We’ve spent the past two days enjoying time with my East Coast family and experiencing the history of our nation!
On Tuesday, we left Stamford around noon to head towards the home of my aunt and uncle, who live near Philly. We’re continuing our stays in the homes of family and friends, which has been wonderful.
What is not wonderful is East Coast traffic. Our drive south was a bit stressful. First, we experienced the joy of getting a ticket on the Hutchinson River Parkway. We had no idea that trailers (including our pop-up, I guess) are not allowed on New York parkways. The officer was not sympathetic. Next, we had to drive on the highway through New York City, which took quite a bit of time and involved a lot of traffic and many aggressive drivers. Once we crossed the George Washington Bridge, things lightened up. But then, I lost our toll ticket just as we were about to drive through the payment booth. Unbeknownst to me, it had slipped between the seats, and I couldn’t find it anywhere. We paid the maximum toll for the missing ticket (over $30) and then I found the ticket less than a minute after we had paid and driven through. Jon and I were both rather grumpy after these mishaps, all of which occurred within the first 90 minutes of our drive. Fortunately, the remaining 3 hours of driving were calm and uneventful.
We were happy to arrive at the home of my Aunt Donna and Uncle John! After we settled in, we went out for dinner at nearby Redstone, which was fabulous. Unfortunately, after eating the rich food, we had no room for the vanilla bread pudding, which sounded so good!
Back at my relatives’ home, we watched The Little Mermaid with the girls; I think we all enjoyed the homey feeling of sitting on the couch, surrounded by family, watching a movie.
On Wednesday, my Uncle John took us out to Cracker Barrel (always a hit) for a delicious breakfast. Afterwards, we drove into Philly to spend the day at Independence Hall. Parking was a nightmare, and turned out to be insanely expensive, but we finally made it to the Visitors Center where we watched a brief National Park Service video about the history around us.
I settled in to work at a table in the cafe while Jon and the girls visited the Liberty Bell and the Benjamin Franklin Museum. After a couple hours, they came back full of enthusiasm and very hungry for some lunch or dinner. We decided we’d go get some food but, as we were heading out the door, we were handed tickets to the Independence Hall tour. We felt that, despite our hunger and fatigue, we should really go look at the courtroom and meeting room in Congress Hall in order to stand where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were discussed, debated, and signed.
By the time we finished our tour, we were all super hungry! We had decided to go out for cheesesteaks, so we texted my dad (a Philly native) to ask his opinion. He recommended a couple spots, so we braved the traffic to drive down to South Philly and grab food from two shops who compete for the title of the best original cheesesteak, Pat’s and Geno’s. Perhaps as a reward for making it through our recent highway and parking trials, we found a spot directly across the street from Pat’s. I suffered the disdain of the kid at the counter for not knowing how to properly order a cheesesteak at Pat’s. We got raised eyebrows for bringing our Pat’s bags over to Geno’s to place our order over there. I questioned my long-ago decision to marry a man who would actually order Cheez-Whiz on a sandwich. In the end, however, we had the necessary components for a good side-by-side taste test!
We brought most of the food home, but couldn’t resist eating the fries and several bites of cheesesteak on the street before leaving the city. Half an hour later, at the house, we spread everything out and thoughtfully sampled each portion of our bounty. In the end, we agreed that Pat’s fries were better than Geno’s, that Geno’s cheesesteak was better than Pat’s, that I might have ruined the Pat’s cheesesteak by adding hot cherry pepper sauce and not ordering double cheese, and that a cheesesteak with Cheez-Whiz is actually pretty tasty (horrifying as that is for me to admit). We finished the evening with the girls enjoying another movie night while the adults hung around the kitchen, chatting.
Thursday morning, we were greeted in the kitchen by my uncle and a counter loaded with Dunkin’ Donuts, plus muffins and quiches from Panera. It has definitely been a week of overindulgence! We enjoyed a fun, leisurely morning with my aunt and uncle, and waved goodbye as we pulled out of the driveway, loaded with gifts and travel supplies, a little after noon.
We drove a short distance to Valley Forge National Historical Park which is at the winter encampment of George Washington and his continental army during the winter of 1777-1778. We watched an informative video (go.nps.gov/vafofilm) and then drove the several mile Encampment Tour loop through the park. We stopped to look at the recreated army huts, of which hundreds had once covered the hills.
The driving tour also included explanations and exhibits related to the lives of soldiers during their winter at Valley Forge, the iron work Valley Forge was known for during the colonial period, the resources, equipment, and defensive position of the encampment, and, our favorite spot, the original building that served as the headquarters and living quarters of George Washington during that winter.
We could have spent much longer at the park, which offers numerous biking and walking paths in addition to the driving tour. However, it was getting to be evening and we were eager to meet up with my family members in Wilmington, Delaware! It was a 90 minute drive through rush-hour traffic to get to Wilmington from the park. My Uncle Ted had gotten us a room at a hotel near his home, so he met us at the entrance to check in and then drove us over to his place once we had dropped off our stuff.
Our evening at the home of my Uncle Ted and Aunt LaTrelle was wonderful fun! We told them that we were happy to stay in and order pizza, so we enjoyed an evening of sitting, laughing, and talking with relatives, including my aunt Catherine, and my cousins Marla and Ajee. It was a blast! We even FaceTimed my dad in California so he could join in on the noisy, chaotic fun of his family. After dinner, dessert, conversation, and numerous stories from the past, we called it a night close to midnight.
We spent a very comfortable night at the hotel (a definite upgrade from our usual motels on the road) and tried to get an early start today. We have a long drive to Williamsburg, Virginia where we’ll be camping for the next two nights before heading to Washington DC. Packing, breakfast, and a brisk riverfront walk occupied our morning. Both uncles came by to see us off, and we drove away from Wilmington loaded with more goodies and a deep appreciation for the wonderful gift of family.
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