I'm in D.C.!

My daughter and I are on a last minute road trip to the greater Washington D.C. area, we've only been gone 4 days and we've already had loads of fun adventures, ticked off LIFE LIST items and enjoyed quality time with family. I cannot post pictures on my blog until I get home but I'm posting loads of pics daily on The Ultimate Life Lists' facebook page- check it out! If you have any ideas of 'must do' activities in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area let me know!

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT ADVENTURES WE WENT ON TODAY!

Drive home from Philly

   I have always wanted to do a road trip with lots of points of interest along the way but I never do because I usually don't want to spend the time or the extra gas to go out of the way but this was perfect for us-the drive from Philadelphia to Michigan is a 10 hour drive...but not if you have a toddler. I designed the drive home with lots of stops so that our daughter would not go crazy being stuck in the car for that long, I also wanted to give her opportunities to run around and exhaust herself. So we'd drive for a few hours and stop for an hour or so, she'd take a nap and we could drive for another few hours. This did take us a bit out of the way but it turned 'a drive home' into bonus adventures.

Our first stop was only an hour and a half from our hotel to the Haines Shoe House-click on this link to hear all about our visit to this wacky architectural gem.

Our next stop was to Gettysburg. I really would have loved to soak up as much historical knowledge as possible but I knew that was not going to be an option with the little one, which was fine I mostly assumed that it was serve as a wide open space for our little one to spread her little wings. Which she surely did! What I didn't expect was that the town of Gettysburg was so charming, it was large but very quaint with dozens of antique stores and darling little hotels. So I've got something new to add to my life list-spend a long week end in Gettysburg and indulge in all the towns activities-including taking a tour on horse back of the Gettysburg battle grounds.

Beautiful walk to the visitors center

The next stop was an hour and forty five minutes from Gettysburg to a town called Old Bedford Village. It is a place that I have always wanted to stop at all the times I have driven past and seen it advertised on billboards. Unfortunately when we arrived it had just closed but it was still a place we could run around and take some pictures. It's a replica of an old town and the reason I was attracted to stop there was because bares a family name.

My new favorite flattering pose for pictures...you'll be seeing a lot of this!

Thus a 10 hour drive ended up taking us 15 hours with 3 stops to points of interest and many other stops for gas and bathroom breaks. It really helped break up the long drive and I will try to design all my future road trips with my daughter like this. It was a 7 hour drive from the Old Bedford Village to our house, there were plenty of places to stop but it was too late, everything was closed and it was too dark but since it was getting late Z mostly slept the rest of the way home.

Gettysburg

Gettysburg

Old Bedford Village

Old Bedford Village 

The end.

To read more about my 2012 summer road trip to Philadelphia click on the links below...

LIFE LIST: VISIT THE HAINES SHOE HOUSE
LIFE LIST: SESAME PLACE
2nd day in Philadelphia
1st day in Philadelphia
Valley Forge
One night in Pittsburgh
Last minute road trip
I'm back...I went

2nd day in Philadelphia

        I wanted to go back into the city at least once more whilst I was nearby, there is SO MUCH to do there afterall, and this time my husband would be with me so I knew we could accomplish more things. The first thing I wanted to do was go on a carriage ride. I have always looked at the horse and buggy rides through the city as SUCH a totally cheesy, touristy thing to do and I never had any desire to be a part of that- BUT like I said now that I am traveling with a child I am looking at things through different eyes. I surprised myself at how excited I was to take the carriage ride. First of all my daughter loves horses so I knew she'd really enjoy it, and second of all it is so difficult to take in the sights and readings with my baby since I have to keep my eye on her so it was a great way to learn a little about the city, while keeping her contained and happy. It was $35 for 25 minutes which seems expensive but I know how expensive horse care is so I thought it was reasonable.

What she lacked in charisma she made up for with historical facts....and besides, she won me over by befriending my daughter so I was happy to give her money

We returned to the Franklin Square Park so we could ride the carousel again. My husband and daughter rode it while I stood in the pouring rain- then I thought since it was only $2.50/adult that she could go again but this time all 3 of us would ride. I have to say it had been years since I had rode a carousel - make that decades and it was really fun.

Had we gotten on a moment earlier we would have spent the rest of the day in dry clothing

After the park I was excited to finally see the Liberty Bell...

