{Spring Break} 3 Vice Presidents, 2 Presidents, 1 Set of Capitol Steps, "and Peggy"

After spending the night outside of Princeton, we headed back into town this morning and stopped at the Princeton Cemetery first thing to pay our respects to both President Grover Cleveland…

 and Vice President Aaron Burr, also known for that fatal duel with Alexander Hamilton...yikes...

Aaron Burr served as the 3rd Vice President of the United States under President Thomas Jefferson.

Next, we enjoyed exploring the Princeton University campus and some of the places other presidents once lived!

It is said that President James Madison resided here in the iconic Nassau Hall while a student...

President Woodrow Wilson lived in as many as 4 different homes during his years in Princeton, including Prospect House, this home on campus, where he lived while serving as President of the University...

I just couldn't get over all of the gorgeous Saucer Magnolia trees! Many were past their peak, but they were beautiful nonetheless!

After a yummy lunch at Princeton Institution, Hoagie Haven...

 

  we continued on toward Albany, NY, stopping in Kingston, NY to visit the grave of Vice President George Clinton...

George Clinton succeeded Aaron Burr as the 4th Vice President of the United States serving under both President Thomas Jefferson and President James Madison. In addition, he served as the 1st Governor of New York!

From there we continued to Rhinebeck, NY to visit the grave of Vice President Levi P. Morton...

Levi P. Morton served as the 22nd Vice President of the United States serving under President Benjamin Harrison.

From there we continued on to Albany, NY!

We first made a stop at the cemetery outside the city to visit President Chester A. Arthur...

"and Peggy"!

Yep, that's Margaret "Peggy" Schuyler Van Rensselaer, the youngest Schuyler sister of the trio made famous in Hamilton...

Once in downtown Albany, we found the spot where President Martin Van Buren once lived...

as well as the Executive Mansion where a couple of our presidents lived when they served as Governor of New York...

and lastly, we ran up some steps!

And, that's a wrap... On to Vermont tomorrow!

{Spring Break} Chocolate, A President and Some Capitol Steps...

Spring Break started at approximately 3:00 yesterday afternoon, and after a quick stop at the library for some audiobooks and movies, we were OFF!

We are working our way up to Maine and back to check off a few more presidential spots, as well as a handful of state capitol steps that we missed the last time we were up that way!  Sadly, Hubby had to stay behind and work, but I am thankful that the kids are at the age now that they are really easy and fun to travel with, and get almost as excited to go on these adventures as I get planning them + B is an excellent copilot!

I drove a big chunk yesterday afternoon and night, and we made it to Hagerstown, Maryland to spend the night...

This morning, we got up bright and early...

and headed into Hershey, PA...

for a repeat (or repeat, repeat - you get the picture) visit to one of our favorite places, Hershey's Chocolate World...

My kids absolutely LOVE the FREE chocolate tour!

We were sad to see some of the "updates and enhancements" that were so computerized, as well as the empty barn as we entered (where a charming cow used to great everyone once upon a time)...

but the kids still loved it over all, and we rode it a couple of times!

From there, we dropped in to visit with my Aunt B, Uncle P & Cousin R for just a bit...  It had been awhile!

We grabbed lunch at one of my favorite local delis, Isaac's...

and continued on to Lancaster, PA to tour Wheatland, the home of President James Buchanan...

before paying our respects at his final resting place...

From Lancaster, we continued on to Trenton, NJ in hopes of checking off #capitolstepschallenge #41/50!

Unfortunately, the New Jersey State House is currently undergoing a multiple year renovation, and the entire front is inaccessible... 

 {I snapped this photo through the fencing!}

but, we found some (side) steps to run up anyway! This will have to do for now, but we'll be back!

From Trenton, we continued on a bit to Princeton, NJ for the night...

We headed into the downtown area and enjoyed a yummy ice cream dinner at the (very) popular The Bent Spoon!

After all, it IS Spring Break, right???

My scoop of Lavender Mascarpone ice cream was DEFINITELY worth the wait! 

More on tap tomorrow!

{TEEN Trip} New York City - Day 4

We got packed up and headed out first thing to make it to our early lunch reservation at the Central Park Boathouse...

The weather sure has improved from our last trip into the park a couple of days ago!

We were seated right next to the window and had a great view of the (still frozen over) lake...

After lunch, we enjoyed walking through the park a bit...

before heading to one of the top spots on B's list, the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue...

We then headed over to the big New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street...

I've been wanting to get all 3 of the kids here for some time, to see the real stuffed animals that belonged to Christopher Robin Milne, son of A. A. Milne, the creator of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories...

You can really see the resemblance to the characters he created based on his son's toys!

From the library, we walked down to the Empire State Building...

a fitting place to visit on our last day in town...

We walked back up Fifth Avenue toward Grand Central Terminal to try and get a picture with the Cornelius Vanderbilt statue that stands outside the upper level right under the Tiffany clock, facing the Park Avenue Viaduct...

Cornelius Vanderbilt once owned the New York Central Railroad and constructed the Grand Central Depot, predecessor to Grand Central Terminal, in the late 1860s/early 1870s...

B is currently studying the Vanderbilt family and is headed on a field trip to the Biltmore Estate, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II, one of Cornelius Vanderbilt's grandsons, next week...

After a little investigation, we realized that there is no public access from inside, and you can't really get up there very easily on foot from outside (especially during the time we were aiming for), so this photo will have to do for now!

After collecting our luggage, we hit up M&M's World, another one of the top spots on B's list...

We cruised back through Times Square...

on our way to grab pizza for dinner, yet another item on B's list.

Coincidentally, we ended up across the street from the Majestic Theatre (where we saw The Phantom of the Opera three nights earlier) at John's Pizzeria...

With grateful hearts and full bellies, we ubered to the airport to catch our night flight home.

What a wonderful weekend full of special memories made with our very favorite teenager in the whole entire world...