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Day 7 – Manassas, Shenandoah // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 23:00:52 +0000

Today marked our final morning with the Pinkertons (and in Maryland), after a very fun and eventful week in Havre de Grace.

Breakfast // Goodbyes

We woke up, ate some homemade “Egg McMuffins” for breakfast, and said our goodbyes to the Pinkertons. After loading up the car, we hit the road, headed south for the next leg of our trip.

Rock // Wegman's

We didn’t make it but a few miles on I-95, when a HUGE rock flew out of a dump truck in front of us and hit our windshield. Thankfully, it just barely grazed the glass, and only left a superficial scratch. Even so, we were both pretty shaken, so we decided to pull off, get our composure, and check for any damage.

Rock damage

Just off the interstate in Abingdon, MD, we made a bit of a spontaneous decision to stop at Wegman’s, a privately owned supermarket chain known for its giant stores. It was truly a grocery store unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. The flower department alone was larger than our home in Boone. There was a second section of milk, as big as you’d see in a Food Lion in NC, by the checkouts in case you didn’t want to walk all the way to the back of the store to get some.

We got a cheese, fruit, and nut snack tray from the deli department (which was larger than our local grocery stores in Boone). I was particularly attracted by the Beecher’s cheddar, which was of course excellent. Resuming our drive, we ate our snack tray as we drove through Baltimore and DC – thankfully, rock-free.

Baltimore, MD

Manassas National Battlefield Park

Just south of Washington, we stopped at Manassas National Battlefield Park in northern Virginia just off I-66. Also known as Bull Run, this was site of two Civil War battles, including the first major battle of the war. We walked through the visitor center, browsing the small but interesting selection of exhibits.

Visitor Center

Uniform examples

Uniform display

Faith and I grabbed the stroller for Walker and walked around the battlefield for a while, enjoying the scenery and reading the signage while we stretched our stiff legs.

Manassas National Battlefield Park

Front Royal

Back on the road, we headed to the small Virginia town of Front Royal, and stopped downtown to pick up a couple coffees from Main Street Daily Grind CAFÉ. We walked around downtown, but had to get back on the road soon in order to stick with our timeline for the day.

Front Royal, VA

Main Street Daily Grind CAFÉ

Front Royal, VA

Shenandoah National Park

Just south of downtown Front Royal is the northernmost entrance to Shenandoah National Park. We paid a day’s admission fee at the park, and began driving south on Skyline Drive, the park’s famous scenic road. The road is akin to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and offers beautiful views of the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding mountains.

Shenandoah National Park

Skyline Drive

Skyline Drive stretches 105 miles from Front Royal to Rockfish Gap, where it connects with the northernmost point of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We didn’t have time to drive all of it in one day, so we just drove from Front Royal down to Thornton Gap.

Skyline Drive

Not far from the entrance, we pulled in the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center to grab a magnet to add to our collection. In the parking lot, a young woman was having car trouble. The park rangers didn’t have any jumper cables, so I took my battery jump starter pack and helped her get back on the road again. (P.S.: I would highly recommend getting one of these instead of jumper cables – many modern cars won’t easily jump off with traditional jumper cables anymore.) It was very smokey from some wildfires, but we still could enjoy some great views from the road, and we occasionally pulled over to snap a picture of a particularly compelling vista.

Skyline Drive

At Thornton Gap, we exited the park and headed west on US-211 to Luray and White House, VA, where we turned south on US-340 and drove south to our lodging for the next few days.

Massanutten Rendezvous

Mom’s birthday was Saturday (it was now Friday), so we met up with her and Dad in Massanutten, VA, where we’d rented an Airbnb for the rest of the weekend. We unloaded our cars, settled into the house, and then loaded up again to head to dinner.

Hank's Grille

We drove a short distance to Hank’s Grille & Catering, a place Mom had spotted on the way in. For an appetizer, we ordered KC-style burnt ends, and got a selection of grilled and smoked meats, plus some southern-style sides. The food was all good, but not exceptional. The only thing we didn’t really enjoy was the burnt ends appetizer – they came doused in an espresso barbecue sauce that was a little strange. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our meal and the time together.

Hank's Grille

Kline's Dairy Bar

After dinner, we headed over to Kline’s Dairy Bar, a short drive down the road from the restaurant. Kline’s, which has multiple locations in the area, specializes in homemade custards, and has just a few flavors each day. We got all four flavors they had that day: pumpkin, chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate brownie batter. All were very good, and were a great way to cap off the evening.

Kline's Dairy Bar

Massanutten, VA

Great custard, with a small selection of rotating flavors. [By custard standards, it’s excellent, but wouldn’t rank as highly if compared to all types of ice cream.]

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “Skyline Drive and the battlefield in Manassas”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Kline’s Dairy Bar”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “Skyline Drive”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Kline’s”.

Jerry

The best thing I saw today was… “the drive up to Harrisonburg”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Kline’s Dairy Bar”.

Amy

The best thing I saw today was… “the drive up to Virginia”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the custard”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, Dad and I will watch the football game, while Mom, Faith, and Walker explore the Harrisonburg area.

