Category: Capitol Building

Washington DC

Washington DC

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Hey Guys!! We spent one week in the DC area and it wasn’t nearly long enough at all. We had four very crazy, very full, very looonngggg days where we ventured into the DC area and we still didn’t get everything on our list done.

We somehow managed to snag tickets for the White House tour. We heard we were one of only five Texas families since February 2016 that’s been approved. And…we went on my birthday!

We got to look through some of the rooms that I’m pretty sure aren’t really used much anymore. Several of the rooms had a color theme. Can you guess the name of the room the bottom right picture? There were Secret Servicemen everywhere. Most of them were super nice and full of all kinds of info. We asked them all the questions we could think to ask. From how many colors of green were in the Green Room to how heavy the chandeliers are in the top right photo above. They patiently answered everything.

Caught this view out of one of the White House windows. Not bad, right?

I’m pretty sure they set this up as a photo opp…but it’s a good one.

And check out this piano! Gorgeous!!! I can’t tell you anything about it other than it was sitting in a room at the White House.

The very first thing we did in the area was visit the zoo. Nicholas is panda crazy and has been looking forward to seeing a real, live panda in person all summer. He was in heaven! We met an old friend of ours and her family at the zoo. *waves at Kiki & family* We got to catch up while the kids all watched the animals. It was a fun day!

We stayed at an RV park not too far from DC. They have an orientation about how to get around the area. It was super helpful. We used the two maps in the top left picture the whole time. Thankfully, we were able to utilize the Metro system and never had to actually drive our vehicle into the DC area. One of the experiences we missed out on in NYC was the subway system. The boys were curious about it and wanted to ride it, but the ones we needed were broken while we were there so we just didn’t get to do it. But while we were in DC we got to ride the Metro often. The first ride was pretty exciting for the boys.

We found a few foodies… You can see the Banana Fosters Shake in the right picture. It was fantastic! So so good!! And we found a great little hole-in-the-wall Salvadoran place. It too was just fantastic!! You can see the pupusas we got in the left picture.

We hit all of the memorials that we could. This is the WWII Memorial. We had to snag a picture by the Texas post.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial. We actually got a decent picture of the boys here without tons of other people in the shot. I think there were roughly a thousand or so people there at the same time we were trying to get the Junior Ranger stuff done. I don’t think I’m exaggerating that number…it was crazy busy.

Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial and the Iwo Jima Memorial

The Washington Monument was closed while we were there. Something to do with the elevators. We still enjoyed seeing it from afar.

We found the National Cathedral and it was gorgeous. We didn’t have a chance to go inside but we loved all of the angles and spires around the outside of it!

We made it to the Arlington National Cemetery. It’s a lovely place full of quiet reverence. We spent several hours here walking around and taking it in. The boys had some JR Rangering to do here and we all learned a lot from going through the book.

 We watched the changing of the guard before we left. It changed us all. You can’t watch something like that and not be changed. The boys still bring it up in conversation every so often.

We made time to see the Maryland State House!

The dome was ok…nothing special…but we did find some pretty stained glass!

I think we found the reddest room in the world. If it’s not official it should be. The walls were red velvet, the floor was red, the wood had a red hue to it…there was a lot of red in that room.

The Maryland State House is where George Washington resigned from the military. There was a neat little museum on the first floor that gave information about that day and what happened. The area around the building was pretty neat too! We enjoyed this one!

We somehow managed to get in a tour of the Nation’s Capitol Building! We wanted a complete set…but didn’t make it to the Pentagon.

Did you know that if you contact your State Rep that they will set up a private tour for you so you don’t have to wait in the long lines? And you get to go into the tunnels that connect the Capitol Complex. It was pretty cool to see a part of the Capitol that not everyone gets to see. The boys thought we were super cool that day.

I want y’all to know I got in trouble taking this picture. Apparently, you’re not supposed to stop in the center of the room and lay your phone down on the ground while you’re at the Nation’s Capitol. I thought for a minute I was going to get kicked out. I made sure to snap the picture before getting up though. I mean, I was already there…and in trouble…might as well get the shot, right?! And…that shot was worth it. What a gorgeous dome!

 Each state gets to have two statues in the building. So…there are statues sitting everywhere. To be honest, it was kind of a weirdly laid out room that felt cluttered. Someone needs to organize it. Our tour guide showed us the Whispering Spot where John Quincy Adams used to have his desk in the room. We stood over this spot and our guide stood way over across the room and whispered. And we heard him like he was standing right beside us! It was the coolest thing!

