Day Three - Valley Forge

This morning we checked out of our hotel in Bensalem, PA and drove out to Valley Forge. Our first stop was the visitor center. We found out about the Junior Ranger program while we were there as well as listened to a storyteller with the “Once Upon a Nation” program. We picked up brochure that contained a self-guided tour and got back in the van and made our way around the park. One of our stops was at the National Memorial Arch. We listened to another storyteller there and took lots of pictures.

Next we stopped at the headquarters that George Washington occupied while he was at Valley Forge. Last year we had read one of the Dear America books called The Winter of the Red Snow as a family. It was about the Valley Forge encampment. As we walked into the headquarters, I felt like I was walking into a familiar place because it was just like it described in the book. It was amazing because the volunteer that was in the house indicated that most of the house was original from when George Washington was there.

We listened to another storyteller there at Washington’s Headquarters as well as at Varnum’s quarters. That was one of the nicest things at the park. At several locations in the park there were storyteller stationed to tell stories about events that happened in and around Valley Forge. After we finished our tour, we drove to Harrisburg in preparation for our trip to Hershey Park tomorrow.

Day Two - Philadelphia

We made our way to downtown Philadelphia this morning. Our van was too tall for the Independence Hall Visitor Center parking, so we had to park at one of those lots where they take your car at the entrance and park it for you. By the looks of the guys working there, I was afraid we would never see the van again. We walked down to the visitor center and picked up our tickets to see Independence Hall. When we got into the Independence Hall complex, we took a tour of Congress Hall, which is where congress met for the first ten years before Washington, DC was built. Then we took a wonderful tour of Independence Hall which included going up to the second floor. The guide said that is only open 90 days out of every year.

After a brief lunch, we visited the Liberty Bell. It is displayed in a complex adjacent to Independence Hall. When looking at the Liberty Bell, you can see Independence Hall in the background. We spent a little time looking around at all the information related to the Liberty Bell and then got on the Philly Phlash (A tour bus) and made our way to the Pennsylvania Masonic Grand Lodge. We got to see the apron worn by George Washington.

We walked a couple blocks to see the Love Statue and then got back on the Philly Phlash and went to the Franklin Institute. It was very similar to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago or Discovery World in Milwaukee. After that, we ransomed our van and headed back to the hotel. After a brief swim in the pool, we went to Dave & Busters for dinner. We had a great dinner and played lots of fun games.

Day one - Gettysburg

After our extremely adequate continental breakfast in the Days Inn in Chambersburg, PA, we packed up and drove a half hour down the road to Gettysburg. We arrived at where at the signs said was the visitor center only to find signage indicating that the visitor center was closed. Confused, we made our way downtown to a visitor information office. A very nice woman informed me that the new Gettysburg National Park Visitor Center opened only twelve weeks ago and much of the signage isn’t up yet. She gave me wonderful directions and lots of information about what we should do and see. One of the most helpful things that she did was to recommend that we hire a trained guide to drive us around the battlefield. I initially decided to take that advice because it was cheaper than putting the four of us on a bus tour. But it was such a good idea.

We went to the Gettysburg National Park Visitor Center and saw an amazing half hour movie about the battle. After that we walked through the visitor center. It contains a great deal of information about the battlefield and would put most museums to shame. A.J. and Erin worked on a Junior Ranger program while we walked through the exhibits. It really helped us to learn more about the things that happened during the Gettysburg battle in July, 1863.

Around noon, we met up with our guide. He drove us around the battlefield while pointing out the important things that happened on each of the three days of the battle. The cool thing was that he tailored the tour to us. He concentrated on showing us where the Wisconsin troops fought and answered any questions we put to him. It was so much better than the bus tour we took the last time we were here.

We finished our time in Gettysburg with a trip to Friendlys for lunch. Afterwards, we headed out on the road again and made our way to Philadelphia. We checked into our room and took a quick swim in the pool. We are looking forward to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell tomorrow morning.

We made it to Chambersburg, PA

After 13 hours on the road, we rolled into Chambersburg tonight at about 7:30pm (ET). We started out the day with heavy rainstorms until we got into Indiana. Heavy rain while driving around Chicago is never fun. On top of that, we decided to get in the express lane on I-294 for a portion of the trip. The person right in front of us (Illinois License Plate HORSEZ) decided to drive 45 mph in the express lane. For about a half hour we got to watch the two lanes of traffic to the right of us zoom by as more and more cars stacked up behind us. I was beyond angry by the time we got out of that lane.

The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful with one exception. As we pulled into a rest area off of the Ohio Turnpike around noon, another Wisconsin vehicle pulled up right next to us. Out of the car popped Troy Davies (a previous co-worker) and his family. How weird is that.

Tomorrow morning, we will drive a half hour to Gettysburg. The plan is to tour Gettysburg for the day and end up in Philadelphia at the end of the day.

On the Road with The Dramagoons

Bright and early (… and I mean really early) tomorrow morning, we are loading up the van and heading out of for a family vacation road trip. Earlier this year we discussed as a family where we should go on our vacation this summer. Erin had done a social studies project on Pennsylvania and really wanted to see some of the places she had read about. The rest of the family said “Why not”, so we started planning a road trip. We are going to Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, Hershey and a couple other smaller stops along the way.

