Baltimore, Annapolis, and Gettysburg

We've only been away four days, and we've already hit three destinations -- quite a contrast to last year's trip out west. We spent a day in Annapolis, seeing the harbor, touring the Naval Academy, and eating crab cakes. The Naval Academy was beautiful...if you looked closely, the decoration on the buildings had naval themes, with boats, fish, and rolling waves. John McCain attended here, as did Ross Perot and Jimmy Carter.

The shopping alone was worth another visit someday, and, of course, when you're travelling with children, there's no time to shop.

Baltimore was wet, and the children learned a new term: panhandler. We focused most of our time on the Chesapeake Bay-area of the city, touring the USS Constellation (civil war-era sailing ship) and a submarine from WWII.

We packed up and headed to Gettysburg for a day touring the battlefields and a brand-new museum. As we passed through the town, Cheryl and I salivated at the sight of more cute stores... no... we are here to honor the dead... so get on to the battlefield, people!

It was an awesome sight. The shear number of monuments erected on the 10-square-mile site a testament to the importance of this place in our country's history. Tens of thousands of men died over a four-day period. It's still hard to believe that American men could just run at each other like that. Honestly, you really need a couple of days to fully digest the magnitude of the battle and what was left for the people of Gettysburg to clean up afterwards.

We are now in Hershey, Pa. for two days. Thanks for traveling along with us!

Jennifer