This is the old Senate Chambers. It used to have wooden floors. Notice the spittoon? They were everywhere! According to our guide all of the Senators used to chew tobacco and instead of using the spittoons they would just spit on the floor. It became so gross that if you dropped anything at all you just left it. And instead of stopping or using the spittoons they would just rip out the wooden floor every so often and replace it. Talk about a waste of money. Sheesh. Can you even imagine the smell this room most have had??? Bleh!!! So gross!!

We found a few pretties…Not too many since it was late in the season. But, there were a few flowers still hanging on.

We walked a lot in the four days we were in DC. Sometimes it pays to be the littlest…Nicholas appreciated the piggy-back rides when his feet started to protest the amount of miles we were walking. And we walked so so many miles during our DC visit.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Connecticut

Connecticut

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We spent one week in Connecticut mainly to visit the State Capitol Building.

The Connecticut State Capitol Building looks impressive!

The dome was beautiful. You know I’m a sucker for a good dome and I love this one!

The architecture throughout the building was interesting. I’m also a sucker for a good staircase. There were stained glass windows and richly painted walls.

It’s called the Charter Oak Chair, but our tour guide called it The Wish Chair. The boys all sat in it and made a wish…There’s a story behind it and please forgive me, but I don’t remember it well enough to tell you. I struggled with connectivity issues so several weeks have passed since we were there. I’m sure you could find the story online if you’re curious about the story of The Wish Chair.

The CT State Capitol Building made it on to our list top ten SCBs! There was so much we loved about this one!

We caught a view of the blue onion dome on our way out of Hartford. We didn’t stop or get out of the car because it wasn’t in a safe neighborhood and we were on our way somewhere. It was cool to see though.

The only other thing we did in CT was visit Gillette State Park to see the “castle”.

We enjoyed touring this castle just as much as we did the Newport Mansions. They had nothing in common. The castle had a very rustic, DIY feel to it where the Newport Mansions were all about showing off as much luxury as they could. There were 42 doors and all of them were different…and very cool. The light switches were carved from wood too.

If you look closely, you’ll notice the chair in the bottom picture is on rails to keep from scratching the floor. There was even a library in the castle! Sadly, they had to add the wooden bars in front of the books because people kept trying to walk off with them. I don’t understand why some people have to do things like that. If it’s not yours…don’t touch it.

Gillette loved trains so much he built his own train depot and track on his property.

You might recognize Gillette’s name if you’re a Sherlock fan. William Hooker Gillette was a play writer. Arthur Conan Doyle approached Gillette in the mid 1890s to see if he was interested in writing an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. Not only did Gillette write the play, he also stared in it as Holmes. Gillette gave the iconic character some of the symbols we’ve come to associate Sherlock Holmes with…the deerstalker cap, the pipe, and the catch phrase “Oh this is elementary, my dear fellow”. The phrase eventually developed into the “Elementary, my dear Watson” that we all know.

We didn’t do much in CT. We had zero cell service which made it impossible to work or do any research for things to see. And we didn’t really care for the RV park we stayed at. It was a long week of doing nothing and it kind of dragged by for us. I’m sure there are some very lovely and wonderful areas of CT, but we didn’t stay near them.

See y’all down the road!

#easterloop2016

Newport Rhode Island

Newport Rhode Island

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We spent one very long, very busy week in the Newport area of Rhode Island. This post is going to be picture heavy. I tried to scale it down, but honestly, I could do a separate post for each of the Newport Mansions. I don’t have time to do that though, so y’all will just have to go visit them. Pictures don’t do these mansions justice anyway. To fully appreciate them in all their grandeur you really need to visit them. We ended up getting a one year membership to the Newport Mansions. If you can believe it…it was cheaper for a family of five to get a membership and have access to all eleven locations vs. paying for a bundle or buying tickets at each location.

I really struggled with getting decent shots of the insides of the mansions. The lighting was bad and I’m not experienced with shooting rooms like this. Sorry…I tried.

 We started at The Elms. Built in 1901, the house was completely “modern” and had all of the technological advances of the time. I should mention now that all of the Newport Mansions were considered summer cottages. They were used five to six weeks out of the year and then closed up for the remainder of the year while the family lived in one of their other homes.

One of my favorite things to see on the tours were the vanity tables. I loved seeing all of the old brushes and combs…everything they thought was necessary to be presentable. Don’t forget The Elms had all of the modern day technologies of the time…check out that bathroom. No outhouses for these guys.

