Virginia Beach

We Spent a couple of weeks in Virginia Beach at the end of November, mostly so that we could hang out with friends. We went back to our old church and the kids even went to their old CAP squadron for a couple of meetings. We also all got dental appointments for cleanings as it had been over a year since our last visits and the dentist here checked up on our braces situations.

Kids and friends on a hike in the woods.

Washington D.C.

We spent a week near D.C. and rode the Metro into town 3 times. One day I took my airplane loving son to the Air and Space Museum while Mom took Daughter to the Art Museum across the way. Another day we all went and walked Arlington National Cemetery, the National Mall and most of the monuments, and saw the White House. We didn't get tours though as they take months to get reservations for due to demand and background check requirements. Another day we went and toured the American History Museum and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café. On Another day, Son and I drove all the way out to the Dulles Airport to see the second half of the Air and Space Museum. It was neat to see an actual Space Shuttle.

Arlington's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Gettysburg Address.

Lincoln Memorial.

View from Lincoln Memorial.

WW2 Memorial.

Shuttle Discovery.

View of the heat tiles.

Son in front of SR-71

Smithsonian Castle, really just administration building.

A bicycle display in the American History Museum.

New York

Daughters biggest go to destination was New York City. We planned one big day to tour the city as just getting there and parking or even taking the train in was going to be expensive and an event in itself. We took the train in from the coastal area of New Jersey where we were camping. We scheduled a tour company to take us around the best sights for the day. The tour started only about a half mile from the train station so it was convenient enough that we enjoyed the walk up Broadway before the tour began. We saw Time Square, Central Park, Grand Central, Wall Street, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the World Trade Center and memorial, Battery Park, and even went to the top of the Empire State Building. It was a day that started by waking up at 5am to be on the train by 6:15 and we didn't get back until after 10pm. What a city, but just a little to much peopling for us.

The New Years Ball over Times Square.

Another View of the ball just over the 2017 sign (ball is red right now).

Disney Store on Times Square.

More light up billboards than you can count.

Chrysler Building

Inside of Grand Central Terminal.

Train Schedules.

Front of Grand Central.

Old beautiful church (forgot name).

See street names.

Front of the stock exchange.

View from Battery Park.

View from boat to the Statue.

Ellis Island receiving building.

9/11 Memorial

New World Trade Center

View South from Empire State Building. (zoomed in on new World Trade Center to the left and Statue of Liberty in center).

Only a little zoomed.

Top of ESB, above observation deck.

View West. Edge of round building with blue lights near center is Madison Square Garden and underneath it is Penn Station where our train came into town.

Building just to the right of center with the front left corner cut off is Macy's. The street in front of it on the diagonal is Broadway, so that pie shaped area in front is Herald Square where the Thanksgiving parade performs.

View to NE with Chrysler Building.

Chrysler Building.

View North, with Rockefeller Building in center.

Rockefeller Building with NBC Peacock over Comcast sign.

Another of Grand Central.

The Battery at Battery park.

View from Battery Park (where boat ride starts).

Original torch. There is a new museum being built on the island that this will go into soon.

Ellis Island.

9/11 memorial.

South View not zoomed.

Checking out the views from the ESB.