see Sir Walter Wally up close after learning that he DID indeed see his shadow...

We had sooo much fun exploring the museum and taking advantage of all of the groundhog-themed activities and crafts...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{All In a Day} President Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home - Augusta, GA

With Hubby drilling this weekend, I'm always up for a little mini-adventure with the littles here and there.  Continuing to work on our big goal of visiting various Presidential sites, we headed down to Augusta, GA this afternoon to visit the boyhood home of President #28, Woodrow Wilson...

 

I was happily surprised with how thorough this tour was...

Though it was nearly impossible to capture a photo of it, the docent showed us where President Wilson made his mark on this house as a child, carving his called name (or the beginnings of it, maybe he got caught?), "Tommy", in the window pane...

We learned that he formed a neighborhood baseball club, The Lightfoot Baseball Club to be exact, and here above this barn is where they would meet...

Overall, this turned out to be one of our favorite Presidential spots to visit...

{All In a Day} Elizabethton, TN

Hubby and I have always said that it is so much easier to get in the car and GO, than to stay at home cooped up in the house all day.  Now, when I say GO, it doesn't have to always be somewhere.  It can be a hike at a park, a walk around the neighborhood, whatever.  Of course, we are known for just hopping in the car and going on an adventure, too...

Today was one of those days...

Anyone that reads this little blog knows that B is our resident expert on the U.S. Presidents and is always interested in learning more about them.  We've decided to visit as many homes (of the U.S. Presidents) as we can from birthplaces to where they raised their families to their final resting places ~ and everywhere in between.

So, because we are nearly *complete* on all of the homes of U.S. President #17, Andrew Johnson, today we popped up to Elizabethton, TN to visit the site of the home of his daughter, and where he died while visiting her on July 31, 1875.

 

Evidently the original home was moved a couple of times and was most recently purchased by a local doctor and restored on his property...

 



Though it is not open to the public daily, I did find out that they hold a yearly event on the property and give tours of the home at that time...

So, it proved to be a quick and uneventful trip up, but a nice way to get out of the house and go on an adventure...

More to come, I'm sure!

{All In a Day} President Jimmy Carter Site + a Sighting! - Plains, GA

Probably our wildest trip to date - not where we went, but the fact that Hubby and I decided at about midnight that we were going to do it the next morning...

One of my friends from high school works for the Secret Service, and a few years ago when she was working President Carter, she told us about how he teaches Sunday School a couple of times a month at his church in Plains, GA.  Evidently, I had forgotten this little tidbit and was recently reminded of it, figuring that it would be a really neat opportunity for the littles to actually meet a former President face-to-face - the added bonus, of course, being that the U.S. Presidents are something that B is very interested in learning about.

So, we went to sleep only to wake up a few hours later, transfer the sleeping littles from their beds to their carseats and hit the road.

It was a fairly quick and very quiet trip to Plains, GA, and we arrived about 30 minutes before Sunday School started.



I actually enjoyed his lesson after I got over the fact that I was sitting in a small church sanctuary listening to a former President speak.  What a really unique experience, to say the least...

I have to add that I am absolutely thrilled with how our "one photo from one camera" (that's all that is permitted) turned out!

After church, we took the time to explore Plains and take in the President Carter sites in town.  Our first stop, just down the road from the church, was the big peanut...

 

{it was built by a few citizens in Indiana for a political visit in the 1970s}

before heading out to the Boyhood Farm...

and checking out the commissary store right next door.  President Carter's father operated the store on the weekends for other families and farm workers to buy supplies.  If someone needed something during the week, it was President Carter's job to go over and open up the store...

On our way back out of town, we stopped at the old train depot, President Carter's former campaign headquarters...

 

which was truly like stepping back in time...  B was so proud of himself for pointing out the telephone (a rotary dial model from the 1970s/1980s) in the depot and telling me what it was and how it worked.  I'm not sure if I should be flattered that he didn't think I was old enough to remember such a "dinosaur" of a gadget (which of course I am) or insulted that he didn't think that I could figure out what it was!  He even went as far as to show me how you dial it ~ sweet boy...

Before leaving town, we popped into one of the stores for fresh peanut ice cream - yum!

As the littles were conked out and napping in the backseat, Hubby and I both agreed that we were so glad that we decided to make this trip, even though on a whim...

No matter what side you support or who you vote for, I'd recommend this trip to everyone.  If you want to meet the President, make sure to check out the church's website here for his teaching schedule, and grab some peanut ice cream before you leave town!

{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!