Cherry Point, NC to Washington D.C 13 June 2018

The next part of our story about our travels.........3 June to 13 June 2018

We arrived at Cherry Point, NC on 3 June. We are staying at the Cherry Point Inn which is a massive 2 story  brick building with white columns and a massive screened inn porch on the second floor. The Inn was in a nice wooded area of the base. IT felt like we were in the country. The Inn mostly has 2 room suites. Before being changed into an inn it was used as the Bachelor Officer Quarters.   There is a large room on the first floor with tables etc. where we spent a lot of time when we were back at the Inn playing card games etc. with the girls.  The only draw back staying there is that there was no phone wifi service.  We had to walk a distance away from the building to get service...kind of like using a phone booth...
It was very comfortable staying at our temporary home at Cherry Point Billeting.
On our second day at Cherry Point, we took a boat and visited Shackleford Banks which is a short distance from Beaufort, N C.   Shackleford Island  is an isolated barrier island accessible only by boat. How the  wild horses arrived on the island is still a mystery but it is said they could be descendants of Spanish Mustangs that swam ashore after surviving shipwrecks. The horses have survived in the wild, isolated on Shackleford and other coastal barrier islands away from the mainland for almost a millennium.  There has been over 200 horses on the island but now just about 130 horses are on the island . The Foundation for Shackleford Horses manages the horses in cooperation with the Park Service.  We saw about 12 of the horses when we were on the island.  We found the water very warm as we walked on the beach in the water. We also found some neat sea shells. We were on the Island for about 1.5 hours.   The next time we go to the island, we will take our swimming suits, water,cooler and plan to stay for several hours. This time we were not sure what to expect as there are limited facilities and what you take on the Island, you must carry off.  You can only buy small bottles of water at the bookstore at the Light Station Visitor Center.  So we would highly recommend if you are in the area, a trip to the Island for a few hours is a MUST, you take a picnic, food , drinks and something to put up for shade so you can enjoy the island for a few hours.   The boats come and go every hour or so.    Even though we were only on the island for  a short time, it was one of the highlights of our trip.
The last day at Cherry Point , time was spent on the Atlantic Beach on the Crystal Coast near Fort Macon.   We also had time to rest, play games and get ready for our next adventure at Williamsburg, Virginia.
Arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia after a short 4 hour drive from Cherry Point.  We drove the back roads here.  Saw some beautiful countryside.  We spent a few hours visiting Colonial Williamsburg after we checked into our billeting at Navy Gateway and Suites at Cheatham Annex.   It was fun walking about the streets of Colonial Williamsburg which is the world’s largest living history museum.  The girls enjoyed the walk about the town and taking pictures in the gallows and various statues like with Thomas Jefferson.  Molly was especially  happy to see that they had a book store....she loves to browse in book stores!
The next day  the morning was spent at Yorktown, Va.  The girls said that was one of their favorites. They spent time walking around 18th Century Architecture of Yorktown and really enjoyed  the American Revolution Museum and and the Yorktown Waterfront.  Next on the list of must see was Jamestown where we toured the Jamestown Settlement where they experienced walking about America’s first permanent English Colony in 1607 and seeing the history through films, gallery exhibits and outdoor living history of the Powhatan Indian Village. Also were able to board and tour the replicas of the original settlers’ ships, the Susan Constant and the Godspeed.
The girls really seem to enjoy all that they are experiencing on this family trip.
Now we are at Naval SupportActivity Bethesda and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda staying at the Navy Lodge.   We arrive here on June 9th. Experienced lots of traffic on the drive here from Williamsburg. We will be here for 4 days. Yesterday Kelly and girls drove to see friends from their neighborhood in Vail, AZ  that now live in Virginia.   They enjoyed spending the day in the mountains with their special friends. Tom and I spent the day getting caught up on some stuffs we needed to do...and resting.  It seemed so quiet without Kelly and girls! 

