We drove on I-495 and then on I-66 to Manassas to see the Civil War Battlefield. There is construction on I-495 and the road was in bad shape. We ate brunch at Cracker Barrel and then drove to the Visitor’s Center. We viewed the exhibits and bought an audio tour of the battlefields. As we drove to the battlefields, we listened to the audio tour. We were more impressed with the audio tour at Gettysburg.

We took Metro into the city again today. We walked to the National Gallery of Art to spend the day. We wanted to see more of the gallery. We toured the exhibits and had lunch at the gallery.

After our rest day, we went back to the Capitol. We wanted to use our passes to see the Senate and the House of Representatives. When we entered the Capitol building, we went through a security check. First, we went to the Senate, which was in session. Before we entered the Senate, we went through another security check. We also were not allowed to take our cameras and cell phones into the Senate. We had been told that the Senate would be voting about noon. When we entered, a senator was speaking to an almost empty Senate. No one seemed to be listening. The pages sat on the steps leading to the Speaker’s bench. About every minute, one or two pages popped up and ran an errand for someone. After a while, Senator Kerry came in and nominated someone to an office. When they called for the vote, the senators came streaming in and walked up to the secretary who recorded their vote after they signaled with either thumbs up or pointer finger down. Some of the senators stayed and had conversations with other senators. Other senators left the room after voting. They voted on two other bills before we left. We went to the cafeteria and ate lunch before we went to the House of Representatives. Again we went through another security check and had to leave our cameras and cell phones in a room. The House was not in session, but a security officer answered our questions.

Next we walked across the street to the Supreme Court Building. The Supreme Court was not in session, but we went to a lecture in the room where the Supreme Court meets. The guide was very informative about the room and the Supreme Court.

Because it was raining, today was a rest and relaxation day.

We decided to go to see the Capitol building today. We rode Metro and walked to the Capitol. Because of security issues, the Capital has changed since we last visited. We walked around to the front of the Capitol. As we walked around to the front, many policemen were stationed around the building. One policeman had an Uzi gun. We asked one policewoman (not the one with the Uzi gun) how to get into the Capitol. After she told us, we continued talking for a short time. Her name was Lisa Brewer. She offered us passes for the House of Representatives. Bob told her that she was our newest best friend. Evidently, we can get into the House or Senate only with a pass that we could get from our Senator or Representative. When we went through the security check, the security officer told us that we were not allowed to take any food or drink in our backpack. We had quite a few snack bars that we had to throw away. When we got into the Capital visitor center, we met a volunteer named Bob that was very helpful. He gave us passes for the Senate. Bob told him that he was our newest best friend. Emancipation Hall, the heart of the Capitol Visitor Center, was named by Congress to recognize the enslaved laborers and craftsmen who helped build the U. S. Capitol. We ate lunch in the cafeteria in Emancipation Hall before we viewed a movie about the Capitol. We then took a tour of the public parts of the building. After we finished the tour, we walked through an underground tunnel to the Library of Congress. We watched a video about the services provided by the Library of Congress. A tour guide took us on a tour. He showed us the Gutenberg Bible. When we finished the tour, we were ready to walk back to Metro. As we were walking to Metro, we again noticed how many police officers were in the vicinity of the Capitol.

When we got off Metro, we walked to the Archives. After viewing an introductory video, we walked to the Rotunda, where we saw the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The rotunda is dimly lit to preserve the documents. There were several groups of school children on field trips.

Next we walked to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. At each museum we have attended, we have to go through a security check of Sue's purse and Bob’s backpack. First we went to see the Star Spangled Banner flag. This is the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "Defense of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. What surprised us was the enormous size of the flag! We walked through several exhibits. In the hall called “Treasures of Popular Culture,” we saw the furniture from the television show, “All in the Family”, the Muppets, and the ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

Today was a beautiful sunny day to rest and relax.