– The Churches

The post Day 7 – Manassas, Shenandoah // Maryland/Virginia 2023 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 6 – Washington, D.C. // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 23:00:58 +0000

Today was our final full day staying with the Pinkertons. Since we didn’t get to go into Washington, D.C. on Day 4 of our travels, Faith and I decided we would venture into the capital for a day to see a few sites. The rest of the kids had a school-related event, so it was good timing for us to take a day trip. I hadn’t been to DC since I went with some friends back in 2017.

Pancake Breakfast // DC Commute

We woke up fairly early and ate pancakes for breakfast, hopped in the car, and immediately began the drive to DC. It took us about an hour and a half to navigate the Baltimore tunnels and DC beltway, but we finally made it to the city. We parked in an underground deck near the NASA headquarters on the south side of the National Mall, emerged above ground, and began walking without a real destination in mind.

We tried to find some coffee, a snack, and a restroom, but couldn’t find a good cafe anywhere nearby. We noticed on the map that the Museum of the Bible had a couple restaurants inside, so we decided to walk a couple blocks to try our luck there.

Museum of the Bible

We actually didn’t know much about the museum before we happened upon it, but after reading about it, we decided we’d pay the entrance fee and take the rest of the morning to tour it. Entering just after the museum opened, we headed upstairs to the Milk + Honey Café, grabbed a blueberry muffin to split, and then began our tour.

Museum of the Bible

Blueberry muffin - Museum of the Bible

First, we walked through the visiting/temporary exhibit on the lower level (something about the Bible and astronomy), and weren’t particularly impressed. However, as we ventured on to the main exhibits, we were amazed by the both the quality and quantity of exhibits. Because we didn’t have all day, we had to skim over some of the galleries, but we both wished we’d had more time to browse. There were particularly interesting displays on Bible printing and manufacturing, and on the life of Elisabeth Elliot.

Bay Psalm Book

Divina Comedia

Gutenberg Printing Press

Continuing upstairs, we walked through the “New Testament Experience”, which recreates many of the places Jesus visited during his ministry, some in 1:1 scale. There were replicas of wine presses, synagogues, and much more.

New Testament Experience

The Second Temple

Due to time constraints, we had to skip the Old Testament experience, as it took 30 minutes to walk through, and only started every 45 minutes or so. We started watching a 4D movie that they were showing, but it was a little loud for the baby, so we slipped out the back and moved on. We proceeded to a large exhibit hall focused on different versions of the Bible throughout time, including significant translations, versions, preservation efforts, etc.

Livestream of Jerusalem

Museum of the Bible

The Killer Bible

Museum of the Bible

On the way out of the translation galleries, there was an oval-shaped room documenting the translation progress of the Old and New Testaments into all known languages.

Translation progress

On the upper floors, there were two more visiting exhibits. One showed all the churches that bear the name “Haggia Sophia”, like the famous Turkish cathedral-now-turned-mosque. This was fascinating; apparently there are hundreds of them all around the world, all with different architecture and unique backgrounds. The other exhibit displayed a large selection of artifacts from the Holy Land. Each exhibit spanned a couple thousand square feet.

Haggai Sophia across the world

Israeli artifacts exhibit

We ended our visit with a short walk through their rooftop garden (akin to one in Jerusalem), visited the museum gift shop, and then exited back onto 4th Street.

Rooftop garden

Museum of the Bible

Rice Bar

From the museum, we walked north past L’Enfant Plaza to the Capital Gallery Shopping Mall, in the same building that houses the Smithsonian’s headquarters. We ate lunch at Rice Bar, a Korean build-your-own bowl counter chain that is very popular in the DC area. Faith and I both got bowls with shaved Korean beef, Korean BBQ sauce, broccoli, carrots, and crispy onions. One bowl had brown rice, and the other had black rice, something neither of us had ever tried (or even heard of!) before. The black rice was more purple than black, but it was incredibly delicious, and definitely our favorite of the two. Here’s an article if you’d like to learn more about the “forbidden rice”.

Department of Education

Rice Bar

Washington, D.C. // Multiple Locations

Build-your-own Korean bowls with delicious options. Be sure to try the black rice!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

National Museum of American History

After finishing our lunch, we made the nearly mile-long walk to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Along the way, we enjoyed nice views of the US Capitol and Washington monument.

U.S. Capitol

Washington Monument

As usual, the museum didn’t disappoint, but it was very crowded with tour groups from various schools. We walked through the exhibits on American enterprise, the history of American food, American technology, and American farming.

We quickly dipped into a smaller room with displays of various unique currencies, and then headed back outside so we could get in a longer walk before we needed to head back home.

History of Currency

Outside the museum, we decided the best way to spend our time was to just walk around and see some of the monuments. We bought an outrageously expensive strawberry smoothie from a food truck, and began strolling west down Madison Drive towards the Washington Monument.

National Mall

First, we walked to the base of the Monument – something we’d never seen up close. We’d hoped we could maybe ride to the top, but you have to book that at least a day in advance.

