Capitol Building – Page 3

Washington DC

By Jennie Simpson | October 11, 2016

Hey Guys!! We spent one week in the DC area and it wasn’t nearly long enough. 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.

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 above?

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 photo above.

Caught this view out 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!!!

The very first thing we did in the area was visit the zoo. Littlest 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.

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 these two maps the whole time. We never had to actually drive into the DC area. We always utilized the Metro system.

One of the experiences we missed out on in NYC was the subway system. The boys were curious about it and wanting to ride it, but we just didn’t get to do it. So, while we were in DC we rode the Metro often. The first ride was pretty exciting for them.

For those of you wondering what it looks like. Here’s one of the Metro stops.

We found a few foodies… This is a Banana Fosters Shake. It was fantastic! So good!!

And we found a great little hole-in-the-wall Salvadoran place. It too was just fantastic!!

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

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

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.

Korean War Memorial

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

Vietnam War Memorial.

Iwo Jima Memorial.

We found the National Cathedral. It was gorgeous. I love all of the angles and spires around 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.

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 it to the Maryland State House!

The dome was ok…

It had some pretty stained glass.

We found the reddest room in the world. If it’s not official it should be. The walls were red velvet.

The Maryland State House is where George Washington resigned from the military.

There was a neat little museum on the first floor. The area around the building was pretty neat too! We enjoyed this one.

We even managed to get in a tour of the Nation’s Capitol Building! We wanted a complete set…

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.

I want y’all to know I got in trouble taking this picture for y’all. Apparently, you’re not supposed to stop in the center 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.

Each state gets to have two statues in the building. So…there are statues sitting everywhere. It’s kind of weird.

Our tour guide showed us the Whispering Spot where John Quincy Adams used to have his desk in the room in the photo above this one. We stood over this spot and our guide stood way over across the room and whispered. And we heard him! 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!!!

We found a few pretties…

Not too many. It was late in the season.

We walked a lot in the four days we were in DC. Sometimes it pays to be the Littlest.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Connecticut

By Jennie Simpson | September 26, 2016

We spent one week in Connecticut.

The State Capitol Building is impressive.

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

The architecture 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. 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 so inclined.

The CT State Capitol Building made it to our top ten.

We caught the blue onion dome on our way out of Hartford. We didn’t really stop or get out of the car because it wasn’t in a safe neighborhood.

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 feel. There were 42 doors and all of them were different. The light switches were carved from wood.

If you look closely, you’ll notice the chair is on rails to keep from scratching the floor.

There was even a library. Sadly, they had to add the wooden bars in front of the books because people kept trying to walk off with them.

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. 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

By Jennie Simpson | September 20, 2016

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 must 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.

One of my favorite things to see on the tours were the vanity tables. I love 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 the bathroom. No outhouses for these guys.

This is the china closet.

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 about the people who worked there. At The Elms there’s even a separate tour you can take called Servant Life Tour. I’ll come 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. 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.

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.

This is the ceiling of the room in the picture above this one. There were so many great details.

I had to share these wall panels with y’all. They’re platinum leaf…so they’ll always be shiny. Platinum. You know…just because they can.

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 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”.

The Rosecliff has been in several movies. You might recognize it from the 1974 Great Gatsby.

I love the view from Rosecliff.

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

I love 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.

Here’s a closer look at the leather wallpaper. It’s starting to crack with age. But can you imagine the effect it had back when it was new? Go back and look at the previous picture. The dining room had a fireplace and 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 those different brushes!

Chateau-sur-Mer was the only mansion that didn’t have an audio tour. We had a guided tour here.

The boys’ favorite thing was the European Weeping Beech. They declared it fort worthy. It was pretty awesome.

Here’s what the whole tree looked like.

The last mansion we went through was The Marble House. It was built in 1892 to be the “ultimate statement of Gilded Age privilege”.

This is the Gothic Room it was built to display the Vanderbilt’s Gothic art collection.

The ceiling in the Gothic room. 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.

Because we all need a fresco above our dining room table. 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 would hear 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.

The stairs up to the servant’s area of the house. The family would never go to the servant area. It was considered taboo.

The Marble House got its name from the 500K cubic feet of marble it’s made of.

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!

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.

We even managed 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

By Jennie Simpson | September 1, 2016

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! Are you ready?

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.

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!

Salem is kind of what you would expect. It’s filled with all things witchy…new

and old.

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.

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.

We made it to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site where the boys got 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!

Let’s start with the Capitol Building. It’s gorgeous! Look at that golden dome!

