The Nomadic Life

St. Augustine, FL

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Right next to St. John’s RV park where we are camped is St. Augustine Marketplace. We just walked over to have a look-see. On our way we noticed several Volkswagen cars and vans driving in so we followed them to a lot where they were having a show. It was free, so we had a look around before we hit the flea market.

Volkswagen Show

This is a weekly indoor and open-air Flea Market with hundreds of vendors, fresh produce, good food, open every Saturday and Sunday. We arrived early so it wasn’t very crowded yet. This peanut booth caught my eye. Being from Minnesota we find boiled peanuts something unusual. It’s definitely a southern treat.

Boiled Peanuts

St. Augustine Flea Market

We returned to our RV just in time to see a neighboring RV being towed away! Ouch, that’s going to cost a lot of money. I hope they have roadside assistance! And it’s such a sad thing to see.

Ouch!

Next we took the towed (or is it toad?) ok, the Jeep, in to St. Augustine for the rest of the day. This time we toured the Whetstone Chocolate Factory and watched them make their artisan chocolates and got free samples!! yummy! That’s my kind of tour!

Whetstone Chocolates

Chocolate Factory Tour

After the tour (and a small purchase, naturally) we walked around the Historic Old Town, had a nice seafood supper, and waited for the Nights of Lights Festival. This was the big deal annual lighting up of the city Christmas lights with a big celebration with food and fun and music in the park.

A few historical tidbits for you…The park, Plaza de la Constitucion, in the center of the historic district, is the oldest public square in America, laid out in 1573. The first system of weights and measures was established with a market here in 1598. I told you there was a lot of history here.

Plaza de la Constitucion

St. Augustine Nights of Lights Festival

It turned out to be a beautiful day with a high around 78 degrees, blue sky and sunshine. 🙂 But there is a cold front on the way.

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $20
Parking & Tour: $20

Posted in Daily Post, Florida, November | Tagged Flea market, Nights of Lights, Plaza de la Constitucion, St. Augustine Flea Market, St. Augustine Marketplace, Volkswagen | Leave a comment

St. Augustine, FL

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Our home for last night and tonight is here at St. John’s RV Park in St. Augustine, Florida. The weather has been pretty awesome, warm and dry.

St Johns RV Park, #A4

The St. Augustine Lighthouse was our first stop today. This is St. Augustine’s first and oldest brick structure, built in 1874 and still in use today. We climbed all 219 steps to the top, oh yes we did, equivalent to climbing up a 14 story building.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

The lens room still has the original 1st order Fresnel lens and is still rotating, ready to magnify the 1000-watt lightbulb into a signal visible from 25 miles away.

Light & Lens

St. Augustine Lighthouse

On the lighthouse courtyard we found these two guys building boats. We also visited the Lighthouse Keeper’s house and museum and gift shop.

Boat Building

As we were walking back to the car we could feel that our legs were a little wobbly! So time to sit down and enjoy a nice meal at Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Restaurant.

Barnacle Bill’s Seafood Restaurant

Here’s a business we just don’t see in Minnesota…Wild Hog Removal. There are lots of wild hogs in the South and they can be a nuisance. We keep our eyes open for them when we are hiking but have never seen one.

Wild Hog Removal

St. Augustine is loaded with history, and loaded with tourists. The best way to get started is to take one of the various tour companies narrated tours. We chose Old Town Trolley Tours.

Old Town Trolley Tours

St. Augustine is the oldest, continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States. In 2015 they will celebrate the 450th anniversary of the founding of the city. There is so much history, so much to see, so much to do, so many restaurants, and so many shops! Why not begin at the city gates! Built in 1808 they guarded the north side of the city.

City Gates

There is no way I can include everything here in my little blog, and it would take several days to fully experience everything. Here is some of what we saw today.

Oldest School House in the US

St. George Street

Hello Cutie

The Flagler College, a four-year liberal arts college, now occupies what used to be the Ponce de Leon Hotel, a luxury resort built by Henry Flagler in 1888. We got tickets and took the guided tour. Wonderful.

