Missy and I want to thank all of you that played along on our journey that is now 50% over. We loved sharing this amazing experience and more so enjoyed seeing your posts and e-mails.
Since our last post we have been to VA to visit Courtney, Travis, John and Jeanne to which I will post pics later and then we headed back to IN. Our business is done here and the temp is 31 so we are heading south. After months of research, Cary, NC is our current target to look for property, business opportunity and heat. We will let you all know where, of the several possibilities remaining, we end up planting ourselves.
In any event, we feel blessed to have the chance to spend this time roaming the country, the places we have visited have been amazing. We will now spend at least a month in the Carolinas researching the area for housing and for starting a business.
We plan to buy a house within 30 days in either IN or NC and settle. This amazing journey may start again in a month or in five years but rest assured we will complete this trip at some point and share it with all of you.
Thank you all for posting, viewing, caring and just being our friends. This has been crazy amazing but was made far better by your participation.
The blog thus far will be saved and turned in to a coffee table book (thanks bro for the idea). If any of you want a copy let us know. For now, our posts will stop and when the trip resumes we will let you all know.
Thank you so much for joining us on this trip thus far, you all rock and we love ya.
Jess and Missy
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Day four in DC
Our fourth and final day in DC was just as amazing as the prior three. This town packs a bunch into a relatively small area. We could have spent two weeks and still not seen it all, we will definitely be coming back in the future.
I had neglected to mention in the past posts that one of the most surprising things about DC to us was how friendly the people are, without question the most hospitable and engaging place we have been thus far. We certainly didn’t expect to find the friendliest place to be a city much less and east coast city.
We started day four with a visit to the National Archives building. This is where many national treasures, records and documents reside. Arguable the three most important are the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They were difficult to read and are somewhat deteriorated but absolutely remarkable to see firsthand the work of our fore fathers.
Our next stop was a close up look at the Capital building which is again enormous, lots of big buildings in this town. No tours of the interior were available but we did get an unexpected treat. I approached a security guard and asked if there was a good place for lunch and she directed us to the Capital cafeteria in the House office complex. The food was really good but this isn’t a place too many visiting tourist find this place is very large but what impressed us was the buzz of interns, assistants, lawyers and the other folks that make Washington function…thousands of young up and comers it was a rare find.
After lunch we continued to walk around the Capital building and arrived at the Library of Congress. This building takes the prize for the most impressive interior with millions of tiny hand placed, hand painted tiles lining the entire vast ceiling. While you can’t go in to the functioning library there are two museums covering significant world and US history. Tomas Jefferson’s personal library, the largest of the time and Christopher Columbus and George Washington’s personal handwritten journals we just some of the amazing things on display. No pictures were allowed in these Museum’s but there are a few of the interior.
The next stop was the Supreme Court, while impressive it was our least favorite. Some amazing sculptures and historical decisions were on display. This is not much of a tourist stop but we were glad have seen it.
Finally we happened past the newest museum called Newseum are were told by some locals that it is the hot spot so we stopped in. They have eight sections of the Berlin Wall with a very nice narrative. The 9-11 display was really well done complete with all the news coverage as it was happening from local stations in NY to the antenna that was on the towers. Lot’s more to see but we are spent.
Hope you all liked the pics of DC, off To Richmond to visit family.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Day three in DC
Day three left us proud to be Americans and reflective of all the great American before us that sacrificed.
We started our day at the Pentagon, this building is absolutely enormous. The subway comes right up to it and after a sizable walk we were standing at the Memorial of the tragedy on September 11. Looking at the vast building you really get an understanding of how big a business the US military is. The damage to the building is completely repaired and we had the rare opportunity to see a 2 star general on our tour.
The memorial was not only stunning but also very emotional. You will see the individual units each represent one of the 184 people who died and is inscribed with their name and in the water the names of any family members that also perished on that day. The direction the units are facing represent whether they were in the plane or in the building and lastly each row is separated by year of birth. The youngest was a three year old girl and the oldest was a 72 year old retired Navy man, both on the plane.
