Maryland In Review

We actually cheated on our trip into Maryland.  Our first visit was in August during our stay in Gettysburg.  We drove about an hour SW near the border lines of West Virginia, Virginia & Maryland to Antietam National Battlefield.  Our beautiful drive thick with trees and along rolling hills brought us to the visitor's center which overlooked the much-smaller-than-Gettysburg battlefield.  

A National Park Ranger gave us a talk as we overlooked the site which held the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War with 22,720 casualties on September 17, 1862.  

It was an unexpected attack on the Confederates after a Union soldier found a copy of General Lee's plan of operations for the Maryland campaign.  The woods and fields changed hands many times in horrific combat and McClellan's "simple" battle plan became a series of uncoordinated attacks because of confusion, difficult terrain, smoke and noise.  The battle left the town of Sharpsburg in total destruction.  With thousands of dead or wounded soldiers, there was great sickness and death from disease as well as great property damage.  Hospitals were set up in barns, churches, homes and make-shift tents to care for the over 17,000 wounded.  But good came out of the tragedy as well.  Clara Barton brought bandages, lanterns and food to the injured and was called "The Angel of the Battlefield."  She later founded the American Red Cross providing aid to civilians after natural disasters.  During this time Dr. Jonathan Letterman was instrumental in establishing an ambulance corps to evacuate the wounded.  He also adopted triage- a system of prioritizing casualties by the severity of their wounds.  The Battle of Antietam also made way for the Emancipation Proclamation which completely reshaped the war and was the start of bringing freedom to slaves.

This area of the battlefield was called Bloody Lane.
After seeing the dead in its path, one observer wrote, "They were lying in rows like the ties of a railroad, in heaps like cordwood mingled with the splintered and shattered fence rails.  Words are inadequate to portray the scene."

Burnside Bridge
Confederate soldiers held this bridge for hours until Burnside's command allowed Union forces to capture the bridge and cross Antietam Creek forcing the Confederates back.
Also the spot where we felt the Virginia earthquake!!!

This was just one of the many memorials scattered throughout the battlefield

Memorials like these honored the Generals who lost their lives here.

4,776 Union soldier's remains lie here (38% unknown)

Private Soldier Monument
This monument stands in the center of the cemetery and depicts a Union infantry man standing "in place rest" facing homeward to the north.  Inscribed in its base are the words: "Not for themselves, but for their countrymen"

Our second trip to Maryland was to Millersville (near D.C.) and just 1 1/2 hours from our Delaware site.  Unfortunately, that 1 1/2 hours turned to almost 4 hours thanks to dead-still traffic.  The girls were grateful for the extra quiet time to complete homework, but our antsy driver was not as thrilled!

Once we arrived, we set up camp (which we now have down to a SCIENCE!) and -being a Sunday- got ready for church.  Though we occasionally visit local churches, we've come to love our new Sunday tradition.  Either morning or evening- whichever fits our schedule- we fix a big breakfast (which according to the girls has to include pancakes) and sit around our tiny kitchen table with our pastor Dan Sutherland...of course he joins us on the Mac thanks to pre-recorded sermons:)

We stayed at the Maryland campground for about 1 1/2 weeks and it was so, so nice to be in one spot for so long!  We had a few days to tour the area before Jim left for a business convention in Phoenix.  Immediately upon dropping him off at the airport, us 3 girls drove straight to Michaels and literally shopped/browsed for 3 hours!  The girls loaded up their carts with supplies to make Christmas gifts & for the next few days the floor of the RV (and picnic table outside) was covered in crafts!  Though we missed Jim, we totally took advantage of the girl time.

When he returned, most of our days were spent touring D.C. (which will be the next blog entry), but the other Maryland tour-stop was to Annapolis to visit the Naval Academy.  

We took a guided tour led by an academy grad and enjoyed the beautiful campus.  We stopped in the huge swimming/ wrestling facility, the breath-taking chapel, and Bancroft Hall, including a look at an immaculate dorm room.  And later in the week we attended a church service at the chapel, especially enjoying the navy choir and many young men & women in uniform.

