Erin Travels a bit

I took a personal day a bit earlier than normal this year.  We (Steph R and I) gifted mom with a girls’ trip to see Daniel at Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It’s kinda a trek to get out there – 5 hours or more.  But we decided to just do it.  We left Friday morning around 9, stopped for lunch, checked into our hotel, and then had a delicious meal at Agape Café right next to the theater. 

We had great seats.  They weren’t in the lower section, but they were near the bottom of the next level and off toward the side.  We like them because you could see all the things happening on all sides of the theater.  There is a lot going on – animals, singing, lights, set changes, and more.  It was enjoyable. 

We headed back to the hotel afterwards and pretty much collapsed into bed. 

On the way home, we stopped at an outlet mall to see what there was – lots of shops, lots of still pretty pricey clothes, and a lot of nothing that we took home.  We did have the experience of witnessing the spotted lanternfly (locorma) invade everything!  It is an invasive species related to the grasshopper from Asia.  They fly/hop, and they are disgusting.  You are literally supposed to step on as many as you can to try to just kill them off.  You are also supposed to check your car so you don’t transport them from state to state. 

    

It was a good getaway, even though it was a lot of driving.

Then, for my 8th year in a row, I headed to Gettysburg/Washington D.C., with the 8th graders from school.  I am not sure when I will get tired of going.  It is a get away with very little responsibility – kinda.  I don’t have to plan the trip, navigate on the trip, entertain people on the trip, worry about food, restaurants or lodging.  I just get to go, count heads, take cell phones at night, encourage kids to look at things and think about things.  I do get tired; we walked over 7 miles on Thursday and stayed up later than I normally do.  But I enjoy it. 

I always like to see who we get from the National Park System to be our tour guide at Gettysburg.  This year, we had a man who had taught 8th grade history for 27 years (and some additional years at the high school level).  He got them.  He did a great job keeping it focused, giving out enough, but not too much, information, and trying to help them learn about what went on during the war.

This year, we went to a new White House Experience that was really cool.  It was maybe a little small for our group, but I thought it was so neat – the media and technology, the visual representations of the white house, the bounty of facts and tidbits you could learn. 

    

We also walked up Capitol hill to get to the backside of the Capitol building I don’t know if that was worth it, but it was new and something the kids see on TV, but got to see in real life. 

We hit the usual spots – World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Korean War Memorial, FDR (one of my favorites), MLK Jr., Arlington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and the American History Museum (Smithsonian).