Tom spent the first day here showing Kelly how to get around on the Metro so she could go into the city and spend time with her friend and kids.  They went to the Natural History Museum and to the Tidal Basin to ride the Paddle Boats. The next day, Kelly was able to take the Metro with the girls back into D.C so they could spend the day and then the night with their friends.  

Kelly’s friend lived in Kelly’s neighborhood in Vail and they did a lot of volunteer work together at the school. The kids all went to school together. They went to the National History Museum, and went paddle boating at the tidal basin with their friends. They also spent a night with them and the next day had a beautiful  day to walk about all the Memorials on the National Mall.  They also walked to the Capital building and to the White House.   Kelly and her friend even got to go to a movie together while her husband watched the girls.  It is so fun for them to be able to spend time with these  good friends.  

Tom and I decided to drive into Georgetown and have a nice lunch...after almost an hour, we decided to come back to Bethesda as there was so much traffic and no place to park.  We had a nice lunch here in Bethesda. Tomorrow we will leave Bethesda and go to Lancaster, PA and spend the night and then to State College , PA to spend a few days before we go to Niagara Falls for a few days with Kelly and girls. 

~~“ WHERE EVER YOU GO, GO WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART”~~

I will put the pictures from the above travel days on Facebook since have not figured out how to add to my blog!   I must learn how to add the pictures to my Blog before our next travel adventure!!

We continue to thank God for all our safe travels and keep you all in prayer too.

Thank you for continuing to keep us in your daily prayer for safe travels. 

Tom and Maryann

6 June 2018 Our Road Trip North has begun

 6 June 2018.   Well we have been traveling several days now.  There was a storm going up the east coast but it seems that it has stayed ahead of us.  There were a couple days that the area we were in had some downpours BUT it did not affect us as for some reason the downpours happed just as we finished an outing or were headed back to the hotel!  We have our car and Kelly’s van.  Molly is the designated co-piglet.....I meant co-pilot riding with Granddad!  She is also the designated Official Tour Guide..  These titles were given as she is safe to ride in the front seat!!   Samantha and Kirsten have the back seats of the van to themselves..  I ride with Kelly!   Molly has  information and warnings etc. that she explains to us each day and before and after we make a stop on our sightseeing adventure.    One day Samantha and Kirsten wanted to watch a movie so Kelly and i had the van to ourselves.    During the rides they have readings, homework etc. each day that Kelly gives them to complete.  Electronic devic can be only used one hour a day.  I also play a  car card travel game with them.  THERE is never a dull moment in or out of the car/van!    So nice to have these days to make such memories. 

The first day we just traveled about 2 hours to Jacksonville, Florida and went to the Sweet Pete’s Candy Factory in downtown Jacksonville.   It is a 3 story candy factory, candy store and restaurant.  The girls had fun checking out all the candies.   Of course Kelly let them each buy a small container of various candies that they picked to take on our trip.   Some ate their candy quickly and others had their candy for 2 days or more.
We traveled just an hour or so up the coast to Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base near St. Mary’s  on the coast near the town of St. Mary’s which is a city that is the gateway to the Cumberland Island National Seashore...the largest of the Georgia Coast Barrier Islands. We spent 2 nights at Kings Bay.  We spent the morning walking about the historic town of St. Mary’s and toured the St. Mary’s Submarine Museum.  They had a really  nice little park on the waterfront that we walked about. Just as we were getting in the car we had some rain drops and dark sky’s.  As we drove along the coast we stopped at The Crooked River State Park where we walked “The Everliving Trail/Sempervirens Nature Trail.” The girls went into the visitor’s center and A very nice gentleman showed them a couple snakes and turtles that he took out of their cages and let them touch while he told them all about them.  We also saw a full skeleton of a snake. We walked thru the park and marsh area seeing lots of different mushrooms, hundreds of baby crabs on the pathway,flowers and different types of trees.  We took the River Trail that went to the Marsh and not after we arrived, there was a huge black cloud forming. Earlier we had talked to a couple of rangers and they told us about a short cut on the way back....so we started on that trail.  They decided to come back to see if we were on the right trail....of course we were not so they redirected us.  How nice of them to think that maybe we misunderstood so came back to find us.   If we had continued on the trail we were on, we would have been drenched from the large black cloud opened up with a torrential rain just as we got back to the car!.. 

