Saturday, September 22, 2012

North Wildwood, New Jersey - September 20-22, 2012

Our visit to Edith and Milt McFalls home in North Wildwood occurred in September this year in order to avoid the awful heat and humidity of the summer.  It turned out to be spectacular weather--but our weekend was cut short because Edith had to head home unexpectedly because of an elderly uncle who was rushed to the hospital.

Here is Jim teeing off at Avalon Golf Club while Milt watches.....
 Taking time out at a par 3 for a picture of Jim and Milt....


The next day, the three of us headed for a round at Sand Barrens Golf Club in Cape May Courthouse.  Nice course but Milt and I were thoroughly disgusted with our play!

Pictured here are Jim, Gayle, and Milt....


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

National Harbor, Washington DC, and Baltimore Maryland - September 16-18, 2012

Since Kirk had classes most of the day and we wouldn't see him until it was time to take him to dinner, Jim and I took a walking tour of our Nation's Capital.  National Harbor offers a free shuttle service for guests to go into Washington--it's very convenient and certainly saves the hassle of driving and parking in DC!!!
Jim with the Washington Monument
 in the background...

...and Gayle's in front of the White House.

Jim had never seen the Vietnam Memorial--so this was
high on his list!

Gayle at the Vietnam Memorial
with the Washington Monument
in the background.

Next stop was the Lincoln Memorial....

Further along, we walked past the Korean War Memorial--neither of us had seen this one before...
Here's Jim walking next to the Korean "soldiers"
One of the newest of the DC memorials is of that to Martin Luther King, Jr.  It was high on my list of things to see.

The Jefferson Memorial can be seen from the site of the
Martin Luther King Memorial

Jim as he leaves the MLK Memorial

A bonus for both of us was visiting the World War II Memorial.  It also is a rather recent one that neither of us had seen on earlier visits.

Jim about to enter the monument
to the Pacific Theater of WWII

A general view of the WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial with the Lincoln Memorial in the background

WWII Memorial with the Washington Monument in
the background

Each State has it's own pillar.  The pillars are arranged, not in alphabetical order, but in the order of the State's entry into the Union.  The pillars alternate on each side of a waterfall, with Delaware (the First State) on one side and Pennsylvania (second state) on the other.  New Jersey, the third state, is next to Delaware.
New Jersey's pillar
Next stop was to have another look at the White House as we completed our circular walk to catch the bus back to National Harbor.


But before we hopped on the bus to return to the resort, we continued our walk up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Old Post Office--now a huge tourist attraction.

Looking down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol--on the right is the Old Post Office.  Notice the tower--from the top are great views of the entire city.

The Capitol as seen from the tower of the Old Post Office

and the Lincoln Memorial,,,

..and the Washington Monument



The inside of the Old Post Office, the last of our visits, has been made into a mall of shops and restaurants.
Having walked about five miles over the course of our tour during which we had beautiful weather, we were quite ready to board the bus back to the resort! 

Late in the afternoon we headed to Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University to pick up Kirk.  It was time to take him out for his birthday dinner--and he chose the Irish Pub down at the Inner Harbor.
Kirk, Gayle and Jim celebrating at the Irish Pub...


...and back in his dorm room at The Hopkins Inn, we played a
game he had just gotten for his birthday.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

National Harbor, Maryland - September 16, 2012

Monday, September 17, was to be my grandson, Kirk's,  20th birthday.  His parents visited him on the weekend; but because of work, they were unable to see him on his actual birthday.  So Jim and I decided to see him and make a bit of a trip out of it.  On Sunday, September 16, we headed to National Harbor, a quite new facility--much like a resort village--on the banks of the Potomac River in Maryland.  Once we were settled into a beautiful condo, we took a lengthy walk on the trails that lead from the property, across the Potomac, into Alexandria and on to Mt. Vernon.  We only went as far as the end of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge--but we promised ourselves we'd be back and do some biking the full length of the trail.....
National Harbor pictured from our walk

Jim pausing in front of the resort as we began our walk...

Look closely and you'll see the path we walked as it crosses an arm of the river.

Gayle stops along the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge
A view of Alexandria from the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge


A view of Washington, DC, and the Capitol from the Woodrow
Wilson Memorial Bridge


It was late in the afternoon as we returned to the resort--this was the sunset that I captured as we approached National Harbor.