Flagler College, formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel

The Lunch Room at Flagler College

After the tour we walked across the street to City Hall, which used to be the Alcazar Hotel built in the 1880’s also by Flagler.

City Hall Courtyard

On the waterfront is the Castillo De San Marcos. Construction began in 1672 and took many years to complete.

Castillo De San Marcos

And there’s the Fountain of Youth, discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513.

Fountain of Youth

Oh, there’s so much more….

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $24
Parking & Tours: $70

Posted in Daily Post, Florida, November | Tagged Castillo De San Marcos, Flagler College, Fountain of Youth, Henry Flagler, Lighthouse, old town trolley, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Florida, St. Augustine Lighthouse | 4 Comments

Fort Clinch

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

We went to visit historic Fort Clinch (1847-1945) early this morning before the rain comes. The US government built this on the north end of Amelia Island, at the mouth of the St. Mary’s River, to protect coastal and interior shipping, and defend the deep water port of Fernandina, Florida. It was in service from the Civil War through WWII.

Fort Clinch

We met a living history actor, a corporal in the Union Army, who would not break character and he filled us in on many of the aspects of the fort. For sure I have learned more American history in the last few years of RVing than I ever did in school.

Union Soldier at Fort Clinch

After touring the fort we went to a nice restaurant on the beach for lunch. It was windy when we got there and then the rain came. While we were leaving the parking lot in the rain we saw another foreign RV, had to get the picture through the rain drops. I believe this one is from Germany.

Foreign RV

The rain kept up all the rest of the day, so we went to a movie and then home for the rest of the day.

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $30
Fort Clinch Fee: $4

Posted in Daily Post, Florida, November | Tagged Amelia Island, Fort Clinch, Fort Clinch State Park, Union Army | Leave a comment

Amelia Island

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Amelia Island is a barrier island along the east coast of Florida. It’s just a few miles south of Cumberland Island, Georgia, where we were a few days ago. This is not a wilderness-type island like Cumberland Island was, it has two communities, Fernandina Beach and Amelia City, as well as several vacation resorts.

Fernandina Beach is the only city in the United States that has flown eight different national flags over it. We took the trolley tour which took us around the small town and showed us some historic sites while getting a little history lesson.

Fernandina Beach, FL

The history tour also took us by the historic Captain’s House, locally called the Pippi Longstocking house. That movie was filmed on location here in the 1980’s.

Pippi Longstocking House

After the trolley tour we went looking for the beach and somewhere to go for a walk. Most of the access to the beach on the south part of the island is behind private property or belongs to vacation resorts. We did find one public access point and walked out to the beach. A long boardwalk takes you over dunes before you hit the beach. If you look carefully you can see a golf course green in the middle of the dunes in the picture here.

Amelia Island

It was windy on the beach. The sand was blowing and drifting just like the snow does back home in Minnesota. We turned around and went back to the car.

Amelia Island

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $30
Trolley Tour: $30

Posted in Daily Post, Florida, November | Tagged Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach, Pippi Longstocking | Leave a comment

Slow Wet Day in Florida

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Welcome to Florida, The Sunshine State, only it was very cloudy, and began to rain while we were at the Welcome Center. We enjoyed a complimentary glass of orange juice, found the brochures we were looking for and then just sat in the RV for a while, made lunch, and waited for the rain to let up.

Florida

Vintage RV

The rain wasn’t going to stop, so we proceeded to nearby Fort Clinch State Park where we were lucky enough to get the last available spot for a rig our size. The rain let up a little but continued the whole day, so it was TV watching time. We paid for the next three nights here.

Amelia River Campground, #47, Fort Clinch State Park

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $30

Posted in Daily Post, Florida, November | Tagged Fort Clinch State Park, State park, Sunshine State | Leave a comment

Return to Cumberland Island

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Near our campground is a submarine on land, it appears to be surfacing out of the grass in front of the Kings Bay Naval Base in St. Marys, Georgia. It’s the USS George Bancroft, decommissioned in 1993. We couldn’t resist the photo-op.