All of the stained glass windows around the chapel depict water-related scenes from the Bible.
Behind the chapel's alter is a Tiffany glass portrait of Jesus walking on the water with the words "Eternal Father, strong to Save."

A great naval leader of the American Revolution,  John Paul Jones died in Paris in 1792.  Over a century later, a search for his burial place began in order to have his remains returned to the U.S.  His body was found & returned with great fanfare in 1906 and is now kept in the elaborate crypt below the chapel.

Bancroft Hall is one of the largest dormitories in the U.S.   It also houses Memorial Hall- an ornate gallery dedicated to alumni who gave their lives in the service of the nation.

James Lawrence spoke these words as
he lay dying on board USS Chesapeake
during the War of 1812.

Officer homes

Natalie & Alayna with the Naval Academy's mascot: Bill the Goat

By the end of the tour we were well informed of at least one thing... the rivalry with the army is intense.  Many displays bragged of their own superior accomplishments over their rivals and scattered throughout was their simple motto:  "Beat Army."

At the end of our day touring the academy, we enjoyed crabcakes by the Annapolis waterfront, but our favorite stop in Maryland was to Canton Dockside.  Right by the water in Baltimore, this restaurant boasted Maryland's best steamed blue crabs... so we had to put them to the test!

Having never eaten blue crab before, our waiter brought out a sampling of sizes to choose from.  We went for the bucket of a dozen large!

We reviewed how to crack 'em open while enjoying an appetizer they're known for... a plate sized pretzel smothered in crab dip & cheese... so big, it came with a steak knife to cut it!

Our dozen crab were dropped right on the table!

We especially enjoyed using the mallots to crack into the claws. And with our recent visit to Dover's House & Senate, Alayna had fun joking about it... "Order in the crab court!", she'd say while pounding it on the table:)

Other things we enjoyed during our Maryland stay were skyping our little Minnesota cousins,

Ana, Alivia & Ashton

trick-or-treating a local neighborhood (which made the girls REALLY miss friends & family... not the same trick-or-treating alone!), and making a pitiful attempt to "decorate" for halloween:

We're still not fully on board with the RV lifestyle... our one spider web was no match to the elaborate decorations of many campers:)

And of course, the rest of our time was spent touring our nation's capital... which deserves a blog of its own!

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A) Antietam National Battlefield

B) Millersville, MD (campsite)

C) Annapolis, MD

D) Baltimore, MD

Delaware In Review

Delaware became a state in 1776, just two months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and became the first of the original 13 states to ratify the U.S. Constitution.  Our Delaware journey began in the state capitol, Dover.  The historic town had the feel of a mini-Philadelphia... all brick, colonial buildings surrounding the manicured Green.  

The State House where on July 29, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read from its porch for the first time to the people of Dover.  The General Assembly moved to Legislative Hall in 1933.

Legislative Hall

The girls sat with the gavel in the House where our guide explained to them how bills are passed

Though most visitors guess this portrait in Legislative Hall is of Paul Revere, it is actually of Delaware's popular American Revolution wartime leader.  Caesar Rodney is famous for his own midnight ride.  He hurriedly rode eighty miles through a thunderstorm on the night of July 1, 1776 ending at the doorstep of Independence Hall where he cast the decisive Delaware vote for independence.  You can find Rodney's name signed on the Declaration.

A guide toured us around the historic town.

One day was spent seashell hunting at the beautiful Rehoboth Beach.

Our Jellystone campground had fun activities, so we slowed down our pace to enjoy some R & R right at home.  

Jim & Alayna built houses with the mountain of outdoor foam blocks

Natalie & Alayna painted pumpkins in the activity center

The soft-serve ice cream truck came right to our campsite!  Not quite the pie lady, but we still couldn't resist.

We even joined in the Halloween festivities... like the mummy wrapping competition.

Team Marmon took first place... I think the mummy skirt & hair bow won the judges over:)

The girls even threw costumes on and trick-or-treated with the dozens of other camp-kids.  Alayna was a "Walking Taco" and Natalie (who won 2nd place) was a "Knock-Knock Joke"!  