The tours are really well done. They’re all self-guided…kind of. When you enter the “summer cottage” you’re given an audio tour with headphones that guides you through the house. You get to hear about what’s in each room…little stories about the people who lived there…and even some info about the people who worked there. At The Elms there’s even a separate tour you can take called Servant Life Tour. I’d go back just for that and to go through all the mansions again. The other part of the tour that always fascinated me was the kitchen areas. Check out that mortar and pestle sitting on the table. It’s hard to judge just how big they are, but you can kind of see a few bowls next to them. And check out those copper pots!! They’ve got spigots on them!

One of the themes we heard in several of the mansions was that “the mansion ran like magic”. You weren’t supposed to see how the place was cleaned or how the supplies got there. You weren’t supposed to see any of the servants except the male butlers. The Elms took it so far as to hide the entrance to where all the deliveries were made. You can see the delivery entrance in the top picture above. I somehow missed getting a decent shot of the front of The Elms…but here’s what the back looks like.

The next mansion we toured was The Breakers, built in 1895. The Breakers is just one of the Vanderbilt’s summer homes. Some of the best things about the audio tours were all of the stories about the inhabitants. The Vanderbilt Family was just that…a family. We heard stories about the kids sliding down the staircases on serving trays. In fact, it wasn’t just the kids that did that. Apparently, they would have parties and everyone would take a turn sliding down the stairs.

There are 70 rooms at The Breakers. I love the picture of one of the ornate ceilings in the bottom left picture. There were so many great details. I had to share these wall panels with y’all. You can see them in the bottom right picture. Guys, they’re platinum leaf…so they’ll always be shiny. Platinum. You know…just because they can. Because money is no object. The gardens of The Breakers were all just as showy. I took way too many pictures here. Each house really could have its own post. I’m not even scratching the surface with what we saw and learned here.

The saddest story we heard was at The Rosecliff. The Rosecliff was built in 1902 by Tessie Oelrich who was a silver heiress. They were considered new money. Tessie was very into the social scene in Newport and was considered “one of the three great hostesses” in the area. She loved a good party, but as time went on the other big families in Newport moved on. Tessie couldn’t quite let go of her Gilded Age life and stayed. In her later years, Tessie would wander through the empty rooms “serving guests” and encouraging them to have “just one more drink”. What a lonely life she ended up leading…

The Rosecliff has been in several movies. You might recognize it from the 1974 Great Gatsby. I love the view from Rosecliff! It was absolutely gorgeous!!

Chateau-sur-Mer belonged to the Wetmore family and was built in 1852.

I loved all of the painting in this house. The walls weren’t just decorated with wallpaper…they were artistically painted. The ceiling in one of the rooms is carved solid wood. Not plaster painted to look like wood…but actual wood. I loved it!

The dining room had leather wallpaper that was stretched smooth and painted. You can see a closer look at the leather wallpaper in the left picture. It’s starting to crack with age. But can you imagine the effect it had back when it was new? The dining room had a fireplace that was only lit with candles. They would put mirrored partitions in front of the doors to reflect the light and pull the curtains closed. With the shine of the leather…I bet it was magical.

Check out all of the different brushes, combs, and bottles!

Chateau-sur-Mer was the only mansion that didn’t have an audio tour. We had a guided tour here and we probably learned even more about the ins and outs of this beautiful home.

The boys’ favorite thing was the European Weeping Beech. They declared it fort worthy and promptly made their way to the center. It was pretty awesome. I think we’ll plant one of these trees when we get some land someday!

The last mansion we went through was The Marble House. It was built in 1892 to be the “ultimate statement of Gilded Age privilege”. Showing everyone how much money and privilege you had seemed to be one of the most important things during this time period for these families.

The Gothic Room was built to display the Vanderbilt’s Gothic art collection. The ceiling in the Gothic room was a true work of art. I never really paid attention to ceilings before doing the Newport Mansion tours, but the ceilings in these “summer cottages” were just as detailed and amazing as the rest of the room.

Checkout the fresco that was painted about their table. Because, obviously, we all need a fresco painted above our dining room table that should be in a museum and not a house. You know, it was kind of funny to hear how much “work” it was to summer in Newport for these families. They were expected to be seen doing specific things at the right time of the day, each day, wearing the appropriate attire…which meant changing clothes five or six times a day. And then there were the parties they had to attend. They had zero time to do what they really wanted to do.

And then we heard how all of those dresses they wore (five or more a day) would have to have the buttons cut off before they were washed (to protect the button and the garment) only to be hand sewn back on. Have you seen how many teeny tiny buttons used to be on those dresses? I can’t imagine being a seamstress for the household. You can see he stairs up to the servant’s area of the house in the left picture…it was as ornate and impressive as everything else in the summer cottage. The family would never go to the servant area. It was considered taboo. No one but the servants would ever see it.

