Although I have TONS of favorite vacation memories (I LOVE traveling!), one that sticks out in my mind more than the others is the family vacation we took back in the summer of 2004 (July 30 - August 13 to be exact). It was right before my freshman year of High School. We visited amazing places like Williamsburg, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. I truly believe that that was when I fell in love with American History. Although my least favorite memory from the trip is throwing up in the car somewhere near NYC (I think that's the city it happened in!), there are more memories of how much I learned about myself and about history. I kept a really good journal during that trip, so I thought I'd share some of the things that my fourteen year old self wrote.
Sunday, July 31, 1994 - "Today we actually went into the town of Williamsburg. It was fun. But, near the end we were getting sick of historical things. My two favorite things happened at the end though. The Governer's Palace and the Military Encampment. The Governer's Palace was the neatest place. The inside of the house was very nice but what impressed me was the gardens. They were absolutely gorgeous! I almost couldn't catch my breath. I had never been in gardens like this before...One neat thing about the garden was the maze made out of bushes. My whole family had a blast running through the maze and getting lost! (We eventually got out!) On the military thing we were pretending that we had just joined the army back in 1760's in Virginia. our guy acted just like one of the guys you see in movies; screaming and hollering; and yelling "putrid" all of the time."
Monday, August 1, 1994 - "I'm probably the only person in the world who likes those dumb American History videos.... we took a twenty mile drive out of our way to go see the Berkley Plantation. Why did we? Because our house is modeled after it. It was really neat because the plantation building looked exactly like our house - except it was so much more beautiful than our house."
Tuesday, August 2, 1994 - "We...walked by the Reflection Pool and on to the Lincoln Memorial. After that we walked over to the Vietnam Memorial Wall and monuments. That hit me hard because near one part of the wall at the bottom lay a family picture flowers and a card. It was from the parents to their son. I think it was his birthday. how tragically sad. It was very overwhelming."
Wednesday, August 3, 1994 - "After the Hard Rock Cafe we walked to Ford's Theater. This was really neat because I was able to look into the exact box where Lincoln was shot. There was also a museum there. That was even better because in the museum they had the real pistol that he was shot with and the clothes that Lincoln had worn hen he was shot." Talking about our trip to the Senate - "We got to see lots of things that most people couldn't get to see. Like Senator Dole working at his desk, and Senator Kennedy, and we also were able to sit in on a real Senate meeting." Later on - "My feet hurt a lot!"
Thursday, August 4, 1994 - "Boy, I thought that my feet were tired yesterday! They are throbbing right now! Our day started out with our White House tour. This was a really neat tour! We (of course) weren't able to see the family's private living quarters or the Oval Office, but we saw everything else. Guess What? These gardens were just as gorgeous as the one behind the Governor's Palace except they weren't as great. After the tour I concluded that I'm spoiled.....after the White House we all went to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving where we saw them printing actual money. Then we bought shredded money....." Later On "After the Museum Erika, Mom, and I went to the Holocaust Museum. In the Holocaust museum there was the most incredible feeling. It was a really overwhelming thing. I mean you know the information before you go but you haven't really register it. But, trust me when you see this - it registers!"
Friday, August 5, 1994 - "After we went to the Visitor's Center [for the temple] then we went to the Church Bookstore. Dad first said one thing per person. But we talked him out of it so he ended up spending over $200.00." A funny story I wrote about: "My mom thought something was wrong with her camera because it wasn't advancing. So she threw out her battery and bought a new one for $8 dollars. But it still wouldn't advance so we went to a Camera Store so they could figure out what the problem was. Well the guy took her camera in the dark room to see if something was wrong with the film. When he took it in there he found out that there was no film in the camera. My mom had been taking pictures without any film in the camera!"
Saturday, August 6, 1994 - "Then we took off for Valley Forge. Where we all (but my mom) sat around because we were so tired."
Sunday, August 7, 1994 - I talk about going to church with the Daniels family in New Jersey. Also, meeting up with the Heubergers in New York City.
Monday, August 8, 1994 - "When we got to the Subway we got on and rode all the way to the Statue of Liberty. We got off and walked over and bought tickets to ride the ferry to go see it. It was actually a short wait to get on the ferry. And the ride over there was fun. But, we decided not to climb to the top because the wait was 2 - 3 hours long. So we took tons of pictures and then rode the ferry back....then we all got ready to go see Les Miserables (Erika, Mom, and I). It was awesome. I loved it so much. We had 11th row seats in the center. The guy who played Marius was breathtaking (I'm so boy crazy)."
Tuesday, August 9, 1994 - "Then...we drove to Horseneck Beach to meet my mom's sister Marney and her husband George. I figured out why it's called horseneck beach (other than its location on the cape)! It's because there are enough flies to cover 200 horses fully! No joke!"
Wednesday, August 10, 1994 - "Well today was definitely different compared to the ones that we've been having lately. I woke up late...to DJ playing Bumper Pool outside of our door. I went upstairs and had the traditional breakfast at Grammy and Pop's house. I say traditional because it's the same breakfast I've had for as long as I can remember. Life Cereal (or cornflakes), blueberries/raspberries, and milk. Then we all got our swimsuits on and went next door to the Hart's house to swim. I only stayed for a little bit because I still felt sick. So I came home and showered. After my shower I sat and talked to Grammy and Pop about piano music. They know so much more about it then I do!" Later on: "Today also Pop taught DJ, Tiffany, ad I how to play croquet. I'm not very good None of us were to begin with. But Tiffany and DJ (especially DJ) caught on quickly. It actually is a nice game. Much more fun than I had expected it to be."
Thursday, August 11, 1994 - "The room that DJ and I have to stay in is what I call the History Room. There are pictures of my old ancestors all over the room and tons of photo albums! Personally, I think it's neat!...It was kind of sobering though today because Dad and I were going through Pop's Senior College Yearbook. He had marked a D next to each man who had died. More than half (or so it appeared) had D's next to them. My dad was saying how someday someone would be looking at his yearbooks like that. How Sad!"
Well, thanks for bearing with me through that - it was really fun to go back and become reacquainted with my teenage self. Obviously, this is only a snippet from what I wrote. I purposely left out all the teenage angst! That was a wonderful trip, and I have always looked back on it with fond memories. Thanks Mom and Dad for making an effort to bring our family closer together through vacations.
