Saturday morning, very, very bright and early, we packed up the car and headed southeast to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We had to stop for gas and picked the exit for Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where I spent my first year of college at Geneva College. It was great to visit again, and it was much the same as I remembered it. After I got my bearings, I was able to point out everything to my family.



The dorm I lived in that first year.



After a long day of traveling, we made it to Somerset, Pennsylvania. Being only 15 minutes from the sight of the crash of Flight 93 on 9/11, we really wanted to go there. It left me choked up. The permanent memorial will open on September 11th. The white wall and mowed path show the flight path of the plane. It came in upside down. The boulder is where it crashed. The crater is no longer there as it is a mass grave. In respect for the families, it was filled in.

Sunday morning, again way too early, we headed out and made a stop at Arlington Cemetery to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknowns.



John F. Kennedy’s tomb, along with some of his family members.



More of the cemetery.



The trick then was to do Washington DC in an hour. Let’s be real. I need MONTHS to really explore the place. But all we had was an hour. And we did it! Lincoln Memorial



Jefferson Memorial



Washington Monument



Capitol Building



White House. See the president waving to us from the window??



That’s one thing we lack in the Midwest – a lot of history. Driving down the eastern seaboard was like a history lesson – okay, I made it a history lesson.

Stay tuned for more pictures and stories tomorrow…