We drove fifteen miles to Annapolis, Maryland to see the United States Naval Academy. When we arrived, we found Panera’s and ate breakfast. We parked our truck at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and rode a shuttle bus to the Naval Academy. When we arrived on the campus, we walked to the Visitor Center where we purchased tickets for a walking tour of the campus. We walked past a statue of Bill the Goat, the mascot of the sport teams at the Naval Academy. We walked into Lejeune Hall and saw their Olympic-sized pool and their Athletic Hall of Fame, which included pictures of famous athletes, who graduated from the Naval Academy. We walked through Dahlgren Hall, where social activities are held. Next the guide showed us Tecumseh Court, where the Indian warrior stands watch over the site of noon meal formations for the Brigade of Midshipmen. The guide told us that the midshipmen take turns dressing Tecumseh for the football games. One group dressed him as Elvis. The statue of Tecumseh stands in front of Bancroft Hall, where the Midshipmen reside. We saw a model of a student’s room. We walked to the Chapel where several weddings were being held so we were not able to go into the Chapel. We walked around the side of the Chapel to see the Crypt of John Paul Jones, who was one of the Revolutionary War naval heroes. His remains were brought to America in 1905. When the tour ended, we walked back to the Visitor Center and learned where to get the shuttle bus back to the truck.

We drove to Annapolis Mall to find the Apple store. Bob tried updating his I-phone and it crashed. He had made an appointment at 3:50 to have it fixed. We sat waiting for his appointment time. When Bob got his I-phone fixed, we googled crab cakes in Annapolis. We drove to Cantler’s Riverside Inn. The restaurant was on the shores of Mill Creek and has a casual family atmosphere. We ate crab cakes and corn on the cob. Both were delicious. We really enjoyed dinner. Before driving back to the camper, we drove to Whole Foods to shop.

When we got off Metro, we walked along the National Mall to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. We started at the Lelawi Theater, where we saw a short film that celebrated the vitality and diversity of Native life. Then we walked through several exhibits about the Native American Indian life.

Next we walked to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. After eating lunch at McDonald’s, we walked through some of the exhibits. We purchased tickets for the IMAX theater presentation of the Hubble. After we saw the IMAX movie, Bob went to the Einstein Planetarium and saw Journey to the Stars.

Today we walked to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. We walked through the exhibits. One of the exhibits that fascinated Susan was a laboratory where four or five people were cleaning fossils. We purchased tickets for the IMAX theater which presented a movie about the Grand Canyon.

Because it was raining, today was a rest and relaxation day.

When we rode Metro into Washington today, it was much easier. They finished working on the rails so we did not have to transfer to other trains. When we got off Metro at the Archives, we walked around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial. Composed of circular marble steps, a portico, a circular colonnade of Ionic order columns, and a shallow dome, the building is open to the elements. On the walls around the statue are quotes of Thomas Jefferson. I was disappointed that there was not a quote that said, “I cannot live without books.” When we were at Monticello a few years ago, Susan bought a T-shirt that had that quote on it. After we viewed the memorial, we walked downstairs to look at the gift shop.

Next we walked to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Dedicated on May 2, 1997 by President Bill Clinton, the monument spread over 7.5 acres, traces 12 years of the history of the United States through a sequence of four outdoor rooms, one for each of FDR's terms of office. Sculptures inspired by photographs depict the 32nd president alongside his dog Fala. Other sculptures depict scenes from the Great Depression, such as listening to a fireside chat on the radio and waiting in a bread line, a bronze sculpture by George Segal. A bronze statue of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt standing before the United Nations emblem honors her dedication to the UN. It is the only presidential memorial to depict a First Lady.

We continued our walk around the Tidal Basin to Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. The memorial will be dedicated on October 16. It was scheduled to be dedicated earlier, but Hurricane Irene changed the plans. The centerpiece for the memorial is based on a line from King's "I Have a Dream" speech: "Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope." A 30-feet high relief of King named the “Stone of Hope” stands past two other pieces of granite that symbolize the "mountain of despair." Visitors literally "pass through" the Mountain of Despair on the way to the Stone of Hope, symbolically "moving through the struggle as Dr. King did during his life." A 450-feet long inscription wall includes excerpts from many of King's sermons and speeches.

