On Tour

August 10, 2014

We took tours of everything: government buildings, museums, historical sites, libraries, parks, and Ivy League college campuses. Cool sights and fun memories...

One of our Congressman’s aides gave us a tour of the Capitol Building. Then he gave us passes for the House and Senate chambers. After a few minutes of discussion on the Senate floor, they called for a vote, so it was really cool to see all of the Senators file in to cast their votes. (This photo was while we were waiting in the Capitol building entrance. I thought it captured nicely the heat outside, as well as the grandeur of the building.)

This is the reading room of the Library of Congress. The stacks of books behind each of those archways were amazing. My favorite thing (in a wing of the library) was the Jefferson Collection...containing many of the original books from Thomas Jefferson's collection. Seeing the huge assortment of topics he had studied helped you to appreciate the intellect and preparation of the founding fathers. Books about cultures and governments and religion and architecture and agriculture and medicine...in many languages. It inspired me and made me grateful.

At the National Botanical Garden

On the steps of the Museum of Natural History

Our tour of the White House was actually the first thing we did in D.C., but since they wouldn't even let us take a bag in with us, we didn't have a camera to snap a picture when we were done. This one captures the memories from the 4 stage security screening before our White House tour, AND the rainstorm drenching that we just experienced at the Lincoln Memorial.

On the first day of driving, we stopped at the Del Water Gap…the mountains between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (The “gap” is over Sam’s shoulder.)

Bird watching at Cornell’s bird sanctuary.

After church in Fayette, we walked across the lawn to the Peter Whitmer home, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was organized.

At the top of the Hill Cumorah near Palmyra. (Lizzie would like me to tell you that she HATES that jacket and regrets that she was wearing it in any picture.)

Our last stop in Palmyra was at the Grandin Press building. Surprisingly cool (and inspiring).

The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial near Sharon, Vermont was a beautiful and peaceful setting. It made you appreciate the rugged and simple upbringing that Joseph Smith must have had.

This is the only photographic proof we have of our visit to Dartmouth. We cut through the coolest hillside cemetery I’ve ever seen on our way to the engineering building and boat docks.

Lee gave himself a self-guided tour of this tree off to the side of one of the carriage roads outside Acadia National Park.

Fort Popham in Phippsburg, Maine

North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts – the final resting place of many literary giants, as well as the “inventor” of the Concord Grape

Playing ping pong outside the science building at Harvard.

Good ole Leverett Towers...where I made lots of memories when I spent the summer at Harvard.

The Old State House. The Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Boston from this balcony in 1776. However, they were not drinking Slurpees at the time.

Paul Revere's house.

Though the U.S.S Constitution was closed, we were lucky to get a tour of the Charles W. Morgan whaling vessel that was only there for a week.

Cool architecture at M.I.T.

The process of making potato chips was surprisingly fascinating. And it smelled yummy.

Yale

We told our kids that we had something amazing planned for our stop in New Haven. We told them it was one of the highlights of our trip. Then, Lee pulled into the cemetery in the middle of Yale and we walked through the cemetery in search of the grand surprise. The kids were all confused about why we were in the cemetery, of course. We told them they'd recognize it when they saw it. As we were searching, Dillon looks over and says, "Hey...Eli Whitney was buried here." Then he has that moment of recognition, remembering that he has two dorks for parents, and says, "Is THAT who we're looking for?!" And we documented the blessed moment on film.

To fully appreciate it, you must know that Sam has a friend named Eli that she often refers to in her school stories. Every time she says his name, Lee or I will ask, "Eli Whitney?" which is followed with, "He invented the cotton gin, you know." This has gone on for so many years that we have to think twice before saying his name. In all honesty, if we saw Sam's friend, we might accidentally call him Eli Whitney. But at least we know where he's buried.

In the crown of the Statue of Liberty...(a much nicer experience than when I carried Sam up there in a Snugli when she was 4 months old. It was SO hot that day 18 years ago and the lines were eternal. It took us nearly an hour to walk it, one slow step at a time!) This time, we could take as long as we wanted getting there, and spend as much time up there as we wanted.