Washington Monument

The White House

Jefferson Memorial

Next, we walked around the fountains at the World War II Memorial.

World War II Memorial

Finally, we finished our National Mall walking tour at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool

Metro Difficulties // Long Drive Home

It was now time to start heading back to our car and back to Maryland. The closest metro stop was back on the mall near the Smithsonian Castle, so we walked a very brisk mile to the broken escalator (temporarily stairs) and descended to the platforms to find a train to take back to our car at Federal Place and Patriot’s Plaza.

Metro Station

Unfortunately, the broken escalator was only the beginning of our troubles. Since we only wanted to take one short Metro ride, I decided I’d pay on my phone, rather than having to load a minimum amount on a card. Apparently, you can’t pay for multiple fares on one phone, like you can with a physical card, and Faith’s phone was dead, so we couldn’t use it to purchase another card. It took us over 30 minutes to sort the payment situation out with the attendant, and then we had even more difficulty getting the accessible turnstile to work so we could fit the stroller through.

I was not a very happy camper/metro rider at this point. We were both miserably hot in the sultry tunnels, and the stress of trying to explain the situation to a rather disagreeable attendant was not helping matters. Thankfully, Walker stayed asleep in his stroller for the duration of the fiasco, and we were finally able to get on our less-than-merry way. By this point, we’d missed a handful of trains because of the delay, so we had to wait even longer to catch the correct line.

The drive into the city took us less than an hour and a half, but it took us over three hours to get back to Havre de Grace! Despite our best efforts to avoid both rush hour and the most congested roads, the Metrorail mishap had delayed us right into the middle of rush-hour traffic. Our valiant effort to leave in plenty of time was all for naught. At least the agonizingly slow drive up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway was somewhat scenic, highlighted by a few deer crossing the highway, and seeing the NSA’s headquarters at Fort Meade, MD.

Crabs!

We arrived back at Havre de Grace just in time for dinner. Since it was our last night with the Pinkertons, William went out to get a sack full of steamed crabs so we could have a proper Maryland dinner before we left. It was incredibly delicious, and even more so after a long day. We learned we need a lot more practice shelling crabs, though!

Maryland steamed crab dinner

After dinner, we made some more affogatos, finished the rest of Gettysburg, played a couple games of Scrabble, and then headed off to bed.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the farming and food exhibits at the Smithsonian, and the various Bible translations”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the crab dinner, with black rice getting and honorable mention”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the Museum of the Bible”.

The best thing I ate today was… “crabs!”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’ll head south into Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

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Day 5 – Conowingo Dam, Havre de Grace // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 23:00:20 +0000

Today was a bit of a “down day”. I had to spend a good chunk of the day working, so we stayed around the Havre de Grace area. Faith woke up early and went for a run with Anna while I worked a little. Once everyone was back at the house, we ate a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, etc.

Conowingo Dam

After breakfast, Faith and I drove 13mi north to Darlington, MD, home of the Conowingo Dam. The dam spans 4,648′ across the Susquehanna River, about 10mi inland from its mouth at the Chesapeake, and 5mi south of the Pennsylvania border. Constructed in 1928, it remains the largest dam in the state of Maryland.

Conowingo Dam and Susquahanna River

However, we didn’t spend our morning traveling just to see an engineering marvel (though it was impressive). Every November through January, thousands of birds, including hundreds of bald eagles, flock to the dam to feed off fish gathered at the foot of the dam. The dam’s turbines stun many of fish that pass through, making them easy prey, and thus attracting both larger fish and birds of prey. Here are a few articles about the dam from Baltimore Magazine, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Susquehanna Wildlife, and Atlas Obscura.

It’s a pretty amazing spectacle, and we definitely didn’t show up expecting it to be such a big deal. Even on a cold mid-week morning, the parking lot was nearly full, as hundreds of photographers from all over the world lined up to try to snap the perfect shot of eagles and other large birds fighting over fish, often stealing catches out of each other’s talons mid-flight. We met birders from Germany, Austria, Korea, and from all over the US.

We roamed around and watched the birds until we started to get cold – we’d definitely shown up under-dressed for the occasion. The sights were spectacular, and we would definitely visit again.

We hadn’t planned in advance to visit the dam, so I unfortunately didn’t bring my wildlife telephoto lens with me (or even my full frame camera, for that matter), but you can click on the articles up above to see some better photos. You can also click here to see the winners of some of the dam’s official annual photo contest here and here, and there’s also a Facebook fan page.

Conowingo Dam and Susquahanna River

Many of the regulars said the action hadn’t quite picked up for the season, but it was still amazing to watch, and to hear. I’ll post a short video clip towards the end of this post. We saw and heard more bald eagles than we could possibly count, but most of them were perched on the power poles or in the trees on the hillside behind us.

Conowingo Dam and Susquahanna River

We drove back to the house, passing the Aberdeen IronBirds MiLB stadium on the way. We also drove past the Pinkerton’s church, so I quickly pulled over to snap a picture of the historic building and the surrounding Maryland countryside.

