Kristine under the cherry blossomes

While we were in D.C., it was the Cherry Blossom Festival which was amazing. I had never seen so many cherry blossoms all over. The blossoms were everywhere especially near the tide pool area and the Jefferson Memorial. This will just be a quick photo update blog but still have more of D.C. to document!

Mike and Alice under the cherry trees

Cherry Blossoms

Jefferson Memorial on the tide pool

Jefferson Memorial on the tide pool

Jefferson Memorial on the tide pool surrounded by cherry blossoms

Special duck with cherry blossoms

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms

World War II Memorial

Joel and Kristine in front of the reflecting pool

From the World War II Memorial we walked along the reflecting pool towards the Vietnam Memorial. We didn’t walk to it but walked by it. From there we headed up to the Lincoln Memorial. The lake to the north side of the reflecting pool was drained as they were shoveling the sediment out of it. Was funny the ducks were still hanging around the lake looking for the water. At this point we knew Kristine was pregnant so she had to drink a ton of water. We stopped at a little booth and made sure she and little Turkey were kept hydrated.

We walked on to the Lincoln Memorial and I am always shocked at how big he is. Kristine didn’t realize how big he was either. Last time I was here, I had all my luggage with me since I was ‘officially’ on my way to Reagan International for my flight back home. Was nice to enjoy a stroll around DC without the clack clack clack of my luggage behind me; that and not being in a suit.

Entrance into the Lincoln Memorial

Mike and Alice in front of Abe

Joel and Kristine in front of Mr. Lincoln

View down the mall after visiting with President Lincoln

We walked on to the Korean War Memorial which is a few steps away from the Lincoln Memorial. While we were there, birds were loving to swim in the water. Being bird lovers we had to watch and laugh at the cute birds.

From there we walked on to the tide pool area to view the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Korean War Memorial

Birds bathing in the Korean War Memorial water

Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot

On Tuesday, we woke up early to make the drive to Perryville, Maryland to catch the MARC train into DC. We got to drive through Delaware for about 10 minutes on the hour and a half drive. When we got to Perryville, we had about 5 minutes to catch the train. All the parking spots were taken so we took our chance and parked on the street. We had to run to the train and barely made it. As soon as we sat down it started moving for our hour and a half train ride into the city. It was a nice and quiet trip with a pretty view of the Maryland country side as we came into the city.

U.S. Treasury Office... I need a bailout!

We finally got into D.C. and walked into Chinatown for lunch. We met with my Department of Justice contact and he ate with us for lunch. After lunch we walked to the White House. On our way their we passed Ford’s Theater and got to see the building where Lincoln died. The theater was closed so we didn’t get to go in but the construction on it was finally done from my last trip up there.

White House.. but Obama wasn't home

We made it to the White House but Obama wasn’t home. No loss; but we got some nice photos of the building and the snipers hanging out on the roof. I waved at them but they never waved back.

We walked from the White House to the Washington Memorial but it was also sold out for the day as well. We walked down to the World War II Memorial on our way to the Lincoln Memorial. It was actually very windy and the water from the fountains were blowing everywhere.

You could also see the Jefferson Memorial from the memorial which was surrounded by Cherry blossoms (more in a later post). From there we headed to the Lincoln Memorial for a meeting with ol’ Abe.

Joel and Kristine at the White House

Snipers?

White House

Washington Memorial

Florida at the World War II Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

Liberty Bell

On Monday, March 30th, we slept in a bit so we could recover from our long day in New York City. We got our day a bit later than we expected but got plenty done. We took the train in from Mike and Alice’s apartment into town. Our first stop was a CVS to get Kristine some water. While there we saw this dude get caught stealing from the store. Welcome to Philly I thought to my self!

Liberty Bell with Independence Hall behind it

From there, we walked down to the Liberty Bell which I had not seen since I was a little kid. The new building was really nice and I loved seeing Independence Hall behind it through the glass. The building had tons of history about the Bell and it being used as an icon for freeing slaves. This was a history I did not know and found it interesting. They also had x-rays of the bell showing the work that has been done on the inside along with the supports to keep it from further cracking.

Ben Franklin's Grave... I think I heard him spinning!

We next walked towards the river and passed a few additional sites. The first was Ben Franklin’s grave. I was surprised at how simple it was for one of the most famous persons in our countries history. With everything going on in our country… I could swear I heard him spinning in his grave! All joking aside, it was really amazing to see his grave. Next we walked next to Betsy Ross’ house on our way to the shore.

Grave of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier

Once at Penn’s Landing, we could see a great view of the Walt Whitman Bridge and the the USS New Jersey. The shore was nice but very cold and windy! We walked back towards Independence Hall but made a stop at the Grave of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier. This was where hundreds of soldiers from General Washington’s army died during the winter. We finally made it to Independence Hall only to realize they are closed for the evening so we didn’t get to go inside.

Freemasons Temple

We continued our tour of Philadelphia by walking towards City Hall. From there, we walked through it and on the other side was the Freemasons Temple. Never seen a church where they worship masonry freely. Our day was finally up and we took the train home so we could rest up for our trip to Washington D.C. in the morning.