Behind that window rests the Liberty Bell-behind that frown lies my 3rd failed attempt to see the Liberty Bell

Again, the line was too long and I knew we just couldn't push it.

Inside the Visitors Center

That's Independence Hall behind us

The next stop on my list was the art museum-not that we were going inside but I wanted to run up the famous Rocky steps-( I have never actually seen that movie but I wanted to see it anyhow) it was raining so we ultimately decided not to stop...but then my husband took a wrong turn and we ended up right in front of it. I said well, it's pouring but we may never be here again, let's just wait a few minutes to see if it lets up. As soon as we parked it had stopped.

She ran all the way up the steps!

        The Art Museum was huge and left me longing to spend an entire day sipping coffee and getting lost in paintings, but I think it was closed by the time we were, but if I ever return it'll be on the top of my list!

 There was no way I was leaving Philadelphia without eating a Philly cheese steak, and I wanted to return to the place I had been 4 years prior. The famous Genos/Pats [seen on the Food Network] I had previously eaten at Pat's so this time I wanted to try Genos-consensus- they're both good....but then again it's bread, meat and cheese wiz so they're really wasn't any question......obviously. The only difference was that this time I had braces- which was made eating this cheese steak so labor intensive that it stole all the anticipated enjoyment.  P.S. The fact that you can order a food that actually has cheeze wiz on it is genius.

2012-July

2009-January 

As a bonus, these horses were on the side of the road so we stopped and said hello.

To read more about my 2012 road trip to Philadelphia click on the links below 

I'm back...I went 

Last minute road trip

One night in Pittsburgh 

Valley Forge

1st day in Philadelphia 

1st day in Philadelphia

In front of the Betsy Ross house

 The day after our trip to Valley Forge we decided to just have a pool day-she LOVES to swim! So the day after I took her into Philadelphia. As soon as we drove into the big city, I thought what was I thinking taking my rambunctious toddler into a big city by myself!? And there were times that it was difficult, I definitely had to assess what was age appropriate for her. I am so glad I took her though, she had a ball and I learned a lot about traveling with a little one. It made me reflect on one of my favorite words 'wanderlust' it has the most absolutely perfect definition and evokes such strong sentiments....I think there should be a similar word for 'traveling with a toddler'. It will be one word that conjures up feelings of anxiety, frustration, impatience, and the realization that the desire to travel is so strong that it is completely worth dealing with the difficult aspects of sightseeing with a small child.'

Independence Hall-to the right the elusive Liberty Bell

 I was so excited to visit Philadelphia because SEEING THE LIBERTY BELL has been on my life list for years! I tried to see it about 5 years ago when I was in Philadelphia visiting a friend but there was a snow storm and it ended up being too late in the day to visit any sites. It occurred to me that had I seen the Liberty Bell on that trip 4 years ago, I probably wouldn't not have gone on this trip. I was so excited to finally get a chance to see it, BUT as soon as I saw the line around the building I knew there was no way I could keep my little one contained long enough to withstand the long wait. I tried later that day hoping she would be tired enough-no dice-no big deal we would be back in Pittsburgh in a few days.

I LOVED seeing these guys walking around town-just heading towards their next destination  I do not typically visit 'visitor centers' but I'm finding that they are a great place to use a hub, i.e. they have clean bathrooms, food, water, obviously if you have questions people are available. I do not usually like to be ultra touristy but there's traveling and then there's traveling with a 2 year old, so it's a whole new ball game and I've had to change my approach.

A historical cemetery is probably the worst place to take a small child-now I know.  

Above B Franklin's gravestone- I really liked what it said.

Benjamin Franklin's gravestone

  The first thing we did was visit the grave of Ben Franklin, it was only $2 to enter the graveyard which is reasonable enough. I just wanted to get a picture and see it. We did not stay long there, as it turns out it is not an appropriate place to take a toddler. She wanted to run around and did not understand why I would not let her.

What is believed to be the house Betsy Ross lived in.

The impostor.

The reader.

Then we went to the Betsy Ross house-the woman who it credited with having created the American Flag   which was only $5 for me and free for toddlers-it was really interesting to see, personally I just enjoyed the architecture of the house and my baby enjoyed the Betsy Ross impostor who was well playing the part. Outside of the house there was a courtyard with one of the many free story tellers around the city. It was such a nice bonus and certainly wonderful for the kids though I also saw many adults sitting around the story tellers as well, they are prepared for several age groups and they each handed out a small gift to each child, usually a little flag.

