US History and LDS Church History Trip…and links to each days blog

This is a National Cemetery were many soldiers are buried from the Battle of Antietam.

Brigham Young’s Mill and Home Site

We visited 218 US History and LDS Church History sites in 47 days.  (That included visiting 54 different cities). Each day is blogged with information about places we visited, maps, photos and highlights of the day.

If you would like more information if you are planning a trip, you can email me at priceless6191@gmail.com.  I kept very detailed records including: budgets, trip plans, and calenders for the trip showing our day by day progress.  I also have tons of brochures and maps for specific places, although I did try to scan the most important details I have onto each blog page.  Below is listed each city we visited, and what we did there.  Click on a city and start exploring.

I made this blog because I realized I would have appreciated a site with more specific information.  I hope this is beneficial to anyone who wants to take a history trip.  It was our families dream trip, and we still refer to it often.

Here is a PDF with a summary of our trip. (If you would like an editable version, I have the spreadsheet version also.)
Trip Itinerary

** Just a side note as you look around the site…no my kids names are not Bazooka, Starburst, Jawbreaker etc…our kids just picked nicknames so they could have some privacy.  Have fun looking!!!!

Alcova, WY
Devils Gate, Church, Trek, Independence Rock

Custer, WY
Custer County Museum, City 4th of July

Crazy Horse, SD

Keystone, SD
Mount Rushmore 4th July Celebrations

Rapid City, SD
Dinosaur Park, Storybook Park

Wall, SD
Wall Drug

Omaha, NE
Winter Quarters Visitors Center, Winters Quarters Temple (E,B), Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, Glenn Cunningham Lake, Pioneer Courage Park

Council Bluffs, Iowa
Kanesville Tabernacle

Nauvoo, IL
Play “High Hopes and Riverboats”, Movie “Remembering Nauvoo”, Play “Sunset by the Mississippi”, Women’s Garden, Riser Boot Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Seventies Hall, Lucy M Smith Home, Brickyard, Heber Kimball and Wilford Woodruff’s homes, Movie “Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration”, Joseph Smith’s Homestead, Mansion House, Nauvoo House, Red Brick Store, Smith Family Cemetery, Trail of Hope, Youth of Zion, Play “Old Anna Amanda” 2xs, Nauvoo Pageant 2xs, Carriage Ride, Pioneer Park Pastimes, Nauvoo Temple (B,E), Frontier Fair 2xs, Play “Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo”, Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds, Lands and Records Office, King Follet Discourse, Emma and Josephs Letters Vignette

Carthage, IL
Carthage Jail

Macomb, IL
Dinner with Steve -Guadalupes Restaurant

Petersburg, IL
Lincolns New Salem (camped there)

Springfield, IL
Springfield Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home Vis Ctr, Lincolns Home, Lincolns-Herndon Law Office, Old Capital, Lincoln Library, Lincoln Presidential Museum

Chicago, IL
Chicago Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, Chicago Temple (B,E)

Gary, IN
Just for Gas and Photos

Kirtland OH
Kirtland Ward, Ashery, Isaac Morley Farm, Newel K. Whitney Store, Whitney Home, Sawmill, Schoolhouse, Kirtland Temple RLDS

Parma, OH
Brian and Camilla’s Home

Hiram, OH
John Johnson’s Home

Middlefield, OH
Amish Country, Cheese Factory, Hiram College (where President Garfield attended and taught)

Kenmore, NY
Mags home, Keeners, Lindbergh Elementary, Pam’s Home

Niagra Falls
Niagara Falls, Cave of Winds

Buffalo, NY(2 sites or events)
Downtown Buffalo, Duffs Chicken Wings

Mendon, NY
Home built by Brigham, Early Meeting Home, Phineas Young’s Home, John Young’s Home, Tom Tomlinson Inn, Heber Kimballs home site, Camped at John Young’s Home, Site of Brigham Young’s Mill and Home, Baptismal Site, Tomlinsons Cemetery

Palmyra, NY
Palmyra Visitors Center, Palmyra Temple (B,E), Palmyra Pageant, Sacred Grove, Smith’s Log Cabin and Frame House Alvin built, Hill Cumorah, Martin Harris’s Home, Book of Mormon Publication Site (Grandin Building)

Waterloo, NY
Peter Whitmer home

Oakland, PA
Aaronic Priesthood Monument, Joseph and Emma’s Home Site, Grave of Emmas parents and son Alvin Smith, Susquehanna River