Church

Maryland countryside near Havre de Grace

Prost

Back at the house, I worked for a while longer, and then Faith and I drove over to Prost German Restaurant in Aberdeen for an early lunch. We ordered Jägerschnitzel, sauerbraten, a potato dumpling, kraut, spätzle, and a pretzel with butter and mustard. All the food was very good, but it was definitely not the best German food we’ve had. It was a tasty meal, and reasonably priced, but we probably wouldn’t go back.

Prost German Restaurant

Havre de Grace

Back at the house, I worked the remainder of the afternoon. Faith’s eldest sister Emily (plus their children), who lives in Philadelphia, came to visit for the day, so everyone else played boards games and did schoolwork for the afternoon.

Games

As evening approached, we all loaded up in 3 cars and headed down to the waterfront to see the sunset. Faith and I made a detour to stop at Concord Point Coffee, where I ordered a mocha, and Faith ordered a maple latte.

Downtown Havre de Grace

Concord Point Coffee

We took our coffee drinks down to Millard Tydings Memorial Park, a city park that has a boardwalk (“walking pier”) over to Concord Point Park & Promenade. We walked over to Concord Point, enjoying a spectacular sunset over the bay. While we walked, we heard taps being played across the Bay at Aberdeen Proving Ground, a nearby US Army site. It was a very peaceful evening, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stroll. I’ll highlight a few of our favorite things below.

Concord Point

Concord Point Lighthouse

It was closed at the time, but Havre de Grace has one of the world’s largest decoy museums.

One of the piers has “Birds of the Chesapeake Bay” intricately carved into its posts. Each bird has an info placard with it.

Concord Point

The town of Havre de Grace was almost made the capital of the United States, and played a pivotal role in the War of 1812. I’ll let you read the signs, rather than giving a lengthy history lesson here.

Concord Point

Havre de Grace, MD

Concord Point Lighthouse

Concord Point

We saw an incredible sunset – one of the most colorful I’ve seen outside the mountains.

Concord Point

There’s an interesting sculpture of a fish made out of lots of small fish.

Concord Point Fish Sculpture

The Concord Point Lighthouse and surrounding park were very beautiful lit up at night.

Concord Point Lighthouse

Concord Point

As it got dark, we walked back to our cars via the boardwalk, and headed back to the house.

Concord Point

Dinner

Back at the house, we ate some leftovers for dinner, and sat around visiting for the remainder of the evening.

Video

Here’s a short video from today’s adventures. Enjoy the relaxing sounds of the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “sunset over the Chesapeake”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Jägerschnitzel at Prost”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “all the birds at the Conowingo Dam”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Jägerschnitzel at Prost”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow we’re heading to DC without much of a plan for the day.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

Concord Point

Concord Point Lighthouse

Concord Point

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Day 4 – Annapolis // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 23:00:55 +0000

Last night, we were in a bit of a frenzy figuring out a destination for today. Our top candidates were originally Harper’s Ferry + Antietam, or DC. Unfortunately, there was road construction causing significant detours and delays near Harper’s Ferry. We also learned there was a huge rally scheduled on the National Mall in Washington, with potentially 60,000 people expected, plus some accompanying security concerns. So, after breakfast, we decided to head southeast instead, and drove to Maryland’s state capital, Annapolis.

United States Naval Academy

After a pleasant hour and a half drive, we arrived in Annapolis, and secured street parking near King George St. with surprising ease. Faith and I walked over to the entrance of the US Naval Academy, and rendezvoused with the Pinkertons. William, a West Point graduate, made sure all the kids had “Go Army // Beat Navy” pins to wear for the duration of our visit…plus some sported Union infantry hats from our visit to Gettysburg. For good measure, I think one was even sporting a “Go Army // Beat Air Force” pin. We made a quick stop into the Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center to register and receive visitor passes, and then began our self-guided walking tour of campus.

United States Naval Academy

I should note that our “self-guided” tour was mostly led by William, who couldn’t resist making a few jabs about the superiority of his alma mater and preferred service branch. Nonetheless, he offered some excellent insight into the campus. We walked the grounds for a while, taking in the sights on the historic campus. We’d hoped to visit the museum on campus, but it was unfortunately closed for renovations.

United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy Chapel

The Naval Academy Chapel

Since the museum was closed, we headed across the terrace to the Naval Academy Chapel, a beautiful building that opened in 1908, with a 193′ tall dome. The inside is spectacular – not overly ornate, but very beautifully designed and built.

United States Naval Academy Chapel

To end our tour of the chapel, we headed to the lower level to view crypt and sarcophagus of John Paul Jones, a hero of the American Revolution who is known as the “Father of the American Navy”.

Crypt of John Paul Jones

After exiting the chapel, we decided it was time to find some lunch. We walked back across campus, exited through the gate, and began walking towards downtown.

