Tour of the Northeast: Charlottesville, VA

We continued our way down to Charlottesville, VA where Mark was born and lived till he was 5. Also the hometown of Thomas Jefferson.

Our first stop was Mark's first home. He was actually born in this house! His dad was teaching Spanish at the University of Virginia. The homes in this neighborhood are owned by the university and housed by the professors working there. Mark hadn't been back here since he was little. It was fun to see the home and show it to our girls.

A little while after he was born, the family moved to this house until they moved.

Birth order. Mark and his siblings have a picture like this in the exact same spot.

Where Mark went to Kindergarten

Then we headed to the outskirts of town to visit Monticello.

We first stopped at Michie's Tavern to taste some food from the time period of Thomas Jefferson.

We toured the grounds and garden before our tour of the house. This visit was a first for all of us so it was fun to discover it together. Coming to Thomas Jefferson's home went right along with the rest of our 'American History' trip.

Thomas Jefferson was a farmer and his land and gardens were expansive and beautiful. We could all see why he like it here so much.

The grave of Thomas Jefferson

Monticello

Out for a walk with Thomas, 

From here we headed home and closed the chapter of our wonderful and historical trip up the northeast coast.

Tour of the Northeast: Middletown NY, Hershey PA, Shenandoah Caverns VA

Boston was as far north as we went. Now we continued our journey down to Middletown, NY where Mark's sister and her family moved a few months ago. We miss having them in Knoxville where they were able to visit us so often, but we are happy Thomas got a good job. The kids loved the little reunion and time to play. 

Jacob and Christine helping in the kitchen

Endless playing and a fun sleepover in the boy's room

Classic cousin shot

Saying 'Cheese' as they eat it.

Next stop... Hershey's Chocolate World!

Posing as Reese

Enjoying the 4D movie

Celebrating 10 years and lots of kisses later!

Our cute Hershey kiss

We also enjoyed the ride where we got to see how all the chocolate is made.

On our way to Charlottesville, we stopped at the Shenandoah Cavern. It was pretty impressive!

Check out that bacon hanging from the ceiling

The Castle

More bacon

Our encounter with the 3 BIG bears

Tour of the Northeast: Boston

Our day in Boston was quick and packed, yet the kids still had time to play by the harbor and climb some trees. We started off with a guided walking tour of part of the freedom trail. It was very interesting and Mark & I even learned a few new things.

Here lies Paul Revere

The site of the Boston Massacre

The Old State house where the Massacre occurred

In addition we stopped at Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. This picture is from Quincy Market and I loved it because I never knew that 'wicked' was was an expression until we moved to CT. Those from the northeast know exactly what I'm talking about.

We met up with some college friends that got married a little before we did. Together we totaled 10 kids. They had a great time playing as we toured the city. After our walking tour they took us to an awesome pizza place and then to Mike's Pastry for some amazing Cannoli. They probably had 30 varieties... of which we tried most of them. Very rich and delicious.

Paul Revere's house

Perfect climbing trees by the harbor

We took a ferry from the North end to Charlestown to see the USS constitution and museum. The boat was closed for cleaning, but we had a great time in the museum.

Enjoying the ferry ride

Signing our names to the copper that will be attached to the bottom side of the boat

Our gang minus Jared

Then we headed up the hill to the Bunker Hill Monument. The older 3 girls climbed it with Mark while Savannah, Christine and I enjoyed the grounds.

Bunker Hill

At the top!

Then we went over the bridge to the Boston Tea Party Boat and museum. It was a fun and different tour. There were people dressed in character from the period and we got to attend a city meeting about all the taxes. Then we went down to the boat and threw the tea overboard. We loved how interactive it was. There was also an "Abigail's Tea Room" which was an immediate favorite. We didn't stay for tea and cookies, but we brought a little teapot home in honor of Abigail. She also loved learning more about Abigail Adams and her part in the revolution.

Tea is ready!

Throwing the tea overboard

Christine and Samuel Adams

We ended our fun day with a nice dinner on the water with one of Mark's friends from high school. They had a nice time catching up and talking about old times.