The inside didn’t disappoint either. We did a tour where we met a lovely family from England!

And then we saw the dome. And 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!

One more picture of the Capitol Building…I couldn’t leave out the tile floor. 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.

We stopped by the Paul Revere House and strolled through. It’s a self-guided tour with interpreters around to answer any questions. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside. You’re looking at 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.

We stopped by one of the graveyards on the Freedom Trail. The one in the picture is 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 here.

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, it’s doesn’t look like 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 it!

I had to stop by the Make Way For The Ducks sculpture. Super cute!

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.

We explored Halibut Point State Park one afternoon.

Halibut Point State Park used to be a quarry. You can see the “pond” it made in the 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! Anyone need some blueberries? We have plenty!

We explored the ruins of Fort Constitution. There wasn’t much there.

Most of it looked like this. I’m not even sure this 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 the tidal pools at the lighthouse…but there wasn’t too much in them.

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 don’t know what kind of flowers these are, but they’re all over the place!! I love love love them!!

I don’t think this is fireweed, but it’s really close. I love the purple.

These are in our RV Park!

You can’t tell from the picture, but this bush is well over six feet tall!

Pretties from Boston.

There’s sumac all over the place here!

I know it’s a weed, but I really like it. They call it Queen Anne’s Lace and when it’s all bloomed out it’s a really pretty white flower.

I think that’s it! We fit quite a bit into two weeks!

See y’all down the road!

#easterloop2016

NH and ME State Capitol Buildings

By Jennie Simpson | August 12, 2016

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.

Yup, the dome is covered. Dang. I’m sure it’s a lovely dome. I heard that it’s covered in gold leaf.

It’s very basic inside. There are over 200 paintings throughout the building.

We didn’t take the tour at the Concord, New Hampshire State Capitol Building. It’s a very small building. The door to the Senate Gallery was open so we went in to have a look. 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 picture above 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 Littlest 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. 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 their. 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.

Mr. Man has 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. You get the three Fs at The Red Barn…fried, fresh, fast! Guys…it was so good! We got the Mixed Seafood Baskets to share. Except Littlest. He had 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 enjoyed it!

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

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Montpelier, VT

By Jennie Simpson | August 9, 2016

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 through the building you can see fossils from the Chazy Fossil Reef. We loved that!

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 poor 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. Littlest had the Maple Popcorn Sundae.

We found a 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 from the 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. This is the place where Ben & Jerry used to make all of their flavors.

And then 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! Beautiful countryside, and a foodie’s paradise…Vermont has some hidden treasures.

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Albany, NY

By Jennie Simpson | July 29, 2016

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 that…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!

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 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. 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 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 being done. So, when you walk through the building, you can see where they stopped. In the picture above you can see the line of edging left unfinished.

It’s the Great Western Staircase, but they call it the Million Dollar Staircase. And yes, it really did cost a million dollars. This staircase is made of sandstone and 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 close! Can you see it? In the photo above is the smallest carving in the building. It took them years to find. Apparently, one of the carvers was fired and snuck back in 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. 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

By Jennie Simpson | July 12, 2016

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. The raise everything they sell.

You could get pretty much anything pickled.

Our favorite thing there was the bacon!

We 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 Littlest 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

By Jennie Simpson | June 17, 2016

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

IMGP3112 — Pennsylvania 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 Rotunda’s features were borrowed from the Paris Opera House.

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

I love all of the rich colors.

We were told that the Capitol Building has been called a “Palace of Art.” It’s definitely filled with beauty.

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 it is 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, you can buy candy there.

This 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 it. But, it was fun and we got a free candy bar!

See y’all down the road!

#easternloop2016

Milton, WV

By Jennie Simpson | June 7, 2016

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 boys rode these banana bikes almost every day we were there.

The KOA has banana bikes in various sizes for all to enjoy for a small price. It’s very reasonable.

There was also a couple of fully stocked ponds to fish in. The two little boys each caught a fish. It was a great way to spend the evenings. There were several activities offered by the KOA, but the boys’ favorite thing there is the owner’s dog! 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.

They call it 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 is lovely.

IMGP2727 — Charleston Capitol Building rotunda

Just like all the other capitol buildings, there is marble everywhere.

IMGP2770 — What a general store would have looked like during the late 1800s early 1900s in West Virginia.

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.

We went to the Blenko Glass Company. The building the glass blowers work in has an observation deck for tours. We watched that blob of glass turned into

this. 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 this 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.

Loving all of the spring flowers!

These tulips 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