The Marble House got its name from the 500K cubic feet of marble it’s made of. That’s a lot of marble! It was beautiful!

We did make it to Providence, RI to see the State Capitol Building!

The dome was being worked on so…I really don’t know what it looked like. They did have the best library we’ve seen in a state capitol building though! I would love to have a library like that someday!

We also snuck in a tour of Fort Adams. We got to go into the ruins and hear stories about what life was like there.

They even led us up to the top of the fort where we had a great view!

But the best part was going down into the listening tunnels! I know the picture is a little blurry…we were trying not to be left behind in the pitch dark tunnels that broke off and went in every direction. It was completely cramped, dark, wet, and you could have easily gotten lost….it was totally awesome. And for those brave enough to venture in…they were rewarded with a sticker. The five of us are officially tunnel rats!

We even managed to squeak in enough time to see a lighthouse! It was one jam-packed week!!

There were some pretties…we always make time to stop and smell the flowers no matter how busy we are. Just watch out for the bees!

See y’all down the road!

#easterlooptour2016

Hampton Falls Area

Hampton Falls Area

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We used Hampton Falls, NH as our base camp to explore the area. We spent two weeks in NH bouncing around between Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. I usually break these kinds of posts up, but I’m going to smash it all into one this time!

We spent a day in Salem, MA. Salem is a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. The whole witch trial thing always fascinated me. Salem is kind of what you would expect. It’s filled with all things witchy…new and old.

There’s so much history in the North East. We made it by the Lyceum Hall where Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call. Extra points if you know what he said!

The Old Town Hall was in a movie you might have seen…Hocus Pocus! I geeked out just a bit here as we walked by. It’s always fun to walk by places that you’ve seen on the big screen…or small screen!

We stopped by the oldest grave yard in Salem. The Witch Trails are such a sad part of our history. It bothered us how touristy Salem is…we feel like they’re being a little disrespectful to what really happened there. I’m not going to go into a history lesson here…we all know what happened. Real people died in some horrific ways here…maybe tone down the touristy vibes a bit.

We made it to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site where the boys earned another Junior Ranger badge! And that was the end of our time in Salem!

We spent a day in Boston, MA walking the Freedom Trail! I love Boston! I’m just going to throw that out there right from the start. I loved it way more than I thought I would…you know, since it’s a big urban area!

Let’s start with the Capitol Building. It’s gorgeous! Look at that golden dome! The inside didn’t disappoint either. We did a guided tour at this SCB and on it we met a lovely family from England! It was interesting to hear their take on the building and America.  When we got to the inside of the dome, we stood there with our mouths open for a minute. Look at that stained glass!! All thirteen original colonies are represented in this stained glass. Love it! I couldn’t leave out the tile floor. It’s so pretty! This Capitol Building is high up on our favorites list. It didn’t disappoint at all. I could do an entire post about it, but we’re leaving the Hampton Falls area tomorrow and I’m not sure I’ll have cell service at our next spot so I’m trying to get all caught up on my posts. If you’re in the area though…make time to visit this SCB!

We found our way to the Paul Revere House and strolled through. It’s a self-guided tour with interpreters around to answer any questions you might have. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside. I think it’s kind of weird not to allow photos of this place as long as you don’t use flash…but, it is what it is. The Paul Revere House is the oldest house in Boston. Looks pretty good for its age.

Another stop on the Freedom Trail is the Old North Church where the two lanterns were hung on April 18, 1775. You can go in and look around. We’d never been to a church where the pews were boxed off like this. Apparently, back when the church was first built, you would purchase your own box. I guess people were very particular about who that sat next to.

 We stopped by one of the graveyards on the Freedom Trail. The one in the pictures above is called Copp’s Hill Burying Ground. One of the things we noticed about the gravestones in both Salem and Boston are that they’re a lot thinner than what we’re used to seeing. Quite a few of the headstones were decorated with the skull and cross bone symbols or a skull with wings. The symbols were supposed to be a reminder to the Puritans of the mortality of the body.

I love the mixture of old and new buildings in Boston!

I may have geeked out a bit here too. I mean, it’s Cheers! Where everybody knows your name! We went in and had some burgers. No, the inside doesn’t look like it does on the show. I was a little disappointed with that. It was a long hot day of walking though and that air conditioned seat felt wonderful! It might not have looked like the Cheers on the television, but there was a wall dedicated to the show!

