Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

 Have you ever heard of Cuyahoga Valley National Park? Well, neither had we until we happened upon it. We think Cuyahoga must mean "gift from God" cause that is exactly what our time there was. It was the perfect place to slow down, relax, ride bikes, eat ice cream and explore the historic area of Boston Mills on the Park grounds. Here we are enjoying rocking on the porch of this beautiful building built in 1836, which is fully restored and currently a museum.

It's been a few years since anyone got gas from this pump. Check out the price, 26 cents!

                                     Love that gorgeous weathered look, and I'm talking about the barn!!!

We road a portion of the 28 mile "Towpath" that passes through meadows, forests and wetlands.

                      

At the end of a wonderful day we settled into our campsite and savored a tasty BBQ.  

Thank you, Lord, for this unexpected treat in Ohio.

Gettysburg

Gettysburg, the name alone congers up images of open fields ravaged by war and tremendous loss of lives. Visiting this historical battlefield of the Civil War impacted me even more than I had imagined. I'm sure that I wasn't very attentive in high school US History because I really had no concept of the the importance of the battle that took place here. We watched an informative film at the Visitors Center which helped fill in the details and prepared our hearts for the ride through the memorial grounds.   

 Hello Mr. Lincoln. After hearing more details of your view and position on the war, I now understand why you deemed it necessary to go to war. Not only did you want to see slavery abolished, you also had vision and determination to not let America fail as a Union. Thank you, Mr. President for you conviction and courage and for all the fallen soldiers that bravely gave their lives for the freedoms we know in this great country.

The picture below is a small portion of a huge painting done in 1884 by french artist, Paul Philippoteaux. The fascinating Cyclorama of the 377 foot painting of the battlefield, was on display in a circular room at the Visitors Center. It depicted a final attack known as Pickett's Charge, where 5,000 Confederate soldiers lost their lives in one hour. It was an amazing scene to picture this as we headed out to view the landscape for ourselves.

We rode our bikes through the peaceful rolling hills of Gettysburg which pay silent tribute to the many who lost there lives there. 

         Monuments throughout the battlefield give honor to the regiments of fallen men from all the states that were involved in the war.

         The Soldier's National Cemetery is where Abraham Lincoln delivered his short but impactful Gettysburg Address. Using only 277 words he brought hope to the devastation that had just taken place and inspired all to a "New Birth of Freedom".

The beautiful sky over the Gettysburg Battlefield was a fitting end to a meaningful day.

Three Days, Three Ballparks

On May 27 we took a quick drive up to Washington DC, then got settled into our campsite in nearby Maryland. We headed out to the ballpark taking the public transportation and met some of the locals. After an hour on the bus and Metro we must say that the people we met were very friendly and helpful. We arrived at Nationals Park, got our tickets, found our seats, and then were abruptly told to take cover because of the thunder and lightning. We waited it out for several hours and gave ourselves a self guided tour of the ball park while trying to stay dry.

So the night at Nationals Park ended without the game even starting. Due to the severe thunderstorm the game was postponed for a later date. However, we did have a great time hanging out at the ball park sampling the hotdogs and eating the $1 ice cream. Making a mad dash to the Metro through the downpour was a rather exciting experience, too.  

The next day we moved on to the next ballpark on the bucket list, Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Oriole's were out of town so a tour was the next best thing. We were very impressed with this beautiful ballpark and gave it a TEN on our scale of the parks we have visited so far. The new stadium was very classy with an old school look like ball parks from the past. 

After the tour, we had a excellent crab sandwich lunch at Dempseys, located in the huge warehouse at the ball field. The brick warehouse, pictured behind us, was built in the 1800's by the Baltimore Railroad. It was spared from destruction when they built the new ballpark. They completely refurbished it and it's now part of the park, housing the Oriole's offices, other businesses and restaurants. What a treat to visit this beautiful and historical ballpark! We are definitely coming back again to Camden Yards, next time to see a game. 

Three days in a row? No problem! We visited another major league ballpark today and enjoyed every minute of it. Our tour of PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, scored a homerun. The industrial steel and stone architecture was fitting of the Pittsburgh area. PNC's had seating for 38,000 fans and was uniquely situated alongside the Allegheny River with a spectacular view of Pittsburgh's skyline.

Tom is dwarfed standing next to the bronze statue of home run hitter, Willie Stargell 

 Waiting in the dugout for a turn at bat, unfortunately, no game today.

Here we are supporting the Pirates by wearing their colors, thanks to In-N-Out.

                         Check out the prime parking spot 50 feet from the stadium. Sweet!

We didn't get to sample a Buccaneer hotdog so instead we headed across the river to get a "Not So Famous Sandwich" at the Primanti Brothers Restaurant. It was featured on the Man vs Food TV show, made of fresh baked Italian bread, tender pastrami, tomato, vinegary coleslaw and fries INSIDE the sandwich! YUM!

And for dessert? What else but a pizza to go... Now that's a walk-off home run...

Virginia Beach with Love

Spending time with family was one of the main reasons for this coast to coast road trip and we now arrive at Virginia Beach where our beautiful daughter Leah lives. Our son-in-law, Alex is currently studying at the Military School of Music there, so getting a few days off from his rigorous schedule was the perfect time to go camping. We got to spend 4 wonderful days together at First Landing State Park, just 20 mins from their house. The campground was spacious with lush vegetation, had a beautiful sandy beach and the weather was absolutely perfect! The ideal setting for making great memories with our granddaughter Zoe and her parents. 

On Sunday we went to church together and later, enjoyed dinner on Virginia Beach's ocean front then a stroll down the boardwalk for Hershey's ice cream.

 Alex and Zoe enjoying their Hershey's ice cream. Watch out for the sugar coma after that banana split, Alex.

                     
                     Now, back to more great days of camping, swimming and making sandcastles.

 

 Thank you dear Panos family for the wonderful time we had together with you. Love you so much!