United States Naval Academy

Chick & Ruth's Delly

We settled on eating at Chick & Ruth’s Delly, a local diner (open since 1965) that’s famous for their colossal crab cakes and equally hefty milkshakes – ranging from 20oz up to 6lb! Before we could order, I realized that even though you could “renew” your parking in the ParkMobile app, you had to move your car to a different zone. So, I had to walk all the way back to the other side of the Naval Academy, get in the car, and find another parking spot (which was thankfully close to the restaurant).

Finally back at the restaurant, I was now extraordinarily hungry from the long walk, as was everyone else from the extended wait. The “delly” was very accommodating though, and even allowed us to take our strollers in the back entrance so we could spread out at a larger table. Faith and I split two dishes, their signature half-pound crab cake sandwich, and a seafood club on rye, which had a crab cake and shrimp salad on a triple-decker sandwich. We also ordered a side of onion rings for all of us to split.

Chick & Ruth's Delly

I can say without a doubt that this was the best crab cake I’ve ever had. There was very little filler; just enough to hold together the giant lumps of sweet crab meat. Even though it was a ton of food, we ate nearly every bite, although we had to forego the bread towards the end of the club sandwich to make sure we didn’t waste any of the seafood.

Chick & Ruth's Delly

Annapolis, MD

Oversized everything, but you’ll be grateful for the excessive amount of meat in the crab cakes.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Maryland State House

We cleaned up from lunch (which is quite the process with a handful of kids), and headed back out to explore a bit more of Annapolis. Walking from the restaurant up to the top of the hill, we arrived at the Maryland State House, passing many historic buildings, beautiful flower beds, and colorful trees along the way. We attempted to visit St. Anne’s Parish, a historic church dating back to 1692, but it was closed at the time.

Downtown Annapolis, MD

Maryland State House

Downtown Annapolis, MD

Ice Cream // Waterfront

After walking about a mile more through the historic buildings, we decided to backtrack to the Annapolis Ice Cream Company, a spot we’d seen earlier that of course intrigued all the kids (and adults). I got oatmeal cream pie and lemon chocolate chip; Faith got oatmeal cream pie and pumpkin chocolate chip. All the flavors were excellent, especially the pumpkin chocolate chip, which Faith could not stop talking about the remainder of the trip.

Annapolis Ice Cream Company

Annapolis, MD

Excellent selection of homemade ice creams and sweet treats with some creative flavors.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

We took our ice cream down to the waterfront, and sat and watched the ducks and people jaunt around a section of the Annapolis Harbor known as Spa Creek or Ego Alley.

Downtown Annapolis, MD

Ducks, Books, and Coffee

DTA Ducks

Once we finally tired of duck- and people-watching, we walked to Old Fox Books & Coffeehouse near St. John’s College, which was about a half-mile away. The weather was pleasant, but chilly and breezy, so it felt good to get moving again. The coffee shop/bookstore combo was an interesting place to browse, and had an excellent selection of children’s books. Faith and I split an Americano (since their drip coffee was shut down for the day) to give us a caffeine boost to stay awake for the drive home.

Aunt Faith

Old Fox Books & Coffeehouse

Maryland WWII Memorial // Bridges

We headed our separate ways back to our vehicles, and began the drive back to Havre de Grace at sunset. Faith and I saw a nice sunset over the Naval Academy Bridge, and made a quick stop at the Maryland WWII Memorial to take a picture of the colors over the water. Driving back north, we actually crossed the 1.6mi Francis Scott Key Bridge, which has since collapsed after a container ship collided with it in March 2024.

Naval Academy Bridge

Maryland WWII Memorial

Nighttime

Back at the Pinkertons’ house, Anna pulled together a light charcuterie selection for dinner. We made more affogatos with the ice cream I’d bought, and watched more of Gettysburg, but didn’t make it very long because we were so worn out from the day. Our feet were sore from walking on all the cobblestone road and sidewalks, but it was a fun and memorable day. Annapolis is one of our favorite cities we’ve visited, and far exceeded our expectations.

Charcuterie for dinner

Maryland State House

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the Naval Academy, particularly the Chapel”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the crab cake at the delly”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the old buildings in Annapolis”.

The best thing I ate today was… “pumpkin chocolate chip ice cream”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’ll explore more of the Havre de Grace area.

– Isaac and Faith

Maryland State House

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Day 3 – Gettysburg // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 23:00:17 +0000

This morning, we woke up early, ate breakfast and made a somewhat spontaneous decision to drive to Gettysburg for the day. The Pinkertons had never visited, so of all our day trip options, we settled on making the trip to southern Pennsylvania.

Morning in Havre de Grace

Gettysburg National Military Park

Cyclorama, Movie

We arrived at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center, checked in, purchased our tickets, and began our tour. We began by watching a short film that showed in the theater at the visitor center, and then headed upstairs to view The Battle of Gettysburg, a cyclorama painting by Frenchman Paul Dominique Philippoteaux. The painting, which depicts Pickett’s Charge, is 360° and stands 42′ high and 377′ in circumference. It’s quite an impressive work of art, and is supplemented by a light show, narration, and artifacts on the ground to “extend” the painting.