Jersey City, NJ 
Liberty Harbor

New York, NY
PATH Rail System, Site World Trade Center, 911 Memorial and Museum, Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, China Town, Little Italy, Noho, Washington Square Park, New York University, Empire State Building, Garment District, Bryant Park, Time’s Square, Theatre District, NBC Studios, Carnegie Hall, Central Park, New York City LDS Temple, Madison Square Gardens

Philadelphia, PA
Independence Visitor Center, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, City Tavern (restaurant), Carpenters Hall, New Hall Military Museum, Benjamin Franklin’s Grave, President’s House Site, Liberty Bell Center”

Hershey, PA
Hershey Amusement Park

Gettysburg, PA
Gettysburg National Park

WashingtonDC
Washington DC Temple (B,E), IKEA, Ford’s Theatre, Petersen House and Center for Education and Leadership, Spy Museum, National Archives, Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Walking Tour, Arlington Cemetery, United States Capital Building, a Session of Congress, a Session of the House of Representatives, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Smithsonian American History Museum, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, White House, Holocaust Museum, Nationals Game

Alexandria, Virginia
Mount Vernon

Centreville, VA
Bull Run Regional Park (Camping), visit with Tamara and family, Atlantis Water Park

Manassas, VA
Battle of 1st and 2nd Bull Run (Manassas)

Harpers Ferry, WV
Harpers Ferry

Sharpsburg, MD
Antietem Battle Field

Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, VA Pier and Chick-fil-A

Chantilly, VA
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Annex

Middletown, VA
Cedar Creek Battlefield (2nd Manassas Battle Reenactment)

Charlottesville, VA
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, University of Virginia

Buena Vista, VA
Southern Virginia University

St Louis, MO
St Louis Temple (B,E), St Louis Arch and Musuem, Old Court House (Dred Scott Case), Outside Busch Stadium, Feet in the Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park and Grant Farm, Home Town Buffet, St Louis Cardinals Game, St Louis RV Park

Cottleville, MO
Joel and Christy’s Home

Independence, MO
LDS Visitor’s Center, Harry Truman Presidential Library, Missouri Mormon Walking Tour (things we saw on the tour: Clinton’s Soda Fountain, Jackson County Courthouse, 1827 Log Courthouse, Bingham-Waggoner Estate, Church of Christ Temple Lot, Community of Christ Temple, Gilbert and Whitney Store, Printing Office Site (Evening and Morning Star), Governor Boggs Home Site, and Partridge Home Site and School) , Campus RV Park (next door to the LDS Visitors Center), Vaile Mansion

Kansas City, MO
Kansas City Temple (B)

Liberty, MO
Liberty Jail, Eight Witnesses Monument

Richmond, MO
David Whitmer’s Grave, David Whitmer’s Livery site (marked by with a plaque), Old Richmond Jail Location, Statue of General Alexander W. Doniphan, Pioneer Cemetery (Monument for the Three Witnesses, Grave for Oliver Cowdery, Peter Jr. and Jacob Whitmer’s Graves)

Farwest, MO
Far West Temple Site

Jamesport, MO
Amish Country, Amish Baseball Game, and Shopping

Jameson, MO
Adam-ondi-Ahman , Jameson Town Fair and Parade

Doniphan, NE
Mormon Island

McKinnon, WY
Little America

Boston, MA
11 years later we went back to add Boston to our list or US/church history travels. Here is a link to the beginning of that trip. Yale, Scarburough and Prospect Ave in Hartford, CT, Mark Twain’s Home, Boston Temple, Boston Aquarium, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, Boston Latin School Site, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, New State House, Boston Commons, Harbor Cruise, USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s Home, Old South Meeting House, Union Oyster House, Omni Parker House, Cheers, Prudential Tower Observation Deck, Trinity Church of Boston, Old South Church

Other Valuable Links:
Mormon Pioneer Trail Auto Tour Route Guide
mormontrails.org

Our Families Favorite National Historic Sites

You can’t really rank any church or US historical sites, because all of it was amazing!  But since most people don’t have 47 days we thought we’d have our kids rank what they would say were the sites that were a must see.  Our kids were told if they could only visit 3 of the church sites we went to, what would they choose.  So here their choices….some of them surprised me a little…

Jawbreaker (male teenager)
1^st Washington DC,
2^nd Gettysburg,
3^rd Second Manassas Battle Reenactment or Philadelphia

