Gettysburg

On Sunday, June 29, we slept in a bit and then headed to Gettysburg which was only 2 hours from Williamsport.  We stopped in the museum store and purchased an audio tour led by an actual guide to use as we drove through the park.  Gettysburg covers a pretty large area of land right in the middle of the town.  It was a very interesting audio tour.

There were several observation towers.  We all climbed up the first one.

Greg insisted on a picture with the Virginia monument, since he was born in Virginia.

 

This monument is reminiscent of the famous Iwo Jima monument/picture.

This picture was taken on top of Little Round Top.

It's hard to get a serious picture of Chase!

This is Little Round Top from the bottom.

This is the Pennsylvania monument, the largest in the park for obvious reasons.

This was the last observation tower we visited.  The kids climbed all the way up, but Greg and I opted to stay at the bottom! :)

It's easier to see Chase and Carys in this close-up.

This is the Soldier's National Cemetery.  It's hard not to think that this battle was such a tremendous waste of life!

We headed back to Williamsport in the late evening.  Our friends Dave and Matt Miskiewicz were on their way back to North Carolina from the races in New York at the same time.  We met up with them in Selinsgrove and had dinner at Applebee's.  This was especially fun for Greg who didn't get to see them like we did on the way up.

Niagara Falls

On Friday, June 27, we left Williamsport around 4pm and headed for Niagara Falls.  We planned this trip on the weekend so Greg could go with us.  We stopped in Buffalo for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory as I was having a craving!  We shared meals, drank water, and got out of there for $73 even with 3 desserts.  :)  We made it to our hotel around 9:30pm.  During the summer, there are fireworks over the falls on Friday and Sunday evenings.  I didn't realize that when I made the initial plans, but it turned out to be perfect.  We walked onto the observation bridge right as the fireworks started.  They were so beautiful as were the lights on the falls which are on every night.

 

The next morning we bought subs at a local grocery store for a picnic lunch and headed back to the park.  Niagara Falls is in Niagara Falls State Park.  You pay $8-10 to park in one of their lots, but that is all you actually HAVE to pay.  You could park on the street outside of the park and walk in if you could find a place.  We bought the Discovery Pass which allowed us to experience five attractions in the park.  The two main things were the Maid of the Mist boat ride and the Cave of the Winds.  Doing these two things separately would have cost the same as each pass, so we figured everything else was a bonus.

 

Look at that gorgeous rainbow in the background!

 We did The Cave of the Winds first.  This attraction wasn't really cave-like except that you took an elevator down into the rock.  After that you walked out on this contraption of stairs and bridges which they rebuild every single spring due to the wear and tear of the ice over the winter.

You were given these lovely ponchos and sandals to keep dry.  Yeah, right!

Look how close we were to the falls!

See the sign?  It says Hurricane Deck.  I elected to stay one deck lower and take pictures!

One season, four hurricanes hit Florida. We NEVER got this wet!

On our way to the trolley, we passed this statue of Tesla.  Carys and Landon both had to have their pictures taken with it!

We got to ride the trolley around the park all day as part of the pass.

 

So we rode over to the Maid of the Mist next.  These are the two most popular attractions, so we opted to do them first before it got too crowded.

The boat ride was incredible.  You rode right up to the falls.  At a certain point, you can't really see anything, though!

 A truly incredible sight!  "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls."  Psalm 42

The American Rapids from the trolley

We also went into the aquarium and the Gorge Discovery Center.  I'd heard how small and awful the aquarium was, but Carys enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the sea lions.

Carys wanted Greg to take her picture with every stuffed animal in the aquarium gift shop. 

Chase decided to get in on the action, except she was trying to imitate the expression on each animal's face.  It was hilarious!

 

We went into the Gorge Discovery Center simply to wait for the next trolley to the parking lot.  I made these people pose, but only Greg looks very happy about it!  I think they were making those faces on purpose. :) 

We were exhausted by the time we headed home, but it was worth it!  We made it back to Williamsport by about 7:00 that evening.

Philadelphia: Eastern State Penitentiary

Thursday afternoon, June 26, we toured the Eastern State Penitentiary. Chase really wanted to do a nighttime ghost tour, but it didn't fit into our schedule (and it would have freaked Carys out anyway). Apparently, the do a huge haunted house in the fall for anyone in the area who's into that sort of thing.

Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin. Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world’s first true “penitentiary,” a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts. The price of admission included an audio tour which was full of many interesting details about the prison. You can listen to the tour here.

Here are the kids outside the prison.

The audio tour told you where to stop and look at accompanying displays.

All the prisoners were in solitary confinement, and silence was required at all times.  This was later found to be cruel and unusual punishment and the practice was ended.

Carys had a scavenger hunt to do.  The cells were pretty creepy inside, even in the daytime.

At least you had your own bathroom!  :)

Though the prison is "in ruins", you can still walk around most of it, including up these stairs to the second floor.

The stairs led to this bridge.

Look at the neat architecture of this place!  Really worth a visit the next time you're in the Philadelphia area.

Philadelphia: Independence Mall

On Thursday morning, we headed for Philadelphia just 30 minutes from Valley Forge. We spent the morning seeing the free sights in the Independence Mall area. When I was in junior high, my family visited Philadelphia. At that time, the Liberty Bell was outside under a pavilion. Now a building has been built around it.

I love this verse from Leviticus which is inscribed on the bell.

Here it is! The Liberty Bell was made for the Pennsylvania State House long before the Declaration of Independence was signed.  The old State House bell was first called the "Liberty Bell" by a group trying to outlaw slavery.

 

It was extremely difficult to get a picture of the kids with the bell.  There was a large group of Chinese-speaking people there at the same time, and they were very organized at pushing their way to the front and taking pictures of one another.  This is as good as I was able to do!

We also toured Independence Hall and Congress Hall.  Everything else in this area cost money to see, and we didn't want to spend the money here.  

This is the outside of Independence Hall (the old Pennsylvania State House) where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.

 

This is the room where the signing took place.  The chair with the rising sun is almost the only original thing in the room.

 

This is Congress Hall where Congress met prior to the capital being moved to Washington, D.C.

We walked six blocks to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch.  That sounded like a much shorter walk than it was.  This was a really neat place to eat.  It was like a warehouse of food stands.  Fun!  

After lunch, we drove over to the Eastern State Penitentiary.  More on that in the next post!