(Yes, they were completely embarrassed that I made them pose with Yogi)

Also while in Delaware we enjoyed campfires, made caramel apples, watched the World Series, and Jim and Alayna spotted this albino deer while on a bike ride in Henlopen Park.

It seems we spent most of our time enjoying our campground instead of exploring more around the state, but the rest was much needed... especially as we knew full schedules were around the corner in our upcoming visit to D.C.

A)  Dover, DE (capitol)

B)  Lincoln, DE (campground)

C)  Rehobath Beach

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New Jersey In Review

Our adventures in Jersey began before we even arrived.  We found a campground online that boasted its view of Lady Liberty & prime location just a ferry ride away from the Big Apple.  We were nervous about driving the big rig through New York, but couldn't pass up the city location.  As we approached the city, traffic increased & the highway seemed to split into a million directions.  A confusing ramp took us to a wrong exit which led us to a toll.  We asked the toll operator for help heading back toward Jersey City, but he hurriedly pointed in the direction of the Lincoln Tunnel.  We knew this was not an option... vehicles with propane are not allowed in any tunnel... and next thing we knew we found ourselves on 2nd Avenue, right in the heart of Manhattan!  I frantically called the Jersey City campground & the gentleman graciously guided us while he followed our route online (a GPS is NOT useful when trying to maneuver 60 feet of vehicle through a bustling big city!)  The fear of the situation made the next 20 minutes or so a blur with only flashes of skyscrapers, millions of pedestrians & signs like "Broadway" & "Central Park".  Yes, we were led straight into Central Park which might not be a problem except for the low stone bridges.  The first one our 12' 5" monster approached had a sign that read "11.5 feet".  We panicked.  Literally.  Jim just stopped right on the one-lane road.  I'm sure cars were honking behind us, but we just sat there in shock.  With no way to back up or turn around, he finally decided to go for it, assuming we'd lose an air conditioner or two.  Amazingly we made it through, but soon approached a 10'.5" bridge!  Again, we held our breath and slowly drove as close to the center of the arch as possible, causing cars in the oncoming lane to move out of our way.  I have no idea how we made it through, but we passed through Central Park without a scratch.  Finally we found Hwy 9A which would lead us to the George Washington Bridge toward Jersey.  But just as we were feeling relief from making it through the city, our low fuel sensor began to shine.  As we sat in stand-still traffic, with the view of the bridge just ahead of us, I could only envision us running out of fuel right in the middle of the bridge.

But amazingly again, we made it to the other side where we saw the most glorious sight... a gas station!
We arrived safely to our campground which was actually just a big parking lot with hook-ups.  We were crammed in between the other motorhomes & campers and though we usually prefer nature-y, secluded sights, we loved having a short walk to the ferry or subway, and a view of 2 city skylines (Jersey & NYC) & the Statue of Liberty.     

Our view of the Statue of Liberty (in the center of the photo)

NYC

We settled in and if the traumatic journey here weren't enough, once we got in the jeep to head to dinner we realized we were having transmission troubles.  We parked back at the campsite and took a short walk (now in the dark) to a fabulous Cuban restaurant for dinner and tried calming our worn nerves:)

Our first day in town was totally rainy, and having had several rainy, indoor study days lately, we decided to head north to West Orange, NJ (praying the jeep would make it).    

In 1876 Thomas Edison built the world's first industrial research facility in Menlo Park, NJ that incorporated several fields of science and technology and is where he invented the phonograph & light bulb.  Eleven years later he opened a lab complex here in West Orange three times the size of his Menlo Park facility which is now preserved at Thomas Edison National Historical Park.  We were surprised at the enormous size of the complex... a dozen or so large, brick buildings with one 3-story building containing a research library, machine shops, photo lab, experiment & research rooms, Edison's office and more.  Edison had up to 200 employees working in small teams while he would make his rounds daily to inspire & fine-tune their work.  The list of his accomplishments is endless and included the introduction of motion pictures, a technique for poured concrete buildings, a fluoroscope to view x-ray images, huge machines for extracting iron from ore & his search for a domestic source of rubber.  Over his lifetime he patented over 1,000 inventions!  

