July 3rd 
Sunday,
July 3, 2005 “Belated message from the east”
"Teacher:
What did you do for the 4th of July weekend Bobby?
Bobby:
Our family had a barbecue and watched the fireworks.
Teacher:
And how about you Joey?
Joey:
We went camping and we burned down a National Forest with bottle rockets ;-)
Teacher:
And what about you Amy?
Amy:
We watched the parade and had lemonade.
Teacher:
And what did you do James?
James:
I visited the
Lincoln
Museum
, and
Lincoln
’s tomb. I traveled to
Washington
DC
and toured the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington
Monument
, the World War II and
Vietnam
memorials. I shook the hand of my congressman and he took me to the Whitehouse
for a special tour. I watched the House and the Senate in action. I visited
Arlington
National Cemetery
and saw Kennedy’s grave and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldiers. I visited
Mount Vernon, Washington’s home, laid a boxwood wreath on his tomb, looked across the Potomac just
like Washington did those many years ago, and I visited the site where he crossed the
Delaware with his men. I visited Gettysburg National Battlefield and stood on a piece of
ground 100 feet long where my ancestors (Ohio 5th and 7th regiments) stood and
fought long ago for the Union. I visited Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell,
and Valley Forge. I saw fireworks over
New York
Harbor and visited the Statue of Liberty . . . ;-) I also got TB (Tired Bottom) but
that’s another story . . . ;-)
Well,
actually, we haven’t done the entire list yet. Tomorrow is Valley
Forge, and Independence
Park, but we’ve done most of them.
Sorry
about no messages, that internet wasteland stretched further than we imagined.
The
Lincoln
Museum
was absolutely stunning. We had a great time in
Washington
DC
and walked our legs off (Visited three of the Smithsonian Museums in addition
to the above). The days are running together though and I can’t remember all
we’ve done, but today does mark the halfway mark in the journey. 15 days to
go!
Gettysburg
was sad and wonderful all at the same time. We took the self-guided auto tour
but our real goal was to find where the
Ohio
5th and 7th regiments defended the line – we found it. Literally only 100
feet wide for each, flanked by regiments from
New York
,
Pennsylvania
, etc . . . This is where Barb’s ancestors fought in the Civil War (well, one
battle at least – there were many).
Today
is Amish day – we had a wonderful guided tour (in our car) by Aida Fischer, a
women in her 70’s who was born Amish but left the faith (was shunned) with her
husband many years ago and is now a Mennonite (has brothers and sisters that are
Amish still) Matter of fact, we just got back from an all you can eat Amish meal
at an Amish style restaurant - - - we are FULL. Lots of buggies, bearded men
(not Santa Claus), and lots of people barefoot – very strange customs. We
traveled the countryside (beautiful) and Barb snapped a gazillion pictures (but
not of the people, they don’t like that). Tomorrow is Church with the
Valley Forge
ward and then a visit to Independence Hall . . .
But
wait . . . I forgot about Hershey. The boys did the rollercoaster and daredevil
ride thing at
Hershey
Park
. We all bought lots of chocolate. LOTs of Chocolate. ;-)
So
far so good . . . say a prayer for the GPS (which really has been a Godsend)"
An
Amish farm, the Washington Monument gleams in the setting sun as seen from the
World War II Memorial, Gettysburg National Battlefield, and Abe Lincoln as a boy
at the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.
NEXT: On to
the next message of the trip . . . 
The images, articles, and concepts of this page are
copyrighted by P.S. Neeley -- copyright 2005