THE END OF OUR FIRST WEEK

We are currently in New London, CT with my cousin Christina and her husband Brian. Julia, Christina's sister, and her fiance Rick have also come down. We will be here all day Sunday and head off to Cape Cod early Monday morning.

We last left you in Philadelphia. We went to an amazing restaurant. But before this Melba prepared a small appetizer for us!! It was awesome.

She made us shrimp cocktail.
Then we got to take another taxi to dinner.
We ate at the City Tavern. We highly recommend this place to any and all who visit Philadelphia. It is a must see place.
It is completely authentic and the food is great. This is the same tavern Ben Franklin loved to dine in as well as many other of our founding fathers. It was even where they celebrated the first Fourth of July.

Can you believe how they wrap the leftovers?!! Way cool!

Margie just couldn't pass it up. The guy was on break, but he left his hat there. It was a golden oppurtunity.

For dessert we went to the "Naked Chocolate Cafe". It was fun and quite delicious.

The next morning came quick and sadly we had to leave Melba and Jack and continue on our adventure. Welcome to New Jersey.

Capitol #25! HALF WAY THERE!!!

Of course we had to get some Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. They are the best and not found where we live in Idaho.

We got a brief view of New York city as we cruised down the highway toward Connecticut.

Welcome to New York! Shortly after this we went through to Connecticut but they did not have a sign up. Sad...So we will get it on our way out of the state.

Out east they don't do yard sales or garage sales they have Tag sales. Margie found this fascinating and we stopped at a couple.

We also stopped at an estate sale. We sure wish we had a truck. There were several amazing furniture pieces we'd love to have and were very inexpensive but unfortunately they wouldn't fit in our small Civic.
Andrew went on a trip down memory lane as we visited a few homes he grew up in.

Andrew couldn't believe the play set his Dad built was still up after 20 years.

Andrew's parents built this house.
This is the where Andrew went to Elementary school

As many of you know Andrew is an avid PEZ collector. So we made our Mecca to the PEZ factory in Orange, CT. Unfortunately it is not open on Saturdays.

One of Andrew's favorite fast food joints as a young boy was Duchess. We made a quick stop for lunch. And it was just as he remembered.

Notice: Only the elderly may cross here. All others must find other means of crossing.

We made it. Christina made a great dinner and we enjoyed a fun evening on their deck with a BBQ and fire. PS: Their home is amazing. They are doing such a great job with it and it is coming along quite nicely. Christina has a great decoraters knack.

PHILADELPHIA

What a great day and it's not even over yet!

This was our view this morning when we woke up. And when I say our view when we woke up I mean it. There is a huge window at the foot of our bed. I took this pic seconds after I woke up while still lying in bed.

We left around 9am and headed over to see the Liberty Bell and begin our day of touring Historic Philadelphia.

The crack. It was actually formed when they were attempting to repair a hairline fracture. So much for that, they actually ruined the bell. Oh well.

This is Benjamin Franklin's old printing shed and home. They are no longer there but are represented by these awesome steel structures. The walkways are carved with quotes from Ben and his wife. This was way cool. We are huge fans of Ben Franklin.

Of course we went on a tour of Independence Hall. Truly a magical building. So many great and important parts of history happened right here.

"Somebody open up a window!!"

This is the famous room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. So many amazing people stood in this very room.

Our buddy. He was awesome. Actors were all over and were great tour guides.

We took the Phlash Trolly around

We got hungry so Melba took us to the famous Reading Terminal for lunch

That's right! When in Philly you have to get a Philly Cheese Steak

It was soooo good.

We finished our morning at the Philadelphia art museum and ran up the "Rocky" steps. We also snapped a shot by the recently added Rocky statue.

Tonight we are going to City Tavern for dinner. We are so excited. It is a completely authentic restaurant. Everyone is dressed in period clothes, the food is cooked and served just as it was back when Ben Franklin and John Adams dined there. We are so excited!! This trip is amazing! So many great things to do in our wonderful country.

FIRST WEEK OUT

We are having a fabulous time. We have had so many adventures and have so many more to go.

We have slept three nights in the car. Don't worry for the rest of the trip we have places to stay.

We made it to Iowa. There was a lot of corn in this state.

Minnesota was a fun filled spot. From the Jolly Green Giant to the largest ball of twine.

Despite the rain we got a great shot of the Jolly Green Giant. It wasn't quite as big as Margie remembered but was fun none the less.

Wierd Al promotes this world wonder. We saw the nations largest ball of twine. If you are in Minnesota be sure to hit up this sight and grab a sandwich at Jack's Tavern. It was a darn good eat.
We hit up the Mall of America. It truly is a huge mall.

They had the greatest Lego store ever

And a huge indoor amusement park.

Margie had to ride the rollercoaster. Way too much fun for her

St. Paul, Minnesota -- Capitol #22 Just moving right along in her goal.

While we were there a huge storm rolled in and we've never seen so much hail in our lives

Welcome to Wisconsin

Madison Capitol #23

Michigan was a two minute detour so we nabbed it.

Welcome to Indiana

And Ohio...

And Pennsylvania...

We stayed the night at the McBrides's. They are awesome and we loved spending some time with them. They rock.

Harrisburg, PA #24

Since Margie has begun eating chocolate again it has become an addiction. So of course we made our Mecca to Hershey, PA and visited chocolate world

We were in Amish country in Lancaster, PA. This was some great BBQ

We arrived in Philadelphia and Melba showed us out on the town. This is MArgie's first cab ride

Our car was making a funny noise so Andrew checked it out. So far seems like no big deal

We are staying two nights in Philadelphia with Andrew's Aunt Melba. This is a night view from her apartment. She has a great apartment overlooking Washington Square in the heart of Philly. We love it. We head out tomorrow for a Historic tour of Philadelphia. Get excited.