My DC & NYC Trip

Hello friends! I thought I might have a bit more time to blog this summer while I'm off from work, but it seems I have been busier than ever.  Let's see...here's a recap of what June has been for me.....

*1 day training at school

*I turned 48!

*6 day trip to Washington DC & NYC with my nephew Riley

*took Sadie and Rooster to the vet for their yearly check-ups

*celebrated Dakota's 22nd birthday (my son)

*painting party with my teacher friends

*1/2 day training in Google Classroom 

*got the great news that my mother-in-law's cancer is nearly gone!

*celebrated my mom's 68th birthday

*attended my 30 year class reunion

*celebrated Father's Day

*2 more days of professional development

*celebrated my birthday late with my friend Jeana

*celebrated Joey's 50th birthday

*drove to Tampa with my teacher friend Kaycee to go to IKEA!

*repainted and put new floors in my craft room which meant taking everything out (not fun)...but I am in love with the transformation and will blog about it soon

*began cleaning out the shed today until it started pouring rain (will finish soon)

* every Tuesday and Thursday workouts from 7 -8 AM and Every Friday from 9-10 AM

*working on things for my new 1st grade classroom

So...I'm sorry I haven't had much chance to blog but hopefully July will be a little slower paced!

I do have a few pictures of my trip to share today. I picked out the highlights. 

This was my fourth trip to Washington DC and my second trip to New York City and I enjoyed them both again....especially NYC!

Day 1 in DC....

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln

Vietnam Wall

World War II

Martin Luther King 

(this was my first time seeing this one)

Jefferson

Arlington National Cemetery

We also went to the Smithsonian Air & Space and Natural History museums and we saw the White House. We walked over 8 miles on this day! My year of working out helped significantly with all the step climbing and up and downhill walking. I never got tired!

Day 2 was just pictures in front of the capital before we headed to NYC.

We arrived at our hotel in New Jersey around 4 o'clock and got ready to head to the city for dinner and to see Aladdin on Broadway. It was absolutely awesome and I was happy to get to add another Broadway show to my growing list.

We saw it in the New Amsterdam theater and it was just beautiful inside. I believe this is the same theater I saw Lion King in years ago.

Day 2 in NYC...we saw some things while riding in the bus on the way to the harbor cruise. I had done this before as well but it was nice to go again. The boat we were on was the first one to respond to the plane going down in the Hudson River. Have you seen the movie about it...Sully? I loved it! So...that tall building you see in the photo below is the Freedom Tower built where one of the twin towers used to stand. It is a beautiful building. 

Ellis Island

The Statue of Liberty

Another skyline shot

After the cruise, we went to lunch and then toured the grounds of where the twin towers stood. This was new for me...the last time I went there were just 2 massive holes where they stood. Now one is occupied by Freedom Tower and the other by this amazing wall and waterfall. There is no way to get a perfect shot of this. The names of everyone who dies are etched in the wall all the way around. It is breathtaking!

This is the Survivor Tree. It barely survived the fall of the towers but it did and was uprooted and planted in the Bronx. When they finished the grounds, they returned it here. 

China Town (didn't care for it before and didn't this time either) 

Same opinion of Little Italy

We rode by the Bull on Wall Street

Then we headed to the Rockefeller Center to do the Top of the Rock. This giant ballerina balloon was nearby. Isn't it pretty?

The view from the top was amazing! Before when I went , I went to the top of the Empire State Building which you can see in the photo below. It's the tallest building you see in the center. That tall building on the right in the distance is Freedom Tower and beyond that is the Statue of Liberty although she looks like a speck in this photo. 

After we were all safely back on the ground, we walked over to Times Square for dinner and shopping. It is a busy place! That's my nephew in the green shirt and hat. He bought it in Chinatown. :)

This view of Radio City Music Hall was too pretty not to photograph.

Our last day was spent in Central Park. I love the park...you truly forget you're in one of the busiest cities in the world. The real estate around Central Park is the most expensive in the city. If I was a billionaire, of course I would choose this view as well. Our guide said Jerry Seinfeld lives or did live in the building you see on the left. It has a castle like appearance.

The Angel of the Waters Fountain

Hans Christian Andersen

There were so many beautiful things in Central Park but this post is already long!

Next we were off to Grand Central Terminal for lunch before we headed home.

This is a beautiful building!

We had a yummy lunch and then went to Magnolia Bakery where we got something sweet for the long ride home. 

Oh my...so many delicious choices!

Unfortunately on the ride home, the bus had some issues and we were delayed by 6 or 7 hours. It was a long and miserable experience but we made it home and that's what matters. 

So...have you been to either or both of these beautiful cities? Please tell me your favorite thing about them if you have. I'll be back to share my craft room redo soon as well as my Ikea haul and a couple other things. Thanks so much for visiting and until next time.....

A Trip to Charleston, SC

Hello friends! I'm here today to share my recent trip to Charleston, South Carolina. This was my first visit but I hope not my last! I am only about 5-6 hours away from this delightful, historical city. The hubby and I, along with Miranda took a short but sweet trip up there a couple weeks ago. We had a wonderful time. We left on Monday and returned Thursday evening but we packed a lot of fun into our trip. We will begin with our first evening in Charleston. We stayed on King Street which is a really popular street in historic Charleston. We looked up places to eat supper within walking distance and came upon this gem. 