USS George Bancroft

It was raining this morning so we skipped the 9am ferry to Cumberland Island and caught the 2nd ferry that left at 11:45. By the time we got on the ferry it had stopped raining.

Leaving St. Marys

The temp warmed up to around 76 degrees and the island seemed a lot like a rain forest with the warmth and the humidity from the rain. Yesterday we were only able to see the north end of the island so today we planned to see the south end. No guided tour this time, we were on our own. This side has the ruins of the Dungeness mansion, built in 1884 by Thomas Carnegie, brother and partner of the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. It went up in flames in 1959 and now nature has taken over the area.

Dungeness

Old Cars

All the out-buildings and slaves quarters are gone too, leaving just chimneys and foundations. Wild horses and deer inhabit the grounds now.

White Tail Deer

After checking out all that we continued eastward to the Atlantic ocean side of the island. The one-mile walk took us through the forest and over the sand-dunes via a boardwalk to the beach.

Boardwalk

Atlantic Ocean

The walk back to the ferry on the west side of the island took us back through the forest. It was hot and very humid. No mosquitoes, but towards the end of the day the gnats came out and began to bite.

Cumberland Island

Part of Cumberland Island has private residences, properties that were there before the National Park Service took over. These must be their sailboats all lined up.

Sailboats at Cumberland Island

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $22.40
Ferry Fee: $38

Posted in Daily Post, Georgia, November | Tagged Andrew Carnegie, Atlantic Ocean, Cumberland Island, Dungeness, Kings Bay Naval Base, National Park Service, USS George Bancroft | Leave a comment

Cumberland Island National Seashore

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

It was a last-minute decision for us to go visit the nearby Cumberland Island, Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island. This is a National Seashore and protected by the National Park Service. There is no bridge to drive there and we managed to get the last two seats on the 9am ferry, one of only two that take tourists over.

The Cumberland Queen II

Once on the island you can rent a bicycle or hike the many trails through the forest. With a permit you can hike to one of the few primitive camping areas and stay the night or two or up to seven.

Backpacks for the Serious Hikers/Campers

For an extra charge we took the Lands and Legacies van tour. Our driver drove us over some very rugged back-country dirt roads through the “wilderness” to the island’s historic sites and explained a lot of the colorful and controversial history of the island and the Carnegie family that used to own it. We did see several of the wild horses that inhabit the island as well as several armadillos. There are wild hogs here too, but we did not see any of those.

Cumberland Island Wild Horses

Cumberland Island

Several miles into the island we find Plum Orchard, an 1898 Georgian Revival mansion, donated to the National Park Foundation by Carnegie family members in 1971.

Plum Orchard

Lands and Legacies Van Tours

Cumberland Island

Wild Horse

First African Baptist Church where John F Kennedy Jr was married in 1996

First African Baptist Church

Waiting for the Return Ferry

The Lands and Legacies Van Tour lasted about 6 hours. We got back to the visitor center just in time to catch the last ferry back to the mainland.

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $22.40
Ferry Fee: $38
L & L Tour: $27

Posted in Daily Post, Georgia, November | Tagged Carnegie, Cumberland Island, National Park Service, National Seashore, Plum Orchard | 2 Comments

Crooked River

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Still in Georgia, our next move was to Crooked River State Park. This is a very beautiful campground, lots of tall pine trees, huge level campsites, with all the hookups we need. They were in the process of adding cable TV too. But no sooner had we set up then it began to rain. Not a hard rain, just a light never-ending sprinkle.

Crooked River State Park, #

Since the rain was so light and we were getting cabin fever we went out for a walk to see the park, rain or not. Right behind our campsite is the Crooked River. Signs and a fence warn us to keep back from the steep cliff. No beach.

Crooked River, Georgia

Our walk took us around the campground to the access road, so we walked along the road the rest of the way home. The fall colors here are green and more green.

Pine Trees and Palmettos

The weather forecast is for more rain Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Fri……

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $22.40
Park Pass: $5.00

Posted in Daily Post, Georgia, November | Tagged Crooked River State Park, State park | Leave a comment

Brunswick, GA

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Every day isn’t an adventure. Yesterday we just moved from Savannah to Brunswick, Georgia. We are staying at Golden Isles RV Park, the same place we stayed when we were here last year. Other than the drive, we took some time off to do nothing.