This time clock at the entrance to the main lab had painted hands marking the last time Edison passed through the doors- when his body was removed from the library in a casket after his death in 1931.

Edison's 3-story library contained over 10,000 books, displayed may of his early inventions & numerous awards for his achievements and housed his desk, left exactly as it was on his last day of work.  Tucked in the corner was this cot he used for his famous catnaps.  A tireless worker, Edison regularly slept only a few hours a night and when near a solution would stay at his lab for days.

This is one of the lab's machine shops where Edison's inventions were manufactured for direct sale to the public.  Profits from the sales were used to improve inventions & fund further research.

Edison's private lab where he would retreat from time to time.

Edison's goal was to have on hand everything needed to quickly & cheaply perfect inventions & ready them for mass production.  This stock room fulfilled that, carrying everything from tools and parts to turtle shells, elephant hides & other oddities.

Edison's music recording studio- singers & musicians would travel here from New York to record using giant horns to focus the music onto cylinders.

While in the recording studio we were able to catch a demonstration of an early 1900's phonograph, Edison's favorite invention.

In 1887 this building was one of the best equipped chemistry laboratories in the world.  Everything from phonograph records to rubber were experimented here.

Edison called this machine the "father of the phonograph".
It recorded telegraph messages and was the inspiration to
recording sound.

This is Edison's 1st phonograph from 1877 which recorded
sound waves as indentations in a sheet of tinfoil.
It provided his famous "Mary had a Little Lamb " recording.

This improved 1877 design used a wax cylinder record instead
of the previous and more delicate tinfoil record.

Of the over 400,000 artifacts in the complex, Jim was most excited
when he realized this was among Edison's inventions:)

On our way home we stopped in Hoboken, home of Carlo's Bakery as seen on TV's Cake Boss!  

No, we didn't get to meet Buddy (shocker!), but did leave with a couple boxes of goodies.  The fruit tart & chocolate torte were rich and fabulous... the cupcakes, though were disappointing- although they looked fabulous, they tasted like they came from the grocery store:(

Our first day still wasn't over... we decided to take advantage of our short commute to Manhattan and head over on the subway to Broadway to watch the performance Wicked, our favorite, favorite musical.  And the girls were thrilled that because it was too cold & rainy to walk back to the subway and seemingly every taxi was occupied, we just had to grab a limo for our ride home! 

Another day we decided to go plan-free & just enjoy a walk around NYC.

The rather small group that have made rather large headlines on the news for their protest against unequal distribution of wealth.

We stopped for a look at the One World Trade Center in progress.  When finished, it will be the tallest building in the U.S. with it's illuminated antenna reaching the symbolic height of 1,776 feet, America's year of Independence.

"Dedicated to those who fell and those who carry on...

...may we never forget"

Alayna's highlight of the day... maybe even of the week... was browsing through this "Everything $2.99" jewelry store. Jim, on the other hand, would rather have gouged his eyes out.  Not joking.

Times Square!

By this time, Alayna had the subway system totally figured out & took charge of getting our passes:)  

Alayna carrying her loot down our parking lot with a view.
Mom & Dad following behind wondering where in the heck we'd put the new clothes
in our already stuffed house on wheels!

For dinner we checked out Jersey's Little India, a street filled with Indian shops, markets and restaurants.  

We devoured our scrumptious chicken vindaloo, shrimp tandoori, potatoes with spinach & naan... YUM!

We loved the area, but had made an appointment for the RV to have minor warranty repairs (Non working electrical outlets, leveling system & central vac), so needed to head toward the dealership near Philadelphia.  We made our routine check of the maps, plugged our destination into the GPS and were on our way.  Within blocks, the GPS directed us to turn off the path we knew.  Unfortunately we listened.  And "she" took us on a tight side street covered with parked cars on both sides.  