I had to stop by the Make Way For The Ducks sculpture. Nicholas helped me by standing next to the duck so we could get a size comparison. Super cute! (the duck and the kiddo)

Ok. One more picture of Boston. This is Swan Pond. How lovely is it? We didn’t stick around long here because we were all so tired and ready to be back in the car. I have to take a minute to brag about the boys. It was so hot while we were in Boston and we walked so so many miles…the boys didn’t complain or whine at all They were such troopers!

We snuck out one afternoon to explore Halibut Point State Park. This state park used to be a quarry and you can see the “pond” mining the area made in the bottom right picture above. We saw this pretty little bird while we were heading back to our car. It let me get really close!

Not far from where we stayed was a farm where you can pick your own blueberries! I’m pretty sure some of us (I’m sure you can guess which of us) ate more blueberries than what they put in the baskets. Ha!

We explored the ruins of Fort Constitution. There wasn’t much there. Most of it looked like the picture on the left. I’m not sure the tunnel on the right was part of the original Fort…it was right next to it.

We went to see the Nubble Lighthouse! It was a gorgeous day! We checked out some of the tidal pools at the lighthouse…but there wasn’t too much in them. The boys still had fun looking in them though!

Best of all…we got to meet up with one of my friends! Hey Anne Marie!! One of the things I like the most about our nomadic lifestyle is that I get to go visit friends!

Are you ready for some flowers? I loved seeing the purple and blue ones all over the place…so pretty! I don’t think the purple flowers in the bottom middle picture is fireweed, but it’s really close. There’s sumac all over the place here! The flower in the bottom left picture is called Queen Anne’s Lace and when it’s all bloomed out it’s a really pretty white flower. I know it’s a weed, but it’s so pretty I wanted to include it.

These were in our RV Park! You can’t tell from the picture on the right, but this bush was well over six feet tall!

I think that’s it! We fit quite a bit into the two weeks we had in this area!

See y’all down the road!

#easterloop2016

NH and ME State Capitol Buildings

NH and ME State Capitol Buildings

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I’m combining the New Hampshire and Maine State Capitol Building posts.

We only spent a night in New Hampshire on our way through to Maine, but don’t worry…we’re going to be doing some more things in New Hampshire on our way back down the coast.

The New Hampshire SCB was under some construction so the dome was covered. Dang. I’m sure it’s a lovely dome. I heard that it’s covered in gold leaf.

The inside was very utilitarian, but everything that was there had a meaning or purpose. There were over 200 paintings throughout the building. We didn’t take the tour at the Concord, New Hampshire State Capitol Building so unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of information on it. The door to the Senate Gallery was open so we went in to have a look. You can take a look at it in the bottom left photo. The New Hampshire Senate is the fourth smallest state Senate with only 24 members. So far, each of the New England states has had a Hall of Flags in their State Capitol Buildings. You can see some of the flags in the bottom right photo above. The flags were all in a display case.

I spotted these flowers on the corner across from the State Capitol Building and had to snap a picture. We did manage to squeeze in a pizza place in New Hampshire before we headed on down the road. I’ll let Nicholas give you all the details about that though!

 Next stop was the Maine State Capitol Building! The Maine State House was in line with the other New England Houses. Very basic, clean lines, utilitarian. We saw another Hall of Flags, but all of these flags were replicas. The real ones were at a museum.

This was the first time we saw a porch at a State Capitol Building. According to the tour guide, it’s used often when the Senate and House are in session.

There was a dome and we actually got to see it! It’s…cream colored. As the guide was walking us to the Senate Gallery, she warned us that we couldn’t touch the Senate chairs. That even the Senators weren’t allowed to touch another Senator’s chair. And she watched us like a hawk while we were in there. Jerl dared me to touch one on our way out. I may or may not have accidentally brushed against one of them. Maybe. Maybe not…

The RV park we stayed at while we were visiting Augusta, ME was right by the Kennebec River. It was beautiful and calm while we were there!

Charles had been looking forward to the seafood offered in the North Eastern states. We stopped in at a local favorite called The Red Barn where your meal comes out and is all one color. Ha! You get the three Fs at The Red Barn…fried, fresh and fast! Guys…it was so good! We got the Mixed Seafood Baskets to share. Except Nicholas who opted for a burger. And then Jerl and I got a cup of the Seafood Stew to share. Oh! And I had to try the onion rings! We thoroughly enjoyed everything we got!

We’ll be in Maine for about a month so we’ll definitely get a chance to experience more of what Maine has to offer.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Montpelier, VT

Montpelier, VT

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Remember back in the Albany post how I told you I had several State Capitol Building posts to do? Montpelier is number two of four.