Today we took the toad (the Jeep) to town for an outing. Since we’ve been here before we both had the feeling of “been there done that” so didn’t go exploring too deeply.

Sidney Lanier Bridge

We walked around the Historic Downtown Brunswick and took some pictures. The old buildings have been maintained or restored or renovated and walking along the sidewalks gives you a feeling of going back in time.

Newcastle Street, Downtown Brunswick

The Ritz Theatre, Built in 1899

Old City Hall, Historic Downtown Brunswick, Built in 1889

Golden Isles RV Park, Brunswick, GA

The rest of the day we just did some cleaning up. Bernie did some washing on the outside of the RV while I washed clothes at the RV park laundry. Real exciting stuff.

The southern park of Georgia’s scenic coast line is called The Golden Isles. It’s rich in history and beauty. To see my posts and lots of pictures of when we were here last year just [click here].

Gasoline Expense: $107.49 @ $3.13/gallon
Lodging Expense: $37.60 Passport America discounted price for two nights

Posted in Daily Post, Georgia, November | Tagged Brunswick, Brunswick Georgia, Georgia, Golden Isles, Golden Isles RV Park, Historic Downtown Brunswick, The Golden Isles of Georgia | Leave a comment

Walk About Savannah

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Historic Savannah is so lovely we decided to stay one more day and just walk about. It was a perfect day for walking, about 70 degrees for the high. Here are some pictures from our day:

Remember at the beginning of the movie, Forest Gump, when the feather falls from heaven by the church steeple? This is that steeple.

We could see there is a rooftop restaurant at the Bohemian Hotel so we went there for lunch today so we could get the good views.

Bohemian Hotel, Savannah, GA

Savannah,GA

An “Arctic Invasion” is forecast for the next few days. The weather people are recommending to get yours cars ready, make sure batteries are ok, anti-freeze is ok, and tires properly inflated. It’s going to be windy by morning and temps will be 37 in the morning, and then 31 the next morning. 🙂

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $14

Posted in Daily Post, Georgia, November | Tagged Bohemian Hotel, Forrest Gump, GA, Historic Savannah, Savannah, Savannah Georgia | 2 Comments

Savannah, GA

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

There are several companies that offer narrated history tours of the city. They all start at the Visitor Center. We have taken Old Town Trolley Tours in some of the other cities we have visited, so we went with them here too. They have a dedicated route throughout the city and you can get off at any of their 15 stops, walk around a bit, and get on the next trolley that comes along about every 20 minutes.

Savannah Tour Companies

Savannah is one of our favorite cities. It’s full of history, it’s beautiful, and very walkable. It’s smaller than Charleston and less congested with people and cars. We got off the trolley at Celebrity Chef Paula Deen’s Restaurant, The Lady & Sons, and had lunch there.

Paula Deen’s The Lady & Sons

When we finished our lunch we could hear a marching band in the distance. It was the Veteran’s Day parade just a few blocks away, so we walked over to see it.

Veteran’s Day Parade in Savannah, Georgia

After the parade we walked the few blocks down to Historic River Street. Here you find what used to be a collection of old shipping wharves that have been converted to a pedestrian friendly area. There is now a large brick plaza and river walk, beautiful landscaping, lots of good local restaurants and unique shops.

River Street

Last year when we were here we had heard that Joe’s Crab Shack was building a restaurant at the end of the street. I remember thinking how disappointing it was to think a chain restaurant would be in this area, especially one with large neon sign and all kinds of outdoor decor and flair such as I have seen in other communities. I was pleased to see how they designed it to fit in with the local style. We did not eat there, maybe another time.

Joe’s Crab Shack, Savannah,GA

Savannah was designed on a grid and includes 22 small parks. You can find a park every few blocks and each one is more beautiful than the other.

Savannah,GA

Once back at the Visitor Center we saw that the one foreign RV that was there yesterday had left but a new very similar one had arrived.