Spitz (male teenager)
1^st Harpers Ferry
2^nd Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
3^rd Nationals Game

Warhead (male teenager)
1^st Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
2^nd Spy Museum
3^rd Hershey Park

Bazooka (male pre-teen)
1^st Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
2^nd Smithsonian Natural History Museum
3^rd Hershey Park

Starburst (female 7yrs old)
1^st Hershey Park
2^nd Mount Rushmore
3^rd Grants Farm

Fireball (male 6 yrs old)
1st Atlantis Water Park
2^nd Grants Farm
3^rd Hershey Park

Mr. S (adult male)
1^st Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
2^nd Baseball Games
3^rd Washington DC

Mrs. S (adult female)
1^st Gettysburg
2^nd Second Manassas Battle Reenactment
3^rd Philadelphia or Washington DC

Our favorite experience in WashingtonDC
Jawbreaker: Can’t choose, loved it all
Spitz: American History Museum, Spy Museum, Nationals Game
Bazooka: Natural History Museum, and the Nationals Game
Warhead: Spy Museum, Arlington and Chick-fil-A
Starburst: Spy Museum and the White House
Fireball: Seeing my cousin Daniel
Mr. S: Washington DC Temple and the Nationals Game
Mrs. S: Being with cousins, Washington DC Temple, Mount Vernon, and Holocaust Museum

Our favorite Civil War battle experiences:
Hands down the battle reenactment was EVERYONE’S favorite.  No one even had to blink to say that.  But we will rate what everyone thought about the battle fields we visited, the little kids can’t remember anything past today, they just keep telling us how phenomenal the battles have been the last two days.
Jawbreaker: All of them
Spitz: Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry
Warhead: Gettysburg
Bazooka: Antietam
Mr. S: Gettysburg
Mrs. S: Gettysburg and Manassas

Favorite thing we did Philadelphia:
Jawbreaker:  Independence Hall
Spitz:  City Tavern and Liberty Bell
Warhead:  City Tavern (restaurant)
Bazooka:  City Tavern and Military Museum
Starburst:  Independence Visitors Center and the collectors cards
Fireball:  City Tavern
Mr. and Mrs. S: Independence Hall

Our favorite St Louis experiences:
Jawbreaker: Cardinal’s Game
Spitz:  Cardinal’s Game
Warhead: Arch and Grant’s Farm
Bazooka: Arch and Cardinal’s Game
Starburst:  Grant’s Farm
Fireball:  Grant’s Farm
Mr. S:  Cardinal’s Game
Mrs. S:  Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Park, and Grant’s Farm

DAY 32 – July 30, 2012 – Battle of Bull Run (1st and 2nd Battle of Manassas)

I wondered if today would seem anticlimactic after visiting Gettysburg.  Today we were going to visit Manassas and Fredericksburg, but because of the older boys not feeling well, we canceled Fredericksburg.

We were very confused by Manassas.  First of all for those who might not know (I didn’t until recently), Manassas and Bull Run are the same battles.  The South called it by Manassas (the name of the city) and the North called it Bull Run (after a creek).  Then there are two battles, 1^st Manassas and 2^nd Manassas.  1^st Manassas we knew was here, it made sense that 2^nd Manassas would be here also, or why the same name?  But the reenactment we are going to this weekend is 45 minutes away.  So we were slightly confused.

So now that we have it straightened out, I will explain it.  They both happened here.  As a matter of fact, parts of each battle happened

The Stone House at the Battle of Bull Run. It was used as a hospital site, and inside some Civil War soldiers carved their names in the floor.

on almost the exact same ground.  The 1^st Battle of Bull Run was the first battle of the Civil War.  The 2^nd Battle of Bull Run (or 2^nd Manassas) was about one year later.  So coming to this park, you can learn about 2 significant battles in one stop.

The reason we were told the reenactment is not here, is because the Park Services will not allow reenactments on these battle fields.  Which, after thinking about, I very much agree with.  I am not sure I would appreciate people pretending war, on top of the spot where my son died, even for educational purposes.  So this weekend we will go to another park that allows reenactments.  But for today we learned about the two battles.

Their significance… I didn’t understand until we arrived here.  The 1^st Battle of Manassas was significant, because it was the reality check for both sides.  Nobody realized what we were about to endeavor before this.  Most of the North believed that we were going to come down here, beat the South, and bring them to the reality that this would not work.  The war would be over in one battle.