Our next stop was Arlington National Cemetery where we took an open air bus tour with stops at the Eternal Flame and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was an honor to be standing at the grave of one of our most beloved Presidents where his motivational words are inscribed forever and where so many Americans have visited to pay their respect. Robert Kennedys resting place is nearby and marked (per his will) with a simple wooden white cross on a grassy hillside.
Our next stop was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This tomb is guarded 24 hours a day 365 days a year by a special Army honor guard that changes guard every hour on the hour. This show of honor, respect and dedication to service is recognized by many nations in the hall and even after serving 5 years in the Navy it was the single proudest moment I can remember to be American. The guard marches 21 steps in front of the tomb and then stops for 21 seconds turns waits 21 seconds and marches 21 steps. This is representative of the 21 gun salute, the highest military honor and again is done 24 hours a day 365 days a year. The Changing of the Guard started with a head to toe inspection of the new guard including a complete inspection of his rifle. Very rarely do the turn away an incoming guard but it has happened because of a tiny smudge on the rifle or a piece of lint on their uniform. They take this honor very seriously. The guard, once inspected follows the watch commander past the tomb, who salutes the Unknown Soldiers and in perfect timing the two guards change roles. Just amazing.
Next stop the Lincoln Memorial which had the best view of Washington of anywhere we have been. Lincoln is towering and appears to be watching over all of DC. Huge tablets of his famous and nation healing words line the walls. We almost skipped this memorial but are glad we didn’t. Just up the way along Forrest Gump’s famous run along the reflecting pool we arrived at the World War two Memorial (pictured) which is placed directly between the Lincoln and Washington Memorials. Our last stop was the Washington Monument which it seems like you can see from anywhere in the city. They were not allowing tours but just to stand next to this massive structure was awesome.
Whew, time for a cocktail.
We started our day at the Pentagon, this building is absolutely enormous. The subway comes right up to it and after a sizable walk we were standing at the Memorial of the tragedy on September 11. Looking at the vast building you really get an understanding of how big a business the US military is. The damage to the building is completely repaired and we had the rare opportunity to see a 2 star general on our tour.
The memorial was not only stunning but also very emotional. You will see the individual units each represent one of the 184 people who died and is inscribed with their name and in the water the names of any family members that also perished on that day. The direction the units are facing represent whether they were in the plane or in the building and lastly each row is separated by year of birth. The youngest was a three year old girl and the oldest was a 72 year old retired Navy man, both on the plane.
Our next stop was Arlington National Cemetery where we took an open air bus tour with stops at the Eternal Flame and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was an honor to be standing at the grave of one of our most beloved Presidents where his motivational words are inscribed forever and where so many Americans have visited to pay their respect. Robert Kennedys resting place is nearby and marked (per his will) with a simple wooden white cross on a grassy hillside.
Our next stop was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This tomb is guarded 24 hours a day 365 days a year by a special Army honor guard that changes guard every hour on the hour. This show of honor, respect and dedication to service is recognized by many nations in the hall and even after serving 5 years in the Navy it was the single proudest moment I can remember to be American. The guard marches 21 steps in front of the tomb and then stops for 21 seconds turns waits 21 seconds and marches 21 steps. This is representative of the 21 gun salute, the highest military honor and again is done 24 hours a day 365 days a year. The Changing of the Guard started with a head to toe inspection of the new guard including a complete inspection of his rifle. Very rarely do the turn away an incoming guard but it has happened because of a tiny smudge on the rifle or a piece of lint on their uniform. They take this honor very seriously. The guard, once inspected follows the watch commander past the tomb, who salutes the Unknown Soldiers and in perfect timing the two guards change roles. Just amazing.
Next stop the Lincoln Memorial which had the best view of Washington of anywhere we have been. Lincoln is towering and appears to be watching over all of DC. Huge tablets of his famous and nation healing words line the walls. We almost skipped this memorial but are glad we didn’t. Just up the way along Forrest Gump’s famous run along the reflecting pool we arrived at the World War two Memorial (pictured) which is placed directly between the Lincoln and Washington Memorials. Our last stop was the Washington Monument which it seems like you can see from anywhere in the city. They were not allowing tours but just to stand next to this massive structure was awesome.
Whew, time for a cocktail.
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