As we walked to the Lincoln Memorial, we walked past the Korean War Veterans Memorial. We then climbed the many steps to look at the impressive statue of Abraham Lincoln. The statue is 19 feet tall and 19 feet wide and made from 28 marble blocks. As we were walking down the steps, we noticed a plaque pointing out the location of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Since we were getting hungry and tired, we decided to stop at a refreshment stand nearby to get drinks and eat the sandwiches that we had packed in the backpack. While eating our lunch, we observed three buses of Korean veterans. The veterans were helped off the bus and given assistance into wheel chairs if they needed it. There was a large group of volunteers who pushed the veterans in the wheel chairs.

We walked past the reflecting pool, which workers had torn up and were rebuilding it. At the end of the reflecting pool is the World War II Memorial. This memorial was important to Susan because her father was a soldier in World War II. The memorial consists of 56 granite pillars, each 17 feet tall, arranged in a semicircle around a plaza with two 43-foot arches on opposite sides. Two-thirds of the 7.4-acre site is landscaping and water. Each pillar is inscribed with the name of one of the 48 U.S. states of 1945, as well as the District of Columbia, the Alaska Territory and Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The northern arch is inscribed with "Atlantic"; the southern one, "Pacific." The plaza is 337 feet, 10 inches long and 240 feet, 2 inches wide, is sunk 6 feet below grade, and contains a pool that is 246 feet 9 inches by 147 feet 8 inches.

We walked along the National Mall to the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. Workers had removed the marble exterior from the building and were replacing the brackets to hold the marble. We shared a slice of carrot cake before we walked back to the Metro station.

Although today was October 11, today was Memorial Day for us!

Today we worked at the camper and went shopping.

Our drive to Mount Vernon this morning was beautiful. The drive beside the Potomac River had a bike path/running trail. It was a beautiful sunny, but cool morning. We planned to eat breakfast and lunch at the Mount Vernon Inn. We were disappointed because the main dining room was closed for two different weddings. Instead we had to eat at the food court. After eating cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins for breakfast, we looked in the shops and watched a video overview that Pat Sajak introduced. Before the video started, Jenny called to tell us that her car had stopped and she had called AAA. We then walked to purchase our admission tickets and audio tour. As we walked to George Washington’s home, we stopped and listened to the audio tour. We walked through the garden before we entered the mansion. Mount Vernon is maintained and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. Many ladies were situated throughout the mansion to explain the different artifacts in the rooms. The mansion house features original furnishings, items owned by the Washington family, 18th century objects, and a small number of reproductions. As we left the mansion, we walked to the front of the mansion which has a grand view of the Potomac River. As we sat there, Jenny called back to let us know that she was home safely and the car was at the mechanics. We decided that we were ready for lunch so we walked back to the food court. We shared a Pizza Hut personal pan supreme pizza for lunch.
Next we drove to George Washington’s Distillery and Grist Mill which is located about three miles from Mount Vernon. For many years the milling of grain at Mount Vernon was conducted by a small, water-powered mill on Dogue Run Creek. In 1770, after switching his main cash crop from tobacco to wheat, George Washington built a large merchant mill and millrace downstream from the original mill site. The new mill was fitted with two sets of millstones-one set for grinding corn for use on the plantation and the other set for processing the wheat grown on Washington’s farms into superfine flour for export to foreign ports. In 1797, upon the advice of his farm manager, James Anderson, Washington decided to further expand his operation at Dogue Run Farm by building a distillery next to the gristmill. He would become the largest distillery in the United States at that time. In 1814, the distillery burned down, and by the 1820’s the mill was no longer operational. Today visitors can tour the reconstruction of Washington’s distillery and gristmill.

First we drove to McDonald’s to have breakfast. As we were looking for diesel fuel, we drove past University of Maryland, which has a beautiful campus. After fueling up, we drove to the Metro station. We do not want to drive into Washington, so we decided to ride Metro. It took us a while to figure out how to purchase a ticket. Because Metro is repairing some of their tracks, our ride into the city was a little more complicated. Instead of riding one train all the way into the city, we had to transfer twice to another train.