Foreign RV

This is not our first visit to Savannah, I’ve blogged about it before. To see several more pictures of Savannah from the last few years CLICK HERE

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: none

Posted in Georgia, November | Tagged Paula Deen, Recreational vehicle, Savannah, Savannah Georgia | Leave a comment

Special RVs

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

We left Charleston, South Carolina, this morning and headed south to Savannah, Georgia. On our way out of the campground we spotted this vintage camper. Then we saw several more. There had been a vintage RV rally in the campground and they were all leaving now.

Vintage RV

Driving these southern roads can be a challenge with a high-profile vehicle like ours. Our best bet is to stay on the Interstate highways, but sometimes we need to take local roads to get where we are going. These Live Oak trees looked worrisome but we cleared them, no problem.

Low Branches

We spotted another vintage RV leaving a rest area.

Vintage RV

And then, when we arrived at the Visitor Center in Savannah we spotted a foreign RV. Not sure what country it’s from. It has decals of elephants and giraffes on it.

Foreign RV

In previous visits to Savannah we were allowed to park overnight in the Visitor Center parking lot for a small fee. Usually the large lot had plenty of room for us but not this time. But we did get lucky and were able to squeeze into a back corner. Fortunately for us, because of the Veteran’s Day holiday Savannah was allowing free parking for the weekend, including overnight.

Gasoline Expense: $125 @ $3.00/gallon
Lodging Expense: none

Posted in Daily Post, Georgia, November | Tagged Recreational vehicle, Savannah, Visitor Center | Leave a comment

Charleston, SC

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

The first thing we saw when we got to Charleston this morning was the weekly Farmers Market. In addition to farmer’s produce there was also arts and crafts, live music and entertainment, games for the kids, and food vendors.

Charleston Farmers Market

Break Dancing in the Park

Just a block away is the Charleston Visitor Center. There are free trolley routes that will take you to various parts of the city. We took one to Waterfront Park.

Free Trolley at Charleston

Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park in Charleston, SC

Carnival Cruise Ship at Charleston

After enjoying a walk around the park we walked up the street a few blocks to the Old City Market. Built in 1841 to sell produce and meats, it now has over 100 small shops, restaurants and a flea market. It’s a long narrow building about three blocks long. The tall building houses the Daughters of the Confederacy Museum above the market.

Charleston Old City Market

Inside Old City Market

King Street, Charleston

Rather than wait for the next free trolley we just walked back to the Visitor Center. And just a block up from there is the Historic King Street. This is full of restaurants, fashion shops, and antique shops. We were pretty tired after all the walking we did today, so back to the RV for the rest of the day.

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $25

Posted in Daily Post, November, South Carolina | Tagged Charleston, Flea market, Museums, Old City Market | Leave a comment

Myrtle Beach and Lights

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

This morning we went to see Myrtle Beach. The tourists are gone, the hotels and vacation rentals are nearly empty, the amusement parks are closed and what shops that are still open were very quiet. There are a few people walking around. They appeared to be snowbirds, like us. It was cold and windy as we walked on the beach and at times the wind blew sand up in our face so we went up to the boardwalk to do our walking.

Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach Boardwalk

Once we were done with that we went back to the RV and drove to Charleston, SC. When we were in this area a few years ago we stayed at James Island County Park. It’s a beautiful park and we wanted to stay there again.

The campground was booked up but they have a large field in the back for the overflow. No hookups there, but the price was right. Bernie found a sunny spot so we could make use of that solar panel on the side.

Overflow Lot at James Island County Park

A bonus was that today is the opening day for the annual Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park. Three miles of over 700 light displays, marshmallow roasting, sand sculpture, giant greeting cards, and so much more.

Sand Sculpture

Giant Greeting Cards

Holiday Festival of Lights

Gasoline Expense: $100 @ $3.09/gallon
Lodging Expense: $25

Posted in Daily Post, November, South Carolina | Tagged Charleston, Grand Strand, James Island County Park, Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach Boardwalk | Leave a comment

The Atlantic

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Yesterday we arrived at Flanners Beach Campground in Croatan National Forest on the Neuse River in North Carolina. It’s not far from the Atlantic Ocean.