When I woke up on the next day, I discovered that had picked up two ticks THAT were imbedded in my side and arm AND were still alive!  Must have picked up on the walk the day before.   OF COURSE then we needed to calmly tell the kids (and let out that the ticks were still alive when I found them) and had to check all. With their long hair took awhile to look over their heads!   We left King’s Bay on the 1st of June and headed to Savannah, Georgia where we stayed at Hunter Army Airfield.  First we went to downtown Savannah as Kelly wanted to have the girls tour the Juliet Gordon House (who began the Girl Scout’s in 1912). We also went and walked around one of the “reportedly” haunted cemeteries in Savannah.   Before we left we stopped by the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Catholic Cathedral and attended mass.   The church was dedicated in 1876 but in 1898 much of the structure was destroyed in a fire.  The Cathedral was rebuilt and opened in 1900.   The Cathedral is on the top historic sites to visit in the United States. The statues and paintings etc. were beautiful and felt so peaceful in the cathedral.  We also spent time walking through the Colonial Park Cemmetery. More than 700 victims of the 1820 yellow Fever epidemic are buried here along with many of the graves were looted and desecrated by the Federal Troops.  It is a popular stop for Ghost Tours as there is a history of ghost sightings in this cemetery. We left Savannah and headed to Tybee Island.  It is a barrier island east of Savannah.  Kelly and the girls went to the Tybee Island Lighthouse.  They walked up the 179 steps to the top.   Kelly made it to the top but she did not go out on the pad to look around and Kirsten had to just look form the doors as Kelly thought she might fall off the lookout pad! Did I mention that Kelly does not like high places??  Molly and Samantha went out and took a look around.  Once again the rain down pour  did not start until we were ready to leave!!   We drove back to Savannah and had a late lunch at a restaurant on the Historic Riverfront Plaza.  Then we walked down the cobblestone street to the River Street Sweets Candy Store. We tried samples of their famous Pecan Pralines. Of course we bought some candy to go too! While we were in Savannah, Kelly had discovered a Oakland Island Wildlife Center that is owned and ran by a local school district.  We attended a 40 minute “show and tell” given by two employees of the center.  They gave excellent information about and gave an opportunity for everyone to gently touch an alligator, snake, armadillo and screech owl.  YES, some of our group were brave enough to take part in the hands on touching!
The next day was time to leave Savannah and go toward Charleston.  On our way we took a side trip to check out the Angel Oak Tree which is on Angel Oak Road in Johns Island, South Carolina.  This tree is estimated to be in excess of 400-500 years old and stand 66-5 feet tall and 28 feet is circumference and produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet .   From tip to tip it’s longest branch branch distance is 187 feet.  What an amazing site.   We could have stayed there forever just walking around and looking at this unique tree.  It is on a back road and you would never know it was there if did not have the GPS address.
We stopped in Charleston to check out Fort Sumter National Monument.   Traffic in Charleston is very heavy.  We had reservations for the 4 PM ferry to go over to Ft. Sumter....but arrived in Charleston earlier so found a parking garage and ran over to the the dock where can catch the ferry to see if we could get an earlier ferry.....WE DID!
The boat was just leaving so we JUST made it to walk onto the boat before it was scheduled to leave Charleston Harbor to go to the fort.   It was a beautiful sunny day so the ride across the harbor was perfect.   The ferry and touring the island took us about 2.5 hours.   A fun adventure!! Molly had already told us what she learned about Ft. Sumter in school.  We spent the night in Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in Jacksonville, North Carolina.  The next day we headed to Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, North Carolina where we would be for the next the four nights. 
I am finally getting another blog done and published.... it seems that I would rather play games with the girls  in the evenings or afternoons so  our blogs will continue to be behind.