Cyclorama

Cyclorama Panorama

Museum

We spent the rest of the morning visiting the museum, which has nearly endless information about the war, the battlefield, and the preservation efforts for the area. We learned so much interesting information, but a few things in particular stood out to me:

(1) Seeing recruiting pamphlets in foreign languages was interesting. I had never thought about the state of immigration at the time, and how a lot of people, particularly in the north, were still flowing in from other continents, bringing their native tongues with them.

(2) I didn’t know anything about the conservation efforts made by the people of Gettysburg. After the battle, almost every building in the area had to be converted into a field hospital or some kind of shelter. All the farmland was a huge mess, and the locals knew it would be years, if not decades before the land could be farmed again. They also realized the magnitude of what had happened, so they immediately began efforts to preserve the area, rather than to try to use it again. Thus, it’s one of the best preserved battlefields in the entire world, if not the best.

(3) The 1913 Gettysburg Veteran’s Reunion, which marked the 50th anniversary of the battle, was the largest gathering of Civil War veterans ever. All honorably discharged veterans from both sides received invitations, and over 53,407 veterans (mostly Union) attended. Episode 9 of Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War provides even more fascinating info about the reunion.

"We have found one another again as brothers and comrades in arms, enemies no longer, generous friends rather, our battles long past, the quarrel forgotten—except that we shall not forget the splendid valor."

President Woodrow Wilson // Remarks at the 50th Anniversary

Gettysburg National Military Park Museum

Battlefield

It was now noon, and since we’d gotten a later start to the day, we decided to delay lunch a while. After grabbing a quick snack from the car, we began the driving tour of the battlefield, which loops you through the key sites on one-way roads, guided by a National Park Service audio tour.

Gettysburg National Military Park

Tommie's Pizza

Leaving the battlefield, we drove over to Tommie’s Pizza to grab a quick late lunch. Tommie’s is a pizza parlor nostalgic of somewhere I’d been in my childhood, with a self-serve drink machine, lots of circular booths, and a typical menu. Faith and I got a pie with pepperoni and pineapple, which was very good, with a nice crispy crust and charred cheese. The done-ness came with a price: I burned the top of my mouth so badly it hurt for days afterwards!

Tommie's Pizza

Battlefield, Part II

Post-pizza, we resumed the battlefield driving tour, heading to the Longstreet Observation Tower for a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. The tower is right next to the Eisenhower National Historic Site, the farm and retreat of our 34th President.

Gettysburg National Military Park

As the sun began to descend, we continued the audio tour, stopping a few places of particular interest. Unfortunately, Little Round Top was completely closed for maintenance from all approaches. William was especially disappointed, since he’d spent much time studying the battle here. I think he was ready to re-take the hill all over again!

Gettysburg National Military Park

We ended our day at Gettysburg by stopping at the High Water Mark of the Confederacy, the farthest the Rebel Army advanced during General Pickett’s infamous failed charge, which ultimately led to the final downfall of General Lee’s armies.

The view from here was spectacular, and we spent some time reading the signage and monuments. Finally, thoroughly chilled by the wind, we returned to our vehicles and began the journey back to Havre de Grace.

Gettysburg National Military Park

Long Way Home

Instead of going around the outskirts of Baltimore and dealing with I-695, Faith and I decided to drive due east through southern Pennsylvania and then cut down through Bel Air, MD. It was a beautiful drive through the Pennsylvania countryside, and I’m glad we went that way, even though it cost us some extra time on the road. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures during the drive, so you’ll just have to take our word that the scenery was spectacular. Just after dark, we arrived back at the house.

Dinner and a Movie

Back home in Havre de Grace, we ate some turkey sandwiches and soup for supper. Once the kids were in bed, we made some affogati and started the movie Gettysburg, a 4h 31m depiction of the battle starring Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Stephen Lang. After watching a couple hours of the movie, we decided to save the rest for another night and head to bed.

Affogato

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “sunset at Gettysburg and driving through the Pennsylvania countryside”.

The best thing I ate today was… “affogato for dessert”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the Pennsylvania countryside”.

The best thing I ate today was… “pizza at lunch”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re heading to Annapolis to tour Maryland’s capital, visit the Naval Academy, and hopefully chase down some crab cakes.

– Isaac

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Pennsylvania Day 1

Isaac Church — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 01:50:22 +0000

Dad picked me up at work in Wilkesboro early this afternoon, and we began our journey to Pennsylvania. We headed up I-77, and after surviving several traffic jams near Roanoke, and stopping once for gas, we finally made it to Harrisonburg, VA, where we stopped for dinner.

Shenandoah Valley

Dinner - Bella Luna Woodfired Pizza

We stopped at Bella Luna Woodfired Pizza in downtown Harrisonburg, and enjoyed an excellent meal. We split an antipasto platter (with cheese, meats, bread, and various pickled fruits and vegetables) for an appetizer, and then split two small 10″ pizzas (a sopressata and a meatball).