Both sides thought it interesting enough that the citizens of local towns were up on hills having picnics watching the battle.  The reality of death and war was not understood by most people.  The revolutionary war was almost 90 years earlier, far enough away that most didn’t understand the toll war would take.

Boys, my sons’ age, were writing home about how exciting this was, how cool their uniforms were, and how fun this was going to be.  Photos were being taken with men together excited for this adventure.  But before the day was done, the demeanor of all of these men would be very different.

The 2^nd Battle of Manassas was a very bloody battle.  At one point they were shooting each other standing only 100 yards away looking at each others faces point blank while killing each other.

Another thing that impacted me at Gettysburg, but again here, was how the men were organized.  In my ignorance, I just thought that they mixed everyone up (the way the do today).  I thought a man from Texas was fighting next to a man from Arkansas.  But that’s not quite how this happened.  These battles were literally states fighting states…an infantry from South Carolina fighting an infantry from New York…an infantry from Texas fighting an infantry from Ohio.

A handful of states sent infantries to both sides, can you imagine?  So Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas sent infantries to both the North and the South.  This war was literally tearing our country to pieces.  And you can’t believe how many times in the war brothers were shooting at brothers or uncles were shooting at nephews.  People were literally killing their friends.

There was a battle here at Manassas where brothers were fighting on opposite sides.  The one brother was shot dead.  His brother on the other side heard about it, but had to wait for 3 days to be able to come out with a flag or truce to look for his brother’s body.

Gettysburg Park and Bull Run Park have different strengths.  There are so many stories at Gettysburg, and the battle was all over, the tour was really intense.  And the view was very telling of the story.  Everything they told us could be visualized very clearly.

I think the strength of Bull Run was their video.  Sounds silly?  But it was an excellent movie.  It did such a great job at telling the story.  I was brought to tears watching it, just thinking about the whole situation.  Do not miss the video at Bull Run, it was so well done.  It’s name…Manassas, the End of Innocence.

This park is also very inexpensive to visit as opposed to Gettysburg.  To get in cost $3 per adult, and this was the one place on the whole trip our teenagers did not count as adults.  After that, all the tours are free.  I believe they had about 5 tours.  We went to the one at Brawner’s Farm, and it was so well done, we didn’t feel like we needed to go to any other tours.  In 45 minutes he covered why both battles happened here, what lead up to them, and walked us through the battle at Brawner’s Farm.  He also discussed some of the other battles.  So I cannot tell you what happens at the other tours, but we felt between that tour and the tour on CD we had from TravelBrains, we were covered.

After the park tour, we got in our motor home and drove to all the stops the park has, and listened to the tour on CD.  It explained the 2^nd Battle of Manassas.  The battles are so large, that you are driving around a city passing people homes, and then pulling over at a stop the park owns where a battle took place.  Then you get back in the car, and drive through another part with people living there, until you get to the next spot a battle took place.  I can’t imagine owning those home and knowing what probably happened on my land.

All of it was very good, but my favorite was the movie.  I guess, not knowing much about the battles, it opened my eyes to what happened here.  The impact for me happened in the movie theater.

Of course they also have the Junior Park Ranger Badges, so the kids earned that badge.  The kids mentioned that the Park Ranger was one of the nicest ones they had met so far on this trip.

It was a very hot day, so after Bull Run we went back to our campground which has a water park.  The water park lets guests of the campground come in for only $4.  They have two large water slides and then smaller water slides all over the park for younger kids, a water playing area, and a sandbox.  It was a great way to finish off a hot day.

Our boys have eaten only once in the last 48 hours, and that was the incredible chicken my cousin brought last night.  But they haven’t eaten all day today because their throats are so swollen.  They are starting to get slightly grumpy.  I’m anxious for them to eat soon, so I don’t feel so bad eating in front of them.  I think they are pretty anxious also.

Summary of Day 32

Drove:  36 miles (99064-99100)

Places we visited or saw: Battle of 1^st and 2^nd Bull Run (Manassas), andBull Run Regional Atlantis Water Park

 

DAY 29 – July 27, 2012 – Walking DC

Today we tried the same motor home trick we did yesterday.  Mr.S dropped us off within a block of the Washington Memorial where we were meeting our guide.  We made it just on time.  But Mr. S and Jawbreaker had to drive back to Union Station and run back about 2 or 3 miles.  I was feeling so bad for them.  Then Mr. S decided to use the bikes we have been hauling around for 4000 miles but haven’t used yet.

