Spring Break Trip - Day 5

Today we were going to go to Sesame Place but it was closed.  However, they gave us complimentary tickets so that we can go there whenever we want (or can).  Instead, we went to Washington's Crossing Park (this is in Trenton and is part of the way Washington went with his troops in the Revolutionary War). Then we went to New Hope, a city on the other side of the Delaware River from Trenton.  We got ice cream and walked around town.  Then we went home [to the hotel?] and later watched a movie "The Sword in the Stone".  Tomorrow we go home.  I have been working on my computer program and it is turning out good.  It will be a space game that is done by random numbers that you pick to see your future.  It has a lot of graphics.  I am going to try it out on the Apple at school.

Spring Break Trip - Day 4

Today I went to the U.S. Mint.  We saw how they (the people at the Mint) make the pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters.  They also make half and silver dollars.  I bought a Franklin D. Roosevelt inauguration medallion.  It cost only 75 cents plus 5 cents of tax.  My sister Katy bought a medallion for John F. Kennedy.  My sister Carolyn bought one for Ronald Reagan.  Then we went to the Betsy Ross house and then to Christ Church where George Washington, Ben Franklin, the Marquis de Lafayette, Martha Washington and Betsy Ross attended services at least once.  Then we went to the Armed Forces Museum.  It was really neat.  The snow melted and the weather changed drastically and now it is nice.  We ate dinner at the Roy Roger Chicken Restaurant.  It got a bacon cheeseburger.  I hope we can stay tomorrow here and go to Sesame Place and that it is nice.

Spring Break Trip - Day 3

Shatze the dog is dead.  She had cancer and died while we were at Miss Harting's.  She died at 11:29 today.  There is a small snow storm outside.  It snowed all day.  We didn't do much today because of the weather.  We did go to Valley Forge, however.  Valley Forge is one of the best places to go when it snows.  With snow you get the feeling of the Winter of 1777-78.  We first went into the Visitor's Center and watched a slide presentation.  It told the history of Valley Forge's winter.  We then looked at the exhibits.  George Washington's tent (that he slept in) is there.  Afterwards we got in the car and drove around the Valley.  We stopped and went into the huts that are replicas of the Valley Forge huts.  They were cold and damp.  I sure wouldn't want to stay in one of these houses for the winter!  Then we went to George Washington's Headquarters, a small stone building near the Schuylkill River.  The Schuylkill River is the river that flows through Philadelphia.  Finally we went home [to the hotel?] and watched "Star Trek II".  Miss Harting has some pictures on the wall of her ancestors.  The man was on Washington's staff at Valley Forge!  Because of the snow we may not be able to do much more.  We are not going to get to go to Gettysburg.  Even so, it is great to relax!

Spring Break Trip - Day 2

When we woke up, there was snow on the ground! We went outside but it wasn't cold.  We got on the Penn. Turnpike and went to Oreland where Miss Harting lives.  We had cereal for breakfast.  Then Miss Harting took us to Philadelphia where we first saw the spot where Penn's House stood (William Penn founded Philadelphia).  Then we went to the Visitor's Center and watched a film about the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  After this we went to Franklin's Post Office.  I got an envelope that had a stamp that was canceled right there!  Then we went over to the house that Ben Franklin had owned.  Then we went into Franklin's Court and saw the spot where Ben Franklin's house was.  It is gone now but they have steel beams that show what it looked like.  Then we went into the Franklin Underground Museum.  It had a film and we saw a play that was put on by stationary figures.  Also, you could call people on phones and they (Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington, etc.) would tell you what they thought of Ben Franklin.  Then we went over to the Liberty Bell Pavilion.  We touched the Liberty Bell and then we went over to lunch at the Old Stock Exchange Building.  It is called The Bourse.  It has lots of shops and we stayed there for a while.  Then we went to the Old Supreme Court Building.  Then after that we went over to Independence Hall.  It is an excellent building!  The tour guide was very informative.  After the tour we went into the Independence Hall gift shop.  After that we went into Congress Hall.  Then we went back to Miss Harting's house and had shish-kabab.  Then we went home [to the hotel] and watched "Breaking Away."

Spring Break Trip - Day 1

On [Sunday] it was a cloudy day on Cape Cod and it looked like it was going to rain.  But by the time we got to Rhode Island, it had pretty much cleared up.  We went down Rt. 6 (Cape Cod), then we got onto Rt. 195 that took us through Rhode Island and most of Connecticut.  This was connected to the Connecticut Turnpike which took us into New York.  We took various roads through lower New York and went across West Manhattan [through Brooklyn and across the Verrazano Bridge (the New York Marathon was run on this bridge)].  Finally we entered the New York Turnpike which was connected to the Jersey Turnpike.  This took us all the way to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  Finally we reached Horsham, a city near Philadelphia.  We are staying at the Horsham Motel.  We got unpacked and went to visit an old friend of ours who lived with us in Rhode Island 11 years ago.  Her name is Miss Harting.  She has two dogs - one 11 (Shatze) and one 5 months (Simma).  She also has a cat named Mr. Kate.  He is 18 years old!  He was around when she lived in Rhode Island.  We ate dinner (tuna casserole) and had cake and ice cream.  We played the organ she has.  It has a drum that plays itself (of course the drum can't be seen).  I played with Simma while we reminisced about old times.  What a great day!  Tomorrow the excursion begins!

Summary of 1982 Trip

[dates uncertain]

In 1982 (during the fall), traveled with entire family to the following states:

MA, NH

Confirmed stops:

[Apple Picking, Brookfield (MA) ?]

Amos Fortune House, Jaffrey (NH) 

climbed Mount Monadnock (NH)

Concord/Lexington Revolutionary sites (MA)

Boston, MA ((USA)

[date uncertain - my dad took me to watch the Boston Red Sox play the Oakland A's at Fenway Park - game time was 1430 - I was particularly interested because Rickey Henderson was on track for a record breaking steals season - there were lots of Red Sox highlights (home runs) and Henderson did steal some bases - the Internet tells me (in the 21st Century) that the fans got Red Sox Batting Helmets (from Coca Cola) and that sounds familiar)]

[North] Quincy, MA (USA)

[date uncertain - attended Wake for my Uncle Jerry with my dad - (North) Quincy, MA - first time at such an event - met lots of people I'd never met before]

Summary of 1981 Fall Family Trip

[dates uncertain]

In 1981 (during the fall), traveled with entire family to the following states:

MA, NH, ME

Confirmed stops:

Blue Angels Airshow, Brunswick (ME)

Casco Bay Trading Post (ME)

1981 Spring Vacation Family Trip

In 1981 (during April Vacation from School), traveled with parents to the following states:

MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, DE, MD, DC

Confirmed stops:

[dates uncertain - trip to Washington, DC with family]