Vermont has the smallest State Capitol City. It’s tiny. The dome you see on the building is covered with 23.7 carat gold leaf. I had high hopes for this building. It looked so promising from the outside.

I’ve got three pictures to show you of the Vermont State Capitol Building and one of them is a picture of the floor. In the lobby, the floor is made of marble. The white tiles are from Danby, Vt and the black tiles are from Isle La Motte on Lake Champlain. All throughout the building you can see fossils from the Chazy Fossil Reef. We loved that! The boys kept watch for more fossils while we took the tour.

We took the guided tour and saw the Senate Chamber, Representatives’ Hall, and even the Governor’s Office. It was all nice and tidy…and needing some work. There wasn’t anything opulent. It was, in fact, all very modest. In the Reception Room we saw two stained glass skylights. They were both lovely.

I’m afraid that’s all I have to tell you about the Vermont State Capitol Building. After seeing the grandeur of the New York State Capitol Building…the Vermont SCB was a little disappointing. I was looking forward to the dome, but we didn’t get to see it because it’s been deemed unsafe. What a bummer.

When you think of Vermont, what comes to mind? Maple syrup and dairy, right? We found a place called Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks to explore the maple syrup making process.

You can walk around and look at where they get their maple. It all starts with the trees. They call early spring “sugarin’ time”. One tap hole can produce up to fifteen gallons of sap each season. Since it takes forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, it takes up to three trees to make a gallon of finished syrup. Once they’ve collected the sap they run it through a reverse osmosis then it goes into the machine you see above. The whole point is to get as much of the water out of the syrup as possible and bring it to a specific temperature. Interesting fact…way back when Vermonters started working with maple, they actually cooked it longer and made a sugar out of it. When the white cane sugar we all know became popular, the people of Vermont decided to start making maple syrup instead of maple sugar.

Think that stuff you pour over your pancakes every morning is maple syrup? You should check the ingredients. More often than not it’s actually corn syrup flavored to taste like maple syrup.

It’s known as creemee in Vermont, but the rest of the country knows it as soft serve ice cream. At Morse Farm they add maple syrup to their creemee and it is magical! We all got treats. Nicholas had the Maple Popcorn Sundae. He wasn’t mad about it. *wink wink*

We found the Ben & Jerry’s Factory to take care of the dairy part of what Vermont is known for. There’s a guided tour that takes you right by the factory where they’re making the ice cream. Be prepared…I snuck a shot just for y’all…

Oh dang…you can’t really see anything. *giggle* We weren’t supposed to take photos of the factory. The guide said something about corporate secrets…honestly, you can see everything you would want to see in the right picture above. I’m not sure what secrets they were worried about leaking. It looked amazingly like any other food factory floor.

They took us down to the original flavor lab. You can see it in the left photo above. This is the place where Ben & Jerry used to make all of their flavors. And yes, they said it was ok for me to grab photo of it.

At the end of the tour they give you a free scoop of the flavor of the day. For us it was Triple Caramel Chunk. Yummo! And…of course, we had to visit the scoop shop on our way out even though we’d just had some free ice cream!

I forgot to tell you about the Flavor Graveyard where you can stroll through the “graves” of the flavors that have been discontinued. It was a fun tour with a tasty ending!

We only spent a week in Vermont, but we will definitely go back! Vermont turned out to have a beautiful countryside, and is definitely a foodie’s paradise…we found some not so hidden treasures.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Albany, NY

Albany, NY

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Hey Guys! I’m behind on getting posts ready for you. I prefer to write the posts right after we have the experience so everything is fresh in my mind. Especially when it’s a State Capitol Building. We try to take the guided tours because they’re so interesting and informative…the problem with that is…well, right now I am four State Capitol Buildings behind. SO…bear with me while I try to keep my facts straight.

We’ve been struggling with decent cell service/wifi at the RV parks we’re staying at. Right now, we’re actually in Main and while I have zero cell service (Come on Sprint! What’s up with the shoddy service up here?!) the park we’re staying at has excellent wifi! Thank goodness!

The New York State Capitol Building is in a tie for our top State Capitol Building! We loved it! Right off the bat you can see that it’s going to be different. It looks more like a big estate home or maybe a small castle. I love all of the different angles and lines here. There’s so much attention to detail in every aspect of this building.

Five floors and five architects. They kept firing their architect which drew out the construction. There are so many things I love about this building, but come on…pick a style and stick with it. I feel like someone should have told the architects to stay with the style that was already started. Since we had a small tour group (us and another couple) the guide took us all the way up to the 5th floor! You can see our view in the photo above. The Assembly Staircase (fifth floor) is done in Moorish and Gothic styles and was finished in 1879.