We brought two bikes thinking we could use them to run errands, but they ended up being more of a burden than any help until now.  The problem was one of the tires had gone flat on the trip.  But Mr. S always being resourceful, got the bike fixed and they biked through DC and caught up with us pretty quick.

We took two tours today.  They are through a group that can be found at freetoursbyfoot.com.  They came highly recommended by a friend.  This group does tours in Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington DC.  They get paid by tips, so you tip them at the end of the tour.  It ends up being much cheaper than other options.  And they turned out to be great!

Our first tour, was a tour of the National Monuments.  Last year we toured the monuments with no tour guide, and can I tell you, the tour made it so much better.  We learned a great deal about the monuments, details that we totally missed just looking at them ourselves.  It was a 2 hour tour, and it was well worth it.

At the World War II Monument, one random fact they shared was about Kilroy.  “Kilroy was here” was a graffiti fad during WWII and can be found twice on the World War II Monument.  He told us since he had been giving tours only children had ever found it, and one adult who cheated with a phone.  Well that was a challenge!  And we found it!  We were the only people in the group who found Kilroy, and the tour guide let Starburst show everyone where he could be found.  He didn’t believe that I found it without a phone (apparently he hasn’t seen the crap phones we carry around).  But now he can’t tell anyone no adults have found it.  I guess I’m childish enough to figure it out.

After the tour we ate and helped the little kids earn the Youth Ranger Badges for the National Monuments.  Then we walked down to Thomas Jefferson’s Memorial who was not included on the tour.   He is one of my favorite people ever.

“…I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man” Is the quote written around the inside of the dome.  That quote explains him perfectly.  I love how broad his intelligence was.  He wasn’t just great at one thing,  he was brilliant at many things.  John F Kennedy said it best to a room of Nobel Prize winners when he said, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”  I love that Memorial, but probably mostly because I love him.

The boys used the bikes to run over to the Holocaust Museum to get us tickets.  I didn’t think there would be any left, since it was the almost 2:30pm, but they were able to get some for us for 3:45pm.  But now I know why, that is not a good time to go.  The museum closes at 5pm, and we did not have long enough to get through it.  So I would highly recommend getting earlier tickets.  I saw on the website if you don’t want to stand in line to get early morning tickets, you can pre-buy tickets for $1.  That might have been worth it.  There are parts of the museum that you can see without a ticket.  So we will be going back tomorrow to see those parts.

In the Museum they give each person an identification card that tells the story of one Jew.  We all had different people, and some of our people we reperesented died, and some lived.  Mr. S had a very sad story.  What made it sadder to me was I could picture Mr. S being this man.

His name was David Petranker.  David was very religious, and was hoping to move to Palestine soon.  David had three daughters.  His oldest daughter did marry a man from Palestine and moved there.  The Germans occupied his city in 1941.  Before the year was over they had killed his wife and younger daughter…all he had left was his middle daughter Amalie.  In 1942, he was deported on a train headed to the Belzec death camp.  He pried boards from the car floor and escaped by lowering himself from the moving train onto the tracks.  He found work at a peasant’s farm but wanted to go look for his daughter Amalie.  He boarded a train heading back to his home town.  En route David was betrayed, turned over to the police and executed.  Unknown to him, his daughter Amalie had already escaped from their hometown and was living near a farm where he had been working.

It was a very moving museum.  It’s just so hard to believe that we could live in a world where people do things like that to each other.  And yet as I say that, even today, there are times you can see people’s hearts turning colder.  I can hardly comprehend what it takes for a person to have their heart turned so cold, they could hate another group of people to that degree.  It makes me sick inside to think about.

After the Holocaust Museum we had just enough time to catch dinner and head to our evening tour that started at 7pm.  It was the Abraham Lincoln free walking tour.  It was also great.  We walked all over town discussing what happened the night of Lincoln’s assassination, and where everyone was that played a part that night.  Seeing where everything was, made it even more interested than just hearing the story at Ford’s Theater, it added a new dimension to it that was great.  The older kids said it was well worth it.  So tomorrow we will be going back for a walking tour of Arlington.

I love how the Vietnam memorial makes you feel a part of it. My favorites are definitely the Vietnam and Korean Memorials for their visual effect, they truly draw you in… Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials…because I love those men, and their Memorials reflect them well.