    Also one of these story tellers tipped me off to Franklin Square Park which was not too far away and it was a lovely little park where we got ice cream, played in the playground, and we rode the carousel-which she completely loved! They also had mini golf which looked like fun but was certainly out of the question for us.

 
    Our last item for the day was to take a tour of Independence Hall where the constitution was signed (tickets are free but you have to get them in advance either online or at the visitor center) after waiting in a total of 3 different lines with a very tired, antsy, hungry child-(for those of you who do not have children waiting in a line is unimaginably exhausting!) Then it was our turn to go in, which I thought it would be a casual tour where you could go at your own pace, nope- we were shuffeled into a holding cell with rows of chairs. Instantly I knew this was not going to go well, we hesitantly sat down in the back row after I had to schlub the stroller inside down stairs and find a place for it that was out of the way. We sat down and a guide started talking...and so did my daughter, she was not being bad by any means, she just likes to chat, and she's usually pretty loud-and by that I just mean too loud in a room filled with 100 people all focused on one person speaking- every second that went by I was anticipating a major melt down  and could only pray for this guy to shut up! I would have been very interested to see what he had to say under normal conditions but I knew it was time to get out before we had a very embarrassing moment to present itself, so I decided we would sneak out...yes, sneak out, with a little girl talking loudly while she's on one hip, a bag on the other and trying to get the stroller out of this awkward space...and then the speaker addressed the issue and ultimately had to interrupt his spiel to help me with the doors and stroller . One thing about having a child, there's no such thing any longer as 'flying under the radar'- I can feel all eyes on me all the time! After that it was time to go- it was a trying day but I am so glad I took her, we did have fun as well-she just wants to do what she wants to do...and can I totally empathize-the ONLY difference is that when I don't get my way I do not generally scream bloody murder and hurl myself onto the ground.....not in public anyhow.

Little girl in a big city and too much trouble to get into.

One night in Pittsburgh

    We didn't really do anything in Pittsburgh, we stayed at a Holiday Inn in and actually didn't even leave the hotel. It was in a small town near the airport and there really wasn't anything to do anyhow. We had a wonderful visit with my Aunt, we celebrated my grandma and spent most of the evening talking about her, and I was so glad my Aunt got to spend some 'real' time with her great neice. We skype once a week but obviously an in person visit is much nicer.
          The next morning we had what I thought was a contential breakfast- I was very surprised that it was such a large fancy breakfast for a Holiday Inn...I was even more surprised when I discovered that it was $22 per person!
     I was unsure whether or not the two of us would continue on to Philadelphia on our last minute road trip but I was so pleased with my baby the previous day on our drive I was not at all worried about the drive from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. It was another 5 hour drive and took us 7 because I stop a lot so she can stretch her legs and play a little. I instantly felt like I was in heaven when we arrived at the hotel in Plymouth Meeting-abour 17 miles from Philadelphia and I knew right away that I did not want to leave any time soon.

   In the past year my husband has spent a total of 5 months in Chicago, Missouri, Arizona- I can't even remember where else- I could have gone with him but I was worried about traveling with a little one and keeping her cooped up in a hotel. I now wish I would have gone each time! What was I thinking!!??? She was fine on the drive- I just had to prepare--snacks, drinks, stops, toys-no biggie. And being in a hotel room? It was WONDERFUL! Every morning she got to run downstairs for breakfast, the entire staff was totally enamoured with her-she even learned how to say hello in Spanish so all the housekeeping ladies fell head over heels each time she ran past them with her arms in the air saying "HOLA!" It was priceless.

She got so much attention from everyone, they all showered her with little gifts and treats, and some days there were other children she could play with. She got to go swimming in the pool twice every day and there was so much to do in area that she got to have a ton of wonderful experiences that she never would have had at home. On top of that I was less stressed--I didn't have to worry about cleaning or cooking or even making coffee-which is the task I dread every day-and I had the luxury of not being the only parent any longer! After two days in this paradise I urged my husband to stay a little longer, so we spent two whole weeks there! Which is funny because I only intended to stay a day or two!
   Our first outing was to Valley Forge- I'll write about that tomorrow, then I still have to tell you about all we did in Philadelphia, the great adventure to Sesame Place and all the stops along the ride home!