On a side note, the whole time we were touring parts of Philadelphia, I couldn’t help thinking ‘National Treasures’ the whole time. I was so tempted to find the glasses hidden inside the walls of Independence Hall and then run from the Freemasons Temple.

Betsy Ross' House

USS New Jersey

Independence Hall (panoramic)

Kristine next to a 'Sorry' game piece

Joel and Kristine under the 'Love' art

Trump Tower (Panoramic)

Upon leaving Central Park, we walked through the city towards the Rockefeller building.  Our first stop was the Trump Tower where the show is filmed.  Everyone (except myself) got Starbucks from inside Trump’s building.  Everything had a golden look to it, was odd.  After that, we came across Saint Patrick’s Cathedral which was amazing inside.  I figure that is what the churches in Rome must look like.  They only let us hang out for a bit since they were getting ready for that evenings mass.

30 Rock

We finally made it to Rockefeller Center and I was actually surprised at how small the area was.  I figured from TV it was much larger than it really was.  Either way, it was still neat to see the people ice skating in the center.  I don’t see where they have space for the Christmas tree or anything.  From there we walked past all the NBC studios and Radio City Music Hall on our way to Time Square.

Time Square

Time Square was pretty insane.  I had never seen somewhere so busy and full of lights everywhere.  There were lights and signs on every surface available. One of the really nice things was they left he ball from New Years still up so we got to see that.  Additionally they had some bleachers you could sit on that was relaxing to enjoy after so much walking.

Empire State Building going up into the clouds

We next departed for the Empire State Building but was unsure of what we could see due to the low clouds in the city.  When we made our way to the building I was surprised because it didn’t look that big but we could only see half way up the building because of the fog.  We went inside to see it, but it is all under construction.  It cost $20 to go up to the observation deck as well which was insane.  It would have been worthless to go up there due to the heavy clouds and we wouldn’t have been able to see squat.

Kristine trying to eat Calamari at Carmines

After the Empire State Building, we headed back to Time Square to find some food.  A friend of mine (who actually told us where to go in NYC) recommended Carmines which was an Italian restaurant that served family style portions.  We first ordered Calamari which I like OK.  The plate got there and it had to have 100 to 150 little squid parts on the table!  Kristine wouldn’t eat the ones with tentacles still on them though.  We also ordered stuffed mushrooms, which were amazing, a sampler plate and meatballs.  The meatballs were amazing and had to be the size of a baseball.  The sampler plate was huge!  It easily had 4 servings of the 4 items it had on there.  Needless to say we took home a ton of things in a box.

From there we took the train back to Trenton and drove back to Kristine’s brothers place where we rested and saved up our energy for our Tuesday trip to DC.

Buildings of New York

Saint Patrick's Cathedral (Panoramic)

NBC Studios

Too much food!!

Time Square at night (panoramic)

Chrysler Building

As we rolled through New Jersey, I was actually in shock with the amount of filth and trash that was visible along the train tracks. I had never seen anything like it except on TV! Additionally, every square inch of available surface was covered in graffiti as well. Now I understand this is the train tracks but still, it was a bit shocking. When we finally pulled into New York, I realized how busy and insane the city was just from Penn Station. From there we took the A/C/E train downtown to World Trade Center. I was amazed at how little had been done in the way of building the Freedom tower but it was a great reminder of what happened on 9/11 and made me a bit emotional. I was also a bit disappointed that it was so overcast we couldn’t see tops of the buildings due to how overcast it was.

From there we turned east and headed towards Wall Street where we got to see the stock exchange and the Merrill Lynch bull. We continued on to Battery Park where we hoped to see the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately it was so overcast we could barely make her out! From there we walked up to the South Street Seaport for lunch.

From there we took the A train up to Central Park for a nice walk. Central Park was amazing with all the wildlife around and the huge rocks sticking out from the ground. There was also a guy playing the sax in the park who was amazing.

Kristine on her first train ride

Kristine on her first subway ride

World Trade Center

Buildings in the low fog in New York City

New York Stock Exchange

Panoramic View of Wall Street

Merrel Lynch Bull

Lady Liberty in the fog

Kristine at the South Street Seaport next to the Helen McAllister

View of the Brooklyn Bridge

Mike and Alice next to the Brooklyn Bridge

Joel and Kristine next to the Brooklyn Bridge

Rocks in Central Park

Man playing sax in Central Park

Panoramic view of Central Park

Our plane made it to Philly around 1:30 am into a cold and rainy city.  We had the luck of the airport being pretty much closed and our gate wasn’t open.  We had to walk off the plane, into the rain and get our luggage then haul it up the stairs into the airport and on our merry way.

The next day we went downtown to visit the art museum which was amazing.  After that we drove around and went home to rest for our day in New York City on the 29th.  Below are some photos we took during our first day in Philly:

St. Francis Xavier Church

Joel and Kristine infront of statue of General Washington

View of downtown Philly and city hall

Philadelphia Art Museum

Joel and Kristine in front of Rocky statute

Decorated period rooms inside the art gallery (panoramic)

Ben Franklin!

View from the museum steps (panoramic)

Amazing wood sarving of Jesus and his life

"At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec of France. Painted in 1890 with oil on canvas.

Neat tunnel