Bella Luna Woodfired Pizza

Harrisonburg, VA

A great pizzeria with a small but creative menu. Great place for a pie!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Krumpe's Donuts

After dinner, we hopped back on I-81 and drove the remaining portion of the never-ending Shenandoah Valley. We stopped in Hagerstown, MD at a small donut shop called Krumpe’s Donuts. The shop has very bizarre hours (only 7pm-2am, and not open on Saturdays), and a very strange location (in a back alley in a neighborhood), but it was extremely crowded. We got a half-dozen donuts, and then headed slightly north of Hagerstown to our hotel. At the hotel, we ate a glazed donut each, and then headed to bed.

Up Next

Tomorrow morning, we’ll make the ~2.5 hour drive to State College, PA to Happy Valley/Beaver Stadium–home of the Penn State University Nittany Lions. Hopefully, we will cheer the Mountaineers on to victory!

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Day 1: DC, Philadelphia, and Travel

Isaac Church — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 16:58:37 +0000

Today marked the beginning of the “Church Trip”, or whatever you want to call it. I still haven’t even made up my mind. We spent most of the day in the car, so the day was fairly uneventful, and by the end of it we were pretty “road sick”.

Washington, D.C.

We left Granite Falls a little after 5:00am, stopped for breakfast along the way, and managed to make it to Washington, D.C. (through some of the worst traffic I’ve ever seen) around 2:00pm. We stopped at District Taco on F Street for some barbacoa, carnitas, and pollo asado tacos, which were excellent!

Originally, we planned to take a walking/circulator tour of the monuments and National Mall after lunch, but because we were running behind and it was drizzling, we opted to drive around the Mall one time and then head out of the city.

Library of Congress

Philadelphia

We finally arrived in Philadelphia around 7:00pm, which was unfortunately too late to tour any of the historical sites. After we found some parking, we walked around the Independence Hall area, toured the President’s House, and walked around the outside of the Liberty Bell museum (thrilling). After our rather uneventful tour, it was on to better things: cheese steaks!

Independence Hall

The Libery Bell and Independence Hall

Our first endeavor was to find a place called Joe’s Steaks + Soda Shop that supposedly had great steaks. By this time, it was close to their closing time at 8:00pm, and we were headed towards a rough part of town, so we opted for Plan B, which was basically whatever Dad had pulled up on his phone. It turned out to be a good decision. We ate at a place on Broad Street called Jimmy G’s Steaks that was outstanding.

Jimmy G's Steaks

Philadelphia, PA

An authentic Philly steak. Unfortunately, Jimmy G’s is now permanently closed.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Conclusion

After ordering our steaks “prov wit” like semi-authentic Philly natives (the only difference being a bit of a noticeable drawl) and devouring them at the tables outside, we decided it was time to hit the road, so we headed up to NJ (some familiar territory for Dad and me) and finally checked into our hotel just shy of 11:00pm.

Tomorrow, the Church family will take on the Big Apple and hopefully some big waffles. Oh, and something about Connecticut too, but we’ll see if Mom survives the subway before we start to speculate.

Final Thoughts

Like I said, there wasn’t much to report from today, but tomorrow should be pretty interesting because [Churches + NYC = ???].

A few other things of note from today:

Obviously, we didn’t teleport straight to DC and then to Philadelphia, though that would have saved us a significant amount of time and possibly prevented some amount of road rage. Today we saw sights in NC, VA, MD, DE, NJ, PA, and then NJ again.
We realized we still don’t know what’s happening on this trip. I suppose I kinda do because I planned it, but Mom thought we were going to Boston tomorrow instead of New York City, so that created some temporary confusion. Dad remembers the plans by types of food, so I don’t believe he has any concerns as long as the status-quo is being well-fed.
Mom was amazed that it’s illegal to pump your own gas in NJ, and that they offer full service at every gas station. And that service stations are sometimes in the median. Dad and I were too busy discussing the job-creating potential of requiring that in other states.

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An Introduction: Part II

Isaac Church — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:56:03 +0000

A follow-up to my last post: Once I finally relented to Mom’s (and several other people’s) requests to create a blog for this trip, I realized I needed a good name for the blog.

After consulting a few of my esteemed colleagues, these are the options I considered. Please don’t cringe too hard.

“Church Family Road Trip 2k16”
“Eating Our Way Through New England”
“Our Moose Hunting Trip”
“Our Food Hunting Trip”
“The Maine Adventure”
“Churching the Most Unchurched Part of America”
“Where is Canada?”
“Churches Migrating North for the Summer”
“Discovering the States in Which One Cannot Make Left Turns”
“15 States, 1 District, 2 Countries, 9 Days”
“Are there Moose in Maine?”
“How Many Consecutive Days Can a Very Southern Man Tolerate Northerners Before Exploding?: A Semi-Scientific Experiment”
“The Hand Sanitizer Habits of a Woman Under Germ-Induced Duress: A Semi-Scientific Observation”
“Which Genres of Music are Best for Lulling a 22-Year-Old to Sleep in a Car?: Another Semi-Scientific Experiment/Observation”

I thought these might be worth sharing. I do however realize I probably just lost at least half my potential readers.