Flanners Beach, #17

With Bernie’s senior pass we are able to stay here, with electric hookup, for only $6 per night. We paid for two nights. There are not very many people here and we almost have the place to ourselves.

This morning we hiked a trail in the forest. The weather was cool, light jackets required. No bugs. It was a nice walk.

Croatan National Forest

Then we drove to see the ocean, about 20 miles from our campground. There was limited access to the beach. We stopped at one place and walked the boardwalk which took us through some brush and over the sand dunes to the beach.

Boardwalk to the Beach

The tourists have gone home. The beach was nearly empty of people. We walked along the ocean for a little while. It was getting windy and then started to rain, so we went home for the rest of the day.

Atlantic Beach

Atlantic Beach

Gasoline Expense: $75 @ $3.139
Lodging Expense: $12

Posted in Daily Post, North Carolina, November | Tagged Atlantic Ocean, Croatan National Forest | Leave a comment

North Carolina

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

It was a cold night, not enough to leave any frost in the morning, but enough to make us want to get further south.

Gas prices are going down. We got our first glimpse of $2.99/gallon today while passing through Virginia. But once we entered North Carolina the prices moved back up to between $3.17 – $3.39.

$2.99

This was not a very eventful day to be blogging about. We only drove 175 miles, and will be spending tonight in another Walmart. Now we are seeing more and more snowbirds heading towards Florida. We see them on the road, at rest stops, and tonight there are six of us here waiting to move on in the morning.

Walmart Snowbirds

And we were blessed with a nice colorful sunset over.. um.. Walmart.

Sunset over Walmart

Gasoline Expense: $105 @ $2.99
Lodging Expense: none

Posted in Daily Post, North Carolina, November | Tagged Gas Prices, North Carolina | Leave a comment

Mt. Vernon

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

I really enjoy visiting DC and hope we come back again. But for now, we have left the Greenbelt Park and moved south. But not very far. George Washington’s Mt. Vernon Estate, Museum & Gardens is just south of Washington DC, in Virginia. We stopped for a visit. He wasn’t home.

Mt. Vernon

For the $17 each price of admission we were given a tour of the inside of the house (no photography allowed) and then were free to walk around the grounds all we wanted. There is also a large visitor center and museum. George’s dentures are in a glass case in the visitor center but photography was not allowed. Everything anyone ever wanted to know about George Washington is there in the visitor center.

Mt. Vernon

View from Mt. Vernon

No indoor plumbing back in the 1700’s. The “Necessary Rooms” were outside. This one was a 3-holer.

George Washington Pooped Here

George and Martha Washington’s Tomb

George Washington

By the time we left there the sun was getting low in the sky and right in our eyes as we began looking for a place to stay for the night. There’s still too much traffic here for my liking. We just found the nearest Walmart and will stay here.

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: none
Admission/Parking: $34

Posted in Daily Post, November, Virginia | Tagged George Washington, Mount Vernon, Mt. Vernon | Leave a comment

More Museums and The Pentagon

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

Taking the train to DC again today with no particular plan in mind. This is our third year visiting so we’ve seen most of it at least once already. This time we took the Metro to Union Station.

Union Station, Washington DC

It’s beautiful inside. In addition to the Metro stop it’s also an Amtrak terminal, a shopping mall, large food court, and some nice restaurants.

Union Station, Washington DC

Next door to Union Station is the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. This is one that we had not seen yet. My first thought was “really?” and “boring”. But it was anything but! There are great exhibits showing the creation and history of the US Postal Service, artifacts from the Hindenburg and the Titanic, and much more than you know. If you are a stamp collector you MUST visit here.

Smithsonian National Postal Service Museum

Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Smithsonian Postal Museum, Washington DC

The US Capitol Building is just a few blocks from Union Station. It’s about 70 degrees today and the walk took us by a nice wooded park. The Capitol Building has two fronts…the West Front and the East Front. The West Front faces the National Mall. We arrived at the East Front side and went inside. We’ve already done the guided tour so today we just ate lunch at the cafeteria and visited the gift shop.