Again she told us to turn.  Jim wasn't sure if he could make the turn, but had to try.  Before completing the turn we felt a jolt and looked at each other in panic!  Actually, from the start Jim kept his composure... it was me in a panic.  We stopped mid-turn, exiting to assess the damage.  Our back RV corner (thankfully not the jeep) side swiped a parked car and before we knew it the owner (and her sister and mother) was there in a rage.  "YOU #@!!$%^ HIT MY CAR! WHAT IS THAT?!?!" (referring to our motor home!)  

As you can imagine, Jim was able to finally calm her down, but she wasn't the only one we had to deal with.  Our home took up the entire intersection, and as Jim frantically unhooked the Jeep so we could maneuver out of the way, cars behind us were growing restless.  I went to calm them...  "Why is he unhooking the jeep?? Just tell him to drive forward- the jeep will be fine. Trust me!"  And another man, obviously late for work frantically yelled at me to direct him backwards out the street.  We quickly cleared the intersection, but the gawkers continued to gather. One couple who lived down the street asked, "You hit THAT orange car?!?  Those are the three nastiest women you could have messed with!"

Finally the police arrived, we exchanged all our info and sheepishly asked if she would please escort us  to the highway.  And she (the police woman) graciously did:)

Straight to the Fleetwood dealer we went, thankful to drop it off and not have to drive it for a few days!  Unfortunately, we also had to hunt down a Jeep dealer who could solve our transmission problems.  By the end of our frazzled day, we'd had both vehicles in the shop & no home to boot!  So we rented a car & stayed in hotels and started our homelessness in Princeton where we toured the lovely university campus.

Our guide informed us that the gentleman who built Princeton's chapel was dissatisfied with the size limitations put on his grandiose design.  To spite the college, he placed a bulldog on the hidden gutter of the chapel... their rival, Yale's mascot.

Princeton's Firestone Library (above left) holds over 50 miles of shelves and its collections increase at the rate of nearly 10,000 volumes a month.

A signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon was president of Princeton University 1767-1794.

Near the university, we drove by Albert Einstein's 1935-1955 home in Princeton.

While living in Princeton, Albert Einstein conducted lab work and gave seminars from this room at the university.

Just a short drive away was Washington Crossing Historic Park where Washington and his 2,400 troops crossed the icy river on Christmas night 1776.  Once they reached the other side (which took until 4am), they still had a 9 mile march to Trenton in blizzard-ous conditions ahead of them, before defeating the Hessians in an unexpected attack.  Days later were the Second Battle of Trenton & the Battle of Princeton.

Durham boats similar to those used by Washington & his men.
Every Christmas, the park reenacts the crossing across the river.

Still waiting for our vehicles to be repaired, we ventured down to Atlantic City.  We had heard that it resembled a mini-Vegas, but were surprised to find how run down much of the area was.  A major attraction was the wooden boardwalk that goes for miles along the Jersey shore.  I was intrigued after reading about the famous beach chair rides down the boardwalk... so we had to experience it:)

In Atlantic City, the Boardwalk is lined with hotels, souvenir shops, psychics and lots & lots of taffy (apparently its where taffy got its start).  We stayed in one of the casino-hotels... just for the all-you-can-eat-crableg buffet:) and loved the huge bathroom & nice view of the shoreline from our room.

Did you know Atlantic City was the inspiration for game inventor Charles Darrow's Monopoly game because of his fond childhood vacation memories there?  Most of the "real estate" in the game is based on actual streets in Atlantic City.  

Finally, our Jeep & home were repaired and ready for pick up.  We were anxious to get to less hectic driving conditions and even more thankful to escape the pricy tolls of the Jersey Turnpike...

"$12.55"
Just two of the many tolls we had to pay in Jersey

"$23.25"

But despite the stressful driving, we thoroughly enjoyed Jersey, our 19th state!

A) Manhattan, NY 

B) Hoboken, NJ (Carlo's Bakery)

C) Jersey City, NJ (Campground)

D) West Orange, NJ (Thomas Edison National Historic Park)

E) Princeton, NJ (Princeton University)

F) Titusville, NJ (Washington Crossing)

G) Atlantic City, NJ

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