Yep, a bowling alley! Not your typical bowling alley fare served here though. Check out this amazing burger I had. I always go for something I've never had...typically with lots of unique ingredients and flavors. I love flavor filled food. This was the Vermont burger. It was a beef patty topped with Vermont white cheddar, thinly sliced Granny Smith apple, bacon, maple mayo, and arugula. It was amazing! I plan to recreate it here at home someday!

After we ate, we walked around a bit. In fact, we walked everywhere we went in downtown and put in about 7 miles per day! I missed my workouts this week but we walked so much and I hit the gym in the hotel one morning to make up for it. 

The firehouse was so pretty!

We got up early the next morning and started walking with no particular destination in mind. We explored most of the historic area that day. There are so many pretty buildings up and down King Street which house stores, businesses, restaurants and such. 

This bookstore was very nice. The front room housed books about SC and Charleston as well as books written by authors from SC. 

It was one of the most dog friendly places I have been. Check out the fountain for adults, children, and dogs. :) Many of the businesses keep bowls of water on the sidewalk for dogs as well. So neat!

We saw pretty parks and fountains.....

amazing old architecture.....

check out that skinny little building with the burgundy awning!

We ate a Greek restaurant for lunch but I had shrimp and grits. I like to try them at different places. None compare to the shrimp and grits from Jonah's (in Thomasville, Ga.) though!

We found City Market and walked through all of the buildings. I believe there were 4 or 5. They are lung buildings with vendors set up along the sides.

 I bought two Christmas ornaments at the market.

I forgot to take a picture when we went in the first building, but this is the last one.

We walked down to the water in search of the pineapple fountain....

and found it! The pineapple is the symbol of hospitality and this city did not lack in that area. 

I was amazed that people were allowed to play in the water. That is usually a no-no.

We sat on a bench in this lovely park where the fountain was located and took a break before we headed back to our hotel. We had walked 3 or 4 miles in 9 degree heat and humidity! The heat index was over 100! I was kind of wishing I had brought my swimsuit for the fountain....lol!

These huge window boxes were gorgeous and overflowing!

More pretty architecture.

Loved this vine covered building!

We stopped in at Woofgang Bakery and bought Sadie and Rooster a treat to take home. 

We were pretty exhausted from all the walking and heat so we ordered pizza in the hotel that night and were lazy!

The next day we headed out on foot again to take a historical coat tour of the harbor. I got a phone call while we were sitting in front of the Aquarium saying the tour had been canceled due to lack of participation. Bummer! But, since we were in front of the aquarium, we decided to go there. Here is a picture from the outside.

There were many different sea creatures inside as well as many SC native animals.

Here's my favorite marine animal.

And here I am touching some type of little shark.

After we left the aquarium, we walked next door to the Fort Sumter Museum and toured inside. 

After we left the museum, we headed back to our hotel to rest for a bit before heading out to North Charleston to see a movie and eat at Boxcar Betty's. We saw The Secret Life of Pets....it was super cute. After the movie, we went to Boxcar Betty's to try one of the famous chicken sandwiches. I chose to add lettuce, tomato, and pimiento cheese to mine. Oh my, it was delicious! I am so glad we drove across town to try it. 

We returned back to the hotel with full tummies for our last night. 

We got up the following morning, got ready and packed to head out to Magnolia Plantation. this is one of the oldest plantations in the US. It is home to the oldest garden and is the place where camellias and azaleas were first introduced to the US. 

While waiting for our trolley tour, we visited the petting zoo. There were a variety of animals to look at and pet. This lazy guy never did come all the way out...:)

A turkey and deer were drinking from the same trough. LOL!

A tiny alligator...about a foot long.

A funny goat!

And a sweet deer who liked to nuzzle your ears. 

There are a variety of flowers and there were several types blooming while we we there.

This is actually a pond covered in something called duck weed. The small platform you see has two small gators sunning on it.

Our trolley tour guide had fun playing with this huge, horned beetle that crawled across a boys foot while we were on board. He stopped and got out to tell us about it. 

Here is the plantation house....so pretty!

My favorite part of the plantation was this beautiful bridge.

A nice lady offered to take our picture together.

My beautiful daughter, Miranda.

Another bridge shot...love the reflection.

And one of me before we walked across.

We enjoyed our tour of the plantation but after three days of extreme heat and about 15 miles of walking, we were pretty tired and ready to head home. 

We had to stop at the most adorable little country store on the way. I had seen it when we were driving in on Monday and told myself I would stop on the way home. It was the cutest thing!

And, since I had not had any special sweet treat while we were gone, I bought a praline and a Cheerwine for the ride home. It was delicious!

We had a wonderful few days and made lots of new memories. I do hope you are doing well and enjoying your summer. Mine is quickly coming to a close. I officially go back to work on August 3rd! We go back early this year due to some changes in our district calendar for the coming year. I am not thrilled about it but I do enjoy having more routine in my life, and I had a great summer so I can't complain. Thank you for visiting, and as always.....