“WE DIDN’T REALIZE WE WERE MAKING MEMORIES, WE JUST KNEW WE WERE HAVING FUN~~
We are keeping you all in thought and prayer.
We appreciate you keeping us all in your daily prayers for safe travels.  
God Bless You All,
Tom and Maryann

blog from 30 May 2018. Delete

30 May 2018
Finally, I am going to update you all on our days since we returned from that amazing trip  on the Rhine River Boat. 
We arrived home late in the evening on the 14 May.   It seemed like a much longer airplane trip home than going over to Amsterdam.   Bill and Charlotte and Jim and Cher flew home with us to Orlando.  We rented a car to drive to Cocoa with Bill and Charlotte and Jim and Char stayed in a hotel at the  airport in Orlando.   Charlotte and Bill and Tom and I went back over to Orlando to have lunch with Jim and Cher as they were not leaving to return to Tucson until the 16 of May.   We took them to our favorite catfish and fried green tomatoes restaurant.  The Catfish Place is in St. Cloud just outside of Orlando.   They agreed with us that it was the best they have had too. 
Tom and I have spent the last two weeks with Kelly and Bryan and girls.  It was so fun to once again attend their school functions etc.  We attended Molly’s school awards night.  Kelly had gotten a letter that said that Molly was getting an award so the day after we arrived home went to the Awards Ceremony.  We were so proud of Molly as she received several awards and honors.  She was honored for being one of four digital information technical students of the year and a certified Microsoft Office Spcialist, All County Band Award, 4.0 Grade Point Average and Honor Roll student, Comprehensive Science 3 Advanced Student of the Year, plus several others.  We also attended Samantha’s awards ceremony where she was recognized for a 4.0 Grade Point Average.  Yeah Samantha. We were also very proud of  Kirsten as she did very well as a 3rd grade student at the elementary school. She loves art and showed us some of her unique art that she did this year.  They are all involved in the Girl Scouts and this year Molly and Samantha bridged over to the  the next level to their next level of their Girl Scout Adventures. We were so excited to again be able to attend all their school functions as we did when they lived just down the road in Vail. During the last couple weeks of course, there was time for card games and dice etc. after school and in the evenings.   Kelly and Bryan took time  to go to Disney Date Overnight.  They also went to Orlando for an afternoon and evening.   And we had two more weeks to spend with Charlotte and Bill and made the rounds to as many of our favorite restaurants as we could. AND Tom fixed Liver and Onions for them...has become a tradition when we go to Florida.  Charlotte helps Tom with the cooking...Bill and I just wait for the food to be done!!   What a life.
Tom took time to go to Patrick Airforce base and check with a friend of his that he was stationed at Davis Monathan with several years ago.   We also were able to  meet up with our friends Gee and Christina Jones that we were also stationed with at Davis Monthan and we had not seen them for several years.   They live in Orlando now so Tom and I and Charlotte and Bill went up to Orlando to have lunch with them.  It was so great to spend time with them and give them hugs and catch up.  As with many of our Air Force friends...it seem like just yesterday that we had spent time with them versus several years.    They will always be a part of our hearts and family. 
Kelly and Maryann have been busy planning our trip North.
  Today is 10 June 2018
I just realized that I never posted this update from when we returned from our trip! 
So here it is!    Will post some of the pictures on Facebook as still do not know how to do on my IPAD.   
~~NEVER FORGET WHERE YOU’VE BEEN. NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF WHERE YOU ARE GOING. AND MOST IMPORTANT, NEVER TAKE FOR GRANTED THE PEOPLE WHO TRAVEL THE JOURNEY WITH YOU~~~.  And we won’t as feel so blessed to have so many friends that are just so part of our lives, whether we see them everyday of once every few decades!   
God Bless You All,
Hugs and Loves,
Tom and Maryann