The skylight you can see in the right photo was removed in 1949 and restored in 2011. Construction lasted for more than a quarter of a century. In 1899 Governor Theodore Roosevelt declared the building done. It wasn’t actually done but, the cost had exceeded twenty-five million dollars which made the New York State Capitol Building more expensive than the U.S. Capitol. When construction halted, there was still carving that needed to be finished. So, when you walk through the building, you can see where they stopped. In the picture on the left, you can see the line of edging left unfinished.

It’s officially called the Great Western Staircase, but everyone knows it as the Million Dollar Staircase. And yes, it really did cost a million dollars to build it. This staircase is made of sandstone and was carved after it was built. There were hundreds of carvers employed, working ten hour days carving the inside of the building. Not just this particular staircase, but all over the building.

Corsehill sandstone was imported from Scotland because of the specific qualities it has which make it excellent for carving. In 1911 a huge fire discolored the sandstone. You can see the difference in colors in the photo above. In 2000 they started restoration work on the building. Because most of the interior is made from sandstone it took a long time getting it clean. I don’t remember what year they finally finished it, but it wasn’t too long ago.

The Capitol stone carvers created hundreds maybe even thousands of faces all throughout the building. There are famous faces like Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and Susan B. Anthony, but there are also many unidentified faces. Our guide told us they believe the carvers used everyone and anyone in their daily lives as a model for a face.

Look closely to the photo on the right! Can you see it? If you look close enough, you’ll see the smallest carving in the entire building. It took them years to find it. Apparently, one of the carvers was fired and snuck back into the building one night and carved this little devil.

So, what do you think? It’s a gorgeous building. We could have wandered around for hours looking at everything. Are you wondering where the dome picture is? There’s not one. There’s not a rotunda either. And it’s still sitting firmly in a top slot on our list. They were actually going to have a rotunda and a “dome”, but they ran out of time or maybe I should say, they ran out of money. I’m not going to tell you how many pictures I took of this building. Don’t even ask. If you ever get a chance to visit the New York State Capitol Building, do it. You won’t regret it.

We didn’t really do anything else at this stop.

We did find a Five Guys that offers shakes! Mind…blown… That was a new thing for us. I guess this particular location has had shakes for a year or so.

The boys took over our room and played some board games. I just realized, y’all haven’t seen our home…I should do a photo tour for you.

And…we made some new friends. We’ll be stopping in Alabama to visit our new friends toward the end of this loop. *waves at the Level Family*

See y’all down the road!!

#easternloop2016

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

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We spent several weeks in Pennsylvania near Jerl’s office. It was weird staying in one spot for so long.

We finally saw some amazing weather! I took full advantage of the sun and spent some mornings reading outside.

Yup, that’s a horse! The place next to the RV park had several horses that they rode every day. Watching the horses was one of my favorite things about this park.

We found a great farm that sold raw milk! They had several different animals that we could walk around and see. Look how big those dairy cows are!! They sold milk, eggs, yogurt, cheese, sweets (we bought a couple) and ice cream!

We also found a great meat market. They raise everything they sell. You could get pretty much anything pickled. Our favorite thing there was the bacon!

 We also got to spend time with some of our friends and their families at an office get together! It was so great seeing everyone!

Over the past year we’ve learned that different states have their foodie thing. In Alaska it was coffee…there were coffee shops everywhere! In New Mexico it was chilies…they even put them in their desserts. Well, in Pennsylvania it’s pizza! Guys…we ate soooo much pizza!!! And it was all from mom and pop places! I’ll leave it up to Nicholas to give you all of the tasty details!

We were only about an hour away from Trenton, NJ so we stopped by the New Jersey State Capitol Building on our way to Philly one morning. Check out that dome!

We didn’t get to look around the inside of the building. You have to be on a guided tour in order to gain access to any of the State Capitol Building rooms, but there were a couple of super nice security guards that walked us to the dome so I could get a picture of it. That was seriously nice of them.

Flowers, flowers, and more flowers! How gorgeous is the white vine?!

We get it Pennsylvania…you’re kind of awesome…we’ll be back!

#easternloop2016

Harrisburg, PA

Harrisburg, PA

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While we were staying in Gettysburg we made it to Harrisburg to see the State Capitol Building.