If the weather cooperates when we return, we also plan on making our annual trek to the Bristol Renaissance Faire next weekend. This will be our third year in a row. Last year, we started dressing in renaissance clothes for the faire. It makes it that much more fun.

If things go the way I hope, a plan to make regular updates of our progress. I am even hoping to be able to upload some pictures of the sites we see. So stayed tuned for our next exciting adventure.

A Huge Mistake for Brett Favre

Back in March, I posted an entry about how much I admired Brett Favre for the classy way that he retired from football. You can see the entry here. I take it ALL back. In March, the man talked at great length about how tired he was and that he was going to take the year off. Not just from football, but everything public including charity events. Now, just over four months later, he is on TV explaining how he talked with the Packers coach last month about coming back to the team and was told that they don’t want him back and they don’t want to trade him.

He retired and the team moved on. They had to because he quit. I don’t blame them for saying that they don’t want him back. They have made plans and strategies to work with their new quarterback. I also don’t blame them for not wanting to trade him. With all his knowledge of their team, would you want to play against him? I wouldn’t.

I think he should stay retired from football. He had a great run and he went out on top. He was league MVP three times, he went to the Superbowl twice, and won it once. He set every NFL record that a quarterback could set. If he goes back now, he’ll become one of those over-the-hill players that stayed too long. He is young enough, rich enough, and popular enough that he could do anything he wants and do it successfully. He could start his own company, go into broadcast journalism, or become a coach; anything but playing quarterback.

All right, now let’s move on.

Pride and Prejudice

Last night, I attended the opening night performance of Pride and Prejudice by Acacia Theatre Company. I thought the show was wonderfully done. All of the actors did a superb job. I would like to send out special congratulations to two actors that I have worked with before. Jason Will did an amazing job as Mr. Bingley. I worked with Jason last year in The Importance of Being Earnest. Jason is a great actor to work with. Also Brenda LaMalfa did an excellent job as Caroline Bingley. I enjoyed working with Brenda earlier this year in Shadowlands.

This was the first Acacia show that I have been able to watch. I amazed by the size of the stage. After watching and participating in so many shows at Waukesha Civic Theatre, it hard to imagine having that much space to work with. The set made excellent use of the space. It was a nice evening and I got to see several of my Acacia friends; Janet, Linda, Therese, Lynn, and Brad.

There are two more shows this weekend and five next weekends. If you have a chance, go out and support the folks at Acacia. You won’t be disappointed.

Courage and Blogging

If you have read my blog for any length of time you should know that, although it is very informative, I don’t share much in the way of personal feelings. I stick to describing things that my family and I are involved in, places that we have gone, and things that my kids have done that I am proud of. That is the kind of person I am. Strangely, I embarrass easily and therefore don’t publicly put my emotions out there for everyone to see. This works for me and I am okay with it.

I have several friends, however, that blog as a way to express there opinions, viewpoints, and sometimes outrage with the world. I would like to go on record as saying that I am very impressed with the people that can do that. It takes a lot of courage to open yourself up to the world like that. I don’t have the guts to do it. I guess I live in fear of being judged harshly by someone if I open up like that.

To those few friend of mine that do have that kind of courage (… and you know who you are), keep fighting the good fight, keep registering your outrage, and keep sharing those things that may be too touchy for others to share. I am encouraged by you and proud to call you my friends.

Mindi Abair Concert

Last night, we (the whole family) went to the Mindi Abair concert at the Racine Zoo. It was an awesome concert. Mindi and her band put on an amazing show. She played many of the songs that are our favorites. It was an outdoor concert and the weather was perfect.

The Racine Zoo has been putting on a jazz music series for 22 years to raise money for the zoo. I didn’t even know Racine had a zoo. Every year they have four jazz concerts in the summer and some of them have been fairly big names in Jazz. We heard the concert advertised on Smooth Jazz 106.9 and decided to get tickets.

Mindi Abair has been one of Erin’s favorite artists for a long time. Both kids listen to the Smooth Jazz station as they fall asleep every night. When Erin was about five years old, we were listening as she was falling asleep and she recognized the song playing as Mindi Abair. I like jazz too but I didn’t think that, at that age, she would have been able to recognize the difference between Dave Koz, Kenny G, or Mindi Abair.

After the concert was over, Erin got a CD and poster signed by Mindi and also got her picture taken with her. It was a really fun and special night.

My Dad in his Glory Days

In the summer of 1958, my dad started a waterski club in Three Lakes, Wisconsin. It was called the Aqua Devils. For several years, he was the president of the club as well as a waterski instructor. The picture is of him as in participating in the clown portion of the weekly waterski show. He became very active in tournament waterskiing in the state. Initially, he competed in many different events, later he judged. Ultimately, he became the president of state waterskiing governing body, the Wisconsin Water Ski Federation, in the early 1960s.

Later this month, on July 26th, the Aqua Devils will be celebrating their 50th anniversary. They have not been an active club for that entire time, but it has been around most of that time. I am very proud that my dad started an organization that has been around that long.

I have many wonderful childhood memories of waterskiing with dad. I learned to ski when I was seven years old. I don’t ski much any more and he doesn’t at all. Maybe later this summer, I’ll get up on the skis again and remember those days spent in the water behind the Goon Buggy!