When we arrived in Washington, we looked for the National Gallery of Art. It was only two or three blocks from the Metro Station. Since we arrived about noon, we decided to eat lunch at the Garden Café Italia inside the National Gallery of Art. We ate Ragu d’anatra e polenta (rich duck ragu and creamy polenta). It was very different but delicious. The menu stated that if you wanted a recipe, you just had to ask for it so we did. Unfortunately, they only had recipes for the food on the buffet. The waitress did give us three recipe cards.

After lunch, we walked through the Impressionist exhibit. Susan saw one of her favorite paintings of Renoir’s - the one with the little girl in a blue dress. We walked through another exhibit which included etchings of John Taylor Arms. His etchings were amazing because they showed so much detail in the buildings. Born in Washington, Arms began his career as an architect in New York but soon dedicated himself to printmaking. This exhibition presents selected examples from the artist's entire career, from his early New York works to his finest images of European cathedrals. Bob thought he had a great pick-up line. "Want to come up and see my etchings sometime?" When we decided to leave, we walked to the National Mall where many people were walking and riding bikes. We sat for a while and watched the people. Many people took pictures in the middle of the mall placing their hands and pretending to be holding up the Washington Monument or the Capital building. Before we left the mall, we saw a group of protesters marching through the mall. Some of the protesters were carrying a banner that said, “Food not bombs.”

After riding Metro back to College Park, we did some grocery shopping before returning to the camper.

We drove from Enfield, North Carolina to Washington, D.C. We had planned on driving on the beltway around the city but we didn’t. Somehow we missed the turn and drove into the city while pulling the camper. Ugh! We were not happy campers! We finally arrived at the campground and set up camp. We have an extremely humungous camper bus next to us. It is not only long but also tall. After our nerve-wracking ride through the city, we were ready to relax when we arrived. Bob cooked bratwurst on the grill. After dinner, we walked to the conference center, where Susan got ice cream (moose tracks). Yum yum! Then we walked to the office and looked through the store.

After packing up, we drove up the coast from Charleston to Myrtle Beach on Highway 17. We got stuck in a traffic jam due to construction in Mount Pleasant, where a traffic light was not working properly. When we arrived at Lakewood Campground, we checked in and set up our campsite. After we set up, we realized that we were going to have the sun shining in our big back window most of the afternoon. When the sun shines in the back window, the heat builds up in the back of the camper which makes it very uncomfortable. We drove up to the office and asked if we could move to another site facing the other direction the next morning. We were in 6203 and moved to 6305. When we left the office, we drove to Dirty Dick’s. Susan had fried oysters and Bob had fried shrimp. They were both delicious. Since we are staying for a while, we will not do a journal entry each day. We will do an entry when we choose to do so.

Today we drove through the Citadel, a private military academy in Charleston. Pat Conway was once a student there. The buildings were all the same building style, materials, and color. There were a lot of old growth trees with Spanish moss growing on them. On our Charleston tour, the guide told us that Spanish moss is not Spanish or moss. Spanish moss grows on another plant, but does not rely on the host plant for nutrients. After driving through the campus, we drove to the Battery and walked along Battery Road to look at the beautiful houses facing the park and harbor.

We drove into North Charleston for breakfast. We ate at Perkins’ Restaurant, where we shared an omelet and pancakes. We then went to Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million to look for a book about the gardens in Charleston. We did not find it at either store. We then drove to Isle of Palms. The beaches were very crowded. As we were driving back to the camper, it rained very hard.

