What I did on my summer vacation :)

I have recently returned from a month long, whirlwind, vacation to the East coast! It was an incredible experience!

My daughter and I travelled by car to NJ. The time went by very quickly and Tori did most of the driving. I think she was able to log in more than the 50 hours needed for her permanent license based on the amount of time behind the wheel this trip alone!

ALL THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WITH MY DAUGHTER'S POINT AND SHOOT NIKON COOLPIX S210 CAMERA

Here is a list of the fun things I/we did:

Tutoring session with Neil van Niekerk . It was a VERY informative session...I will post more later.

My daughter is a Junior in HS this year. With so many great schools on the East Coast we decided to tour a few: University of Pennsylvania where she also attended a Lacrosse camp.

Princeton University (We also visited a Cornell University fraternity brother of my husband who lives in the area.
a gorgeous campus and surrounding area. We also toured Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University.

We visited Philadelphia: Independence Mall, the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's grave. Since this is an election year visiting the site where our independence took place was quite humbling and gave more meaning to the process!
HAD to go to south Philly for cheese steaks! Sorry Pat's but Geno's steak sandwich was our favorite!

From NJ we continued on to visit my in-laws in Maryland. With my husband joining us we knew we would be experiencing historical adventures: Fort McHenry The tour of this monument was definitely enhanced by the National Park Ranger guides. We had an incredibly informative and energetic guide...plus, had the opportunity to get little known info from Ranger Scott Shear (spelling?) about the Flag: Star Spangled Banner which is being restored and to be displayed upon the re-opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

We took a day trip to Historic St. Mary's City: the site of Maryland's first capital. (I will post more images of that trip in the near future.)

Another informative and fun day was spent in Washington, DC. Lot's to see...but challenging on a very hot and humid day (yuck) (We sure missed dry Colorado on those choking humid days! )

After the Baltimore/DC area, it was on to Atlantic and Ocean City, NJ. It was wonderful to be by the water. Ok...and indulge in fudge, soft serve custard ice cream and saltwater taffy.

On our way home we stopped by St. Louis to visit my husband's brother and family. I had the opportunity to take my nephew's senior portrait...images I will post later. As we were getting closer to St. Louis my husband saw signs for Memphis, TN. Which meant....we had to take a detour to GRACELAND!

We toured Graceland then went into downtown Memphis to locate RENDEVOUS a BBQ restaurant that had been mentioned in a Food Network segment the night before. (what a coincidence.) THE BEST RIBS WE HAVE EVER HAD!!! Also headed over to Beale street to listen to some Blues.

On a very personal note: I/we got to visit with cousins I had not seen in probably 30 years! We spent time with my parents and my in-laws. We got together with brothers and sisters and friends some who we had not seen in years! (Took a side trip with a friend (from my single days) and her family to Hershey Park.)

Considering we were out of town for a month, the time flew by. Thank you to all our loved ones who made it a most memorable trip!!!