We went on a Sunday to try and avoid all of the end of the school year tours. I think there were seven other people in our group…it was great! The Pennsylvania State Capitol Building is definitely the most opulent one we’ve seen so far. I mean…look at that dome. See all of that gold? It’s real. Impressive, right? The dome is 272 feet, weighs 52 million pounds, and was inspired by Michelangelo’s design for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

At the entrance is a set of 17 foot bronze doors weighing in at a full ton each.

Several of the Capitol Rotunda’s features were borrowed from the Paris Opera House. I love all of the deep vibrant colors.

One of my favorite things about the Penn State Capitol Building is the first floor. There are close to 400 Moravian tile mosaics portraying different aspects of the state.

We were told that the Capitol Building has been called a “Palace of Art.” It’s definitely filled with beauty. Check out the Senate Chamber in the picture above.

There are 24 stained glass windows in the Senate and House Chambers. Each window represents a theme and are framed in 24-karat gold leaf embellishments.

The six crystal chandeliers in the House Chamber require over 1,000 light bulbs and weigh from two to over four tons each.  When our tour guide learned that this was our seventeenth Capitol Building, she kept asking us what we thought. I got the impression she was a little competitive. We were asked by more than one person at the Capitol Building what our favorite one is so far only to be told that the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building is rated number two in the country. I can safely say Pennsylvanians are very proud of their Capitol Building! And they have a right to be…it is absolutely gorgeous!

While we were in the Harrisburg area, we took the opportunity to visit Hershey.

Yup. That Hershey.

There’s a free tour ride where they explain the whole process starting with where they get their beans and how they clean them to roasting them (it was warm on this part of the ride) to the melting process (it smelled heavenly during this portion of the ride).

And, of course, there was a souvenir shop where you could buy candy. Nicholas really wanted to get that huge bar of Hershey’s milk chocolate, unfortunately, we don’t have room for a candy bar that big! The Reese’s area was my favorite section. They even had some baked goods available! It was kind of like dying and going to sugar heaven! I think I got a sugar rush just from the smell!

We had to buy our souvenir Hershey’s Ride Photo. The whole experience was fun and we got a free candy bar! I’d call that a win!

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Milton, WV

Milton, WV

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We spent a week at the Huntington/Fox Fire KOA just outside of Charleston. It’s giving our favorite RV Park a run for its money. The owners are super friendly, and really care about your stay. The park is very clean and family friendly.

The KOA has banana bikes in various sizes for all to enjoy for a small price. It’s very reasonable. The boys road them almost everyday we were there. The park also offered a couple of fully stocked ponds to fish in. Alex and Nicholas each caught a fish one evening! The ponds were both catch and release so we let the little fishes go. It was a great way to spend the evenings! There were several activities offered by the KOA, but the boys’ favorite thing there was the owner’s dog! Winchester not only had a great name… he does a great trick! If y’all are ever in the area, we highly recommend the Huntington/Fox Fire KOA!

We didn’t get to take a tour of the Charleston Capitol Building. The website said tours were available, but when we got there, we found out they’d recently changed that. Bummer. We did get to walk around some, but we really enjoy taking the guided tours. You learn more about the building and sometimes you get into parts of the building you wouldn’t normally get to see.

The Charleston Capitol Building was one of the more reserved buildings we’ve seen so far. Where other state capitol buildings have decorated every space this one has gone in another direction. And you know what? I like it. It’s not flashy. It’s modest. The building speaks for itself without all of the flash. In the right photo above you can see what they call a chandelier and it weighs 4,000 pounds. The chandelier is made from graduated crystals imported from Czechoslovakia. The light was definitely twinkling! Y’all know I prefer the stained glass, but I will admit the crystal chandelier was lovely.

Just like all the other capitol buildings, there is marble everywhere. You can see how much marble was in the Charleston Capitol Building rotunda.

 The museum across the courtyard from the Capitol Building was a nice surprise. We spent a couple of hours learning about the history of West Virginia. In the photo above you can see what a general store would have looked like during the late 1800s early 1900s in West Virginia.

We went to the Blenko Glass Company one afternoon to check it out. The building the glass blowers work in has an observation deck for tours and we watched that blob of glass as it was turned into this amazing blue vase! It was very cool. We stood there and watched them do several before we went down to the gift shop where we got a pretty blue vase to give someone as a gift. I somehow missed getting a photo of the vase we bought.

We also found the Milton covered bridge at a park near Blenko Glass! I used it as a background for some school pictures of the boys. They turned out great this year!

I’m loving all of the spring flowers! The tulips you can see in the left photo were in a vibrant shade of purple…one of the best colors in my opinion…

We immensely enjoyed our time in the Milton area. We’ve already decided another trip is in the future!

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016