I finally settled on “Church Trips: Adventures, Food, and the Occasional Wildlife Sighting” for sake of simplicity, and so I won’t have to start another separate blog for any future trips. That way, if we get real wild and head up to Ashe County one day, I can document it for your viewing pleasure.

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An Introduction

Isaac Church — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:02:06 +0000

As with all good stories, one must start at the very beginning. So, to explain why I’m writing an adventure blog for the rest of the summer, we must backtrack about a couple months.

Many months ago, I committed to go on a mission trip to Cleveland to work with the Syrian refugee population there. Our church planned the trip for the second week of August. Even after many months of preparation, fundraising, prayer, and planning, interest in our trip had gradually dwindled and many participants had to cancel, so we reluctantly decided it was best to cancel the trip (due to lack of interest), and to donate any fundraising dollars to the CMA mission group in Ohio.

Sometime in mid-June, I told my parents that I was now free at the beginning of August. Contrary to their recent behavior while I’ve been away at college, they invited me to join them on a vacation for that week. (For our family, a vacation always means eating lots of seafood somewhere north of Myrtle Beach.) And so, the discussion began. The conversation went something like this:

Mom: “I’m really glad you’re going to be able to come with us on this trip!”

Me: “Me too, I’m looking forward to eating some good seafood. Do we have a plan for the week?”
Mom: “No, we don’t actually know where we would stay. I haven’t planned anything yet.”
Me: *With slight sarcasm and not expecting serious consideration* “Here’s a crazy idea: why don’t we try going somewhere other than Cherry Grove?”
Mom: “That sounds like a great idea to me!”
Me:
Me:
Me:
Me: *Jaw dropped, and speechless*
Me:
Me:
Me:
Mom: “We could go to Niagara Falls! That’s what [some of our friends from church] did recently!”
Me: “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………….that sounds great!!”

For those of you who don’t know my mother well, I will now take time to attempt to explain why this might, in fact, be the single most unprecedented event of at least the past several decades.

For those of you who do know her and already savvy, feel free to skip this paragraph. — Let me begin by saying that to my knowledge, Mom has never traveled outside of the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia in my lifetime – maybe not even in her adult lifetime. And I’m not even sure about Virginia. Also, when I say Tennessee and Georgia, I’m talking Gatlinburg, one trip against her will to Watauga Lake, and a Braves game ten years ago.

Oh, and Dad and I dragged her to ASU’s championships in Chattanooga from ‘05-’07, but I know for a fact the first one scarred her for life, because after the first game she adamantly promised she would never go to another large public sporting event in her lifetime.

Because she likes to be very clean and, quite frankly, bacteria-free were it possible, hotels are somewhat of a nightmare, and any travel outside of the bustling metropolis of Granite Falls, NC (population 4,651) is almost always limited to a day trip. Flying is completely off the table.

As many wonderful things as I have learned and inherited from her over the years, my strong sense of spontaneity and adventure is NOT one of them. I can’t possibly describe to you how unusual this truly is.

For those of you who know me well, but not her, you know I may have never been at a loss for words, so that should give you a general idea. We won’t even mention how long it took me to convince her sister that this wasn’t an elaborate practical joke.

This message from the night we decided to go on the trip might help as well:

Now, back to another conversation that ensued.

Me: “I can’t believe this is actually happening! This trip will be so exciting, and I’ve always wanted to see that part of the country.”

Dad: *With great enthusiasm* “And there will be some really great food along the way!”
Mom: “How long does it take to drive to Maine from Niagara Falls?”
Dad and Me: *Repeat previous reaction*
Dad: “I hear there’s really great lobster up in Maine! That’s always been on my bucket list…to eat a bucket full of lobster.”

Side note: joking aside, I’m actually convinced that Dad’s ‘bucket list’, or at least a secondary list, is really just a list of foods of which he would like to consume an entire bucket.

After lots of Googling and quite a bit of planning, we determined that it was better to drive up to Maine first, and then head over to Niagara Falls. Of course, we figured we might as well stop along the way to smell the roses and taste the local cuisine.

One thing led to another, and this is what we ended up with:

The craziest part is that map doesn’t even cover everything. So, for those of you who were wondering “Why on earth did Isaac start a travel blog for his family?”, this is the reason. I promise my succeeding posts won’t be quite as long and lacking in the picture department, and I aim to make them as entertaining as possible.

I’ll cover our adventures, include some photos I’ve taken, and certainly document some of the food–the most important part of any adventure. I might even include a few I.A. posts with Dad’s quotes and lame jokes, documentation of how Northerners react to Caldwell County natives, and whatever else comes to mind.

Our current plan goes something like this: Granite Falls > Richmond > Washington, D.C. > Baltimore > Philadelphia > New York City > New Haven > Providence > Boston > Portsmouth > Portland > Bar Harbor > New Hampshire > Vermont > Syracuse > Rochester > Niagara Falls > Toronto > Pittsburgh > Granite Falls. Only time will tell if we’ll make it home (or past Greensboro, for that matter) alive.

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