Road Trip to Virginia

In April, Little Man and I went on a road trip to Virginia and back.  I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about the whole thing to begin with, and as a result I planned a good chunk of the trip out ahead of time. Andy went to Barnes and Noble the night before and bought some books for the car, and we went to the Lego store for an alternate activity for the car. The last time I made the trip with Little Man, my knee locked up, and I wanted to cry most of the way home.  Also, Little Man was smaller then and would sleep for most of the trip.  

To begin the trip, I planned a mid-way stop between home and Virginia.  I knew that Steamtown National Park was about half way there, and Little Man was still at an age that he would enjoy the trains.  Upon arriving we were met with two surprises.  1. It was free entry to all national Parks weekend. 2. We had made it just in time to catch the train ride for the day/first ride of the season.  It turned out to be a perfect sunny day and the perfect stop along the way.  Little Man traveled well, and the mid-way stop was at just the right spot.

 Our first stop in Virginia was at a friend's house along the Shenandoah Mountain range. Little Man loved her because she let him watch TV and took him to the movies when it started raining.  I loved being able to visit with an old friend and checking out all the cool little places she took us to.  She fed right into my localvore spirit and took us to a great little cafe, greenhouses, a coffee roasters (I am still drinking the coffee that I got from there, it is wonderful) and James Madison's Montpelier.  Little Man did mention that being in the spot that much of the Constitution was planned at was pretty cool.  He would not admit that the gardens were beautiful though.  

 After leaving my friends house, we were off again to Grandma and Papa's house. They live near Washington DC. so a trip into the city was planned for this leg of the trip.  We did a lot of walking that day.  Someone had the bright idea of getting off the Metro at Arlington Cemetery to see the tomb of the unknown soldier and the walk to the National Mall.  While the cherry blossoms at Arlington Cemetery were wonderful and we did learn a lot from the hop on hop off tour, the walk ended up being a lot longer then expected.  By the time we reached the Lincoln Memorial Little Man thought I was crazy when I suggested we walk all the way up the stairs.  His argument was that it was going to be some puny little statue that was by no means going to "cool" to see.  Thankfully when we reached the top, he did in fact think it was worth the trip up the stairs. It was further reinforced that night when he saw something on TV about the memorial that talked about why there were so many steps to the top.  For once, Mommy was right! I was wrong, however, about the food trucks near the WWII and the Washington Monument though.  That did not go over well.

 Also Little Man's highlight of the trip was that he was able to drive Papa's boat for the first time.  I am pretty sure Papa is crazy, and Little Man was trying to crash the boat.  

 Then of course there were the Alligator Bites.  There was no way Little Man was going to try them.  Finally after much convincing, he tried one and then finished off the whole plate! Once again; mommy was right!

 On the way home I had meticulously planned out a trip into Philadelphia to the Franklin Institute to see Art of the Brick, only to find the museum was closed for the day.  Disheartened and slightly bummed, we headed for my cousin's in New Jersey.  Upon arriving home, Little Man would declare this the best part of the trip.  He was able to watch Loony Toons and eat ice cream with my cousin's husband.  Topped off by LEGOs and being able to sleep in the cool room of a college student. I kid you not, this was his favorite part and probably the part he will remember for the rest of his life.

Our last stop was a walkway over the Hudson River.  Nothing big, just a walkway, but we had a lot of fun racing from one joint in the bridge to the other and it was a nice way to end the trip.