East Front of the US Capitol

Across the street from the Capitol Building is the US Botanic Garden. This is another favorite stop of ours. This year they have on display a Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum. This is ONE PLANT that takes 12-18 months and involves careful watering, pinching and tying of the chrysanthemum to a customized frame to get the plant to grow into the desired form. In addition to this one, there is another one at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania that is the largest Thousand Bloom in North America.

Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum

United States Botanic Garden, Washington DC

Pumpkin on a Stick

View of Capitol from the Botanical Garden

View of Capitol from the Botanic Garden

Leaving the Botanic Garden we walked a few more blocks west to the next Metro entrance and took the train over to the Pentagon.

Waiting for the Train

The first thing we see when we get off the train at the Pentagon is a sign that says “No Photography”. It seemed like a half mile walk from the train stop around to the other side of the Pentagon to the Memorial with “No Photography” signs all along the way. But once we got to the actual Memorial photography was allowed inside the Memorial only. It was a very solemn visit.

Pentagon Memorial for 9/11

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $8
Transportation: $20
Admission Exp: FREE

Posted in Daily Post, November, Washington DC | Tagged Botanic Garden, National Mall, Pentagon, Pentagon Memorial, Postal Museum, Smithsonian, Union Station, United States Capitol, West Front | Leave a comment

National Air and Space Museum

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

More rain again this morning. Once it let up we took the train to Washington DC again. The first thing we saw when we came up from the Metro subway train this morning was a line of food trucks getting ready for the noon lunch rush. I counted 20 trucks on this street corner.

Washington DC Food Trucks

Our mission today was to visit the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. We did visit this last year but felt it was definitely worth another visit.

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

We spent hours there looking over the airplanes, the rockets, and exhibits on flight history. So much information. There were space suit exhibits. Loved seeing our reflection in the spacesuit helmet.

Spacesuit Helmet

Apollo Lunar Module

The first monkey in space (1959) is displayed here. It was sad to see, but it is a part of the space program history.

Rhesus Monkey Able From May 1959 Jupiter Missile Nose Cone Test Flight.

We touched a moon rock and then after we thought about all the millions of other people who are touching it we went to wash our hands, haha!

Touch a Moon Rock

Of all the 19 or so Smithsonian museums here this is our favorite. When we were done there we walked around the National Mall some more. One last picture of the original Smithsonian Castle building. Now the Smithsonian information and visitor center is in there along with a gift shop and cafe.

Smithsonian Castle

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $8
Transportation & Parking: $20

Posted in Daily Post, Maryland, October, Washington DC | Tagged National Air and Space Museum, National Mall, Smithsonian, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Castle, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC | Leave a comment

Washington DC

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Marsha Brecht

It rained again this morning and then remained overcast and light fog for most of the day. We learned the first time we were here that driving ourselves to the capitol is a really bad idea. Taking the train in is so much better. So that’s what we did.

US Capitol

We mostly just walked around the National Mall and took some pictures. The Washington Monument is totally covered in scaffolding due to the repairs being made since it was damaged in that earthquake in 2011. The scaffolding is to begin to come down this weekend as the repairs are completed. Then scaffolding will be going up on the capitol dome to do some renovations there.

Washington Monument

Our first visit was to the Museum of American History. This is one of the many Smithsonian museums here and admission is free. There are three floors of wonderful and interesting displays including the inaugural ball gowns of the first ladies.

Museum of American History

First Lady Inaugural Ball Gowns

There is also a Little Golden Books artwork display. Oh, that brought back some memories.

Little Golden Books

We walked past the Dept. of Agriculture building and stopped in to see their visitor center. It was just a little room with some information and posters. We picked up free pedometers and a free package of heirloom tomato seeds.

US Department of Agriculture

Gasoline Expense: none
Lodging Expense: $8
Train Fare & Parking: $20

Posted in Daily Post, Maryland, October, Washington DC | Tagged Little Golden Books, National Mall, Smithsonian Institution, United States Capitol dome, Washington Monument | Leave a comment

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