We drove into Charleston for breakfast. We stopped at the Charleston Visitor Center, where we picked up pamphlets about Charleston and asked one of the people for a recommendation for a good restaurant to have breakfast. We drove to The Market and parked in a parking garage. We walked to the corner and ate breakfast at Toast, a popular restaurant. After waiting for about ten minutes, we were seated. Susan ordered shrimp etoufe’ and grits with fried green tomatoes. Bob ordered fried green tomatoes with egg and crab cakes topped with a sauce. When we finished breakfast, we walked to The Market. When we have walked through the market in the past, it was four blocks of open air market. Today the first block of The Market was enclosed and air conditioned-much more comfortable. At The Market, some of the people were sitting and weaving Gullah baskets, made of sweet grass. Susan has admired the baskets, but they are too expensive. We looked for a book about the gardens of Charleston, but could not find one that we liked. We did find a bas-sculpture of the state symbol, a palm tree with a crescent moon above the palm tree. We are adding it to our collection of ceramic tiles that we have bought during our travels. We want to display them in our house.

We decided to take a guided bus tour of Charleston so we went to the Visitor’s Center of Charleston. When we went to the lady selling the tours, she told us that they had a two for one deal on a tour starting in ten minutes. After purchasing our tickets, we walked outside to the tour bus and the tour guide started the tour. We started the tour at the house of Joseph Manigault, a French Hugenot. He explained that Charleston is located on a peninsula that was founded by the French Huguenots, a religious order. He also told us about the architectural design of the houses built in Charleston. Because the houses were taxed on the street frontage, the houses in Charleston are narrow and deep-either one room wide or two rooms wide. The veranda is always on the side of the house. One point that the tour guide stressed was that no one is allowed to tear down a building in the city of Charleston. All buildings must be restored which is very expensive. This has maintained the unique character of Charleston. Next we drove past the old Citadel campus and Marion Park. We drove along the Ashley River to the Battery at Charleston Harbor. We stopped while he talked about the battle at Fort Sumter across the harbor. Fort Sumter was bombarded by soldiers at Fort Moultrie and not by soldiers at Charleston. Fort Sumter is located on a man-made island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. On both sides of Fort Sumter were two forts that belonged to the United States. When South Carolina seceded, they claimed Fort Sumter. The Civil War started at Fort Sumter. We then drove past Rainbow Row, a group of houses painted in a variety of pastel colors. Next we saw the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, built by the British in 1771. American patriots were held prisoner in the dungeon during the Revolutionary War of American independence. The dungeon was not a pleasant place to be especially during high tide. when the water came into the dungeon. The last place to visit was the Market, where slaves were sold. It is now an open air market.

After traveling yesterday, we slept late this morning. Bob put down the awning and did a few other chores. We left the camper about 11:00 and drove into Mount Pleasant. We found a nice restaurant, Water’s Edge, and had lunch while overlooking an inlet with huge fishing boats docked at water’s edge. Bob had shrimp and grits.It was one of the best seafood meals he has ever had. One of the fishing boats had a sign with its rates listed.

½ day-$1,200.00
¾ day-$1,500.00

Of course, we would have rented the boat, but we had plans. We went to Patriot’s Point where we toured the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier that served in World War II and Vietnam. The ship has been made into a museum which includes the Medal of Honor Museum. The stories of the men who had received the Medal of Honor were interesting. I told Bob that their stories would make an interesting book. Probably someone has already written that book. On deck were ten to twelve fighter planes that once served on the aircraft carrier. We returned to the camper and ate a light supper of tomato basil soup from La Madeline.

This has been a busy and interesting summer since we have retired. We have had a lot of work done on our house. We had our basement redone with new carpeting and a “man cave” for Bob. We had a new chimney cap installed. It was amazing to watch four men cut down and trim trees all around the house. Before we left, we had a new deck put on the house. After all of the work done on the house, we were ready to travel. We were planning to go to the Outer Banks until Hurricane Irene destroyed the roads. After discussing alternatives, we decided to go to Charleston and Myrtle Beach. Today we left McKinney Campground about 9:00 in the morning and arrived in Charleston about 4:00. We started listening to Land of the Painted Cave by Jean M. Auel during the drive. We started listening to Clan of the Cave Bear, the first book of the series, many years ago. Land of the Painted Cave is the last book of the series. The author has taken about ten years to write this last book. After setting up camp, we relaxed for the rest of the evening.