We walked for 14 hours today.  My feet are so tired.  But during the walking tours, we did have many times when we sat down and listened.  And working on the ranger books with the kids did give us a reason to sit down a while also.

We had these two bikes that we had to keep with us all day, so Mr. S put them to great use.  We must have been quite the spectacle..but I think the younger kids were very grateful.  Bazooka kept one bike and rode from place to place with it.  Then Starburst sat on the other bike, while Fireball sat in the bike’s back basket, which we all padded with our backpacks so he could sit on it.  And our never tiring Mr. S walked them around on their personal bike taxi.  So they didn’t have to do much walking today.  The bike’s ended up being a double blessing.

I will sum up what my kids think were the best sites at the end of the Washington DC visit, but I think it’s going much better than I expected.  The amount of walking we were going to do really worried me, because of our younger kids.  But today was our worst walking day, and Mr. S found a way to solve the problem.  I think everyone is really enjoying our time here.

Did I mention I got in trouble again with the law today.  We just attract cops like flies!  I tried to go in a building to eat.  The building was a federal building, but it had a food court and we were too tired to walk any further.  When we went in we realized the building had security checks at the door.  No big deal.  They searched our bags, had us empty our pockets and then asked for ID.  Well we had decided before the trip not to carry two wallets. I left mine at home, and Mr. S emptied his of everything but the bare essentials, so we wouldn’t have to deal with worrying about two wallets getting lost or stolen.  I did bring my drivers license so I could help drive, but I put it in Mr. S’s wallet (thank goodness I didn’t leave it in the motor home like I had intended on doing).  Anyways the policeman asks me for ID.  I told him I didn’t have any (Mr. S was outside parking bikes).  Then I got a drill that would have made you think that I was a criminal.  And it turns out there is a law in Washington DC that you have to carry ID on you at all times, so I was breaking the law.  About that time Superman walked in and saved the day, by producing my drivers license.  And all of this just to eat a Subway sandwich.

Summary of Day 29

Drove:

Walked: 7 or 8 miles

Places we visited or saw: Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Holocaust Museum, White House walk by, and tour of all the Lincoln sites of importance the night of his assassination.

Day 27 – Washington DC and a Change of Plans

This deer and it’s mother were standing right outside our camper at the Washington DC temple.

So it seems like whatever schedule we had for the future was torn up and redrawn out by the older boys today.  They decided after Gettysburg that we didn’t have enough battles in our schedule.  They also realized if we stay longer we can actually see a battle re-enactment.  So today seemed like a huge planning day, hours of renegotiating the calendar.  But I think we have a plan…

July 26 Ford Theater, Spy Museum, Peterson House (Camp at Cherry Hill)*
July 27 National Mall Tour, Smithsonian’s, Lincoln Tour
July 28 Arlington Tour, and Smithsonians
July 29 Mount Vernon
July 30 Battle of Manassas and Fredericksburg
July 31 Battle of Antietam
Aug 1 – 9:20 am US Capital Tour and Tour DC
Aug 2 – 10:30 am White House Tour and Tour DC
Aug 3 – 4pm Battle of 2nd Manassas Reenactment
Aug 4 – 9am – 10pm Battle of 2nd Manassas Reenactment

This changes our schedule radically as we had planned on leaving Washington DC on July 28^th and now we are hanging around until August 4.  That ends any dreams of a leisurely trip back home, but the kids assured us this would make all their dreams come true.

We were able to fit in baptisms and an endowment session at the Washington DC Temple today between planning sessions.  The Washington DC temple is so beautiful.  Photos do not do it justice.  It is just like a castle inside and out.  And I was so amazed at how large it is.  It is a really big temple!

By pure luck (which I am sooooo happy about) it turns out our campground is right next to an IKEA.  IKEA and I were inseparable when we lived in Los Angeles, and I have so missed it.  So while the boys and Mike were at the temple, the little kids and I wondered IKEA.  I ended up having two carts.  The first was all the things I wanted to buy, and the second cart was the reality of what I was willing to bring home in a motor home.  The last cart was so much smaller.  What a bummer.

Then more hours of planning, with Spitz and Jawbreaker coordinating all the battle plans.

We added 500 miles in driving to tour all these sites.  Hope they are as fabulous as they all dream they are.

 

Drove: 69 miles

Places we visited or saw: Washington DC Temple, IKEA