Historic Bath, the OBX, and Plymouth

This weekend we were out in Washington, NC and then Grandy, NC. The groups were kind enough to take care of lodging for us, so we drove out on Saturday afternoon and had an hour or so to visit Historic Bath, the oldest city in North Carolina, before checking into our hotel and settling down for the night.

We started at the Visitor Center and watched a video about the area. Then, we took a walking tour of the couple of blocks of the downtown, historic district.

We're a house of readers, so this was a neat sign for us to see.

This is the view the people have of the Bath Creek, off the Pamlico River.

We got to visit the oldest church in NC as well. This is a sign referring to the first minister here, an Anglican, but now the church is Episcopal...that's what Revolutionary Wars can do.

The church door, and we were able to go inside as well.

The children inside, by the altar. They still hold services here today.

The area of Bath is also famous for housing Blackbeard the Pirate in the summer of 1718, before he was killed a little distance away, at Ocracoke.

Sitting on the edge of Bath Creek.

Sissi, on the Bath Creek.

Krypto, enjoying watching the boats.

On Sunday, we spent the morning in Washington, NC and then, that afternoon, we drove to Grandy. They provided a hotel room for us in Kill Devil Hills, just across the street from the Wright Brothers Memorial. Since we had already visited that in April with our good friends, we decided instead to have a beach day. We might not have anymore beach days for awhile, living in Kyrgyzstan.

My girl, Sissi, officially 7 years old now and on the sand of the Atlantic Ocean.

Krypto on the sand of the Atlantic Ocean.

Gwangi, showing me some shells and crab skeletons that he found in the sand.

While playing on the beach for the morning, we saw about 6 dolphins swimming about 25 yards off shore. Very, very close and just swimming peacefully along.

We got to see some bi-planes fly overhead while we were at the beach.

Then, on the way home, we were going through Plymouth and noticed a historic marker for an Ironclad. SO, we did a U-turn and went back to visit. There was also a "Civil War Trail" marker and so we got to learn a bit about the Battle of Plymouth and the Ironclad Albemarle.

The sign for the Albemarle.

Here is the mock up...it is 3/8ths the size of the original.

A dragonfly that Sissi really wanted me to take a picture of.

The Roanoke River Museum and a replica of the cannons that were on the CSS Albemarle.

The kids really like reading and learning a bit about the weaponry.

A historic marker for the Siege of Plymouth in the background of some lovely flowers.

The Roanoke River Lighthouse, it was closed, even though the sign said it should have been open, so we weren't able to go inside.

A boat sitting on the outside of the lighthouse.

We've had a very busy year, lots of road trips, and it has been hard at times to keep the chaos of travel from getting to all of us. The positive of it though has been that we have seen so much of North Carolina and been able to engage in a bunch of history this year. It's been really fun and exciting. We're so thankful for all the people that have had us out to speak and share and made it possible for us to stay over night on some of the longer trips!

30 Day Pantry Challenge

It's that time,we're getting ready to move.

The last time we did this, going to Tanzania, I wasn't very good at dwindling down my food supplies and so ended up tossing, donating, and giving quite a bit away.

This time, well, we just got back from a road trip, and as is usual on those kinds of trips, we spent a bit more than I had expected and so need to do some trimming this month to make up the difference.

Hence, the challenge - Other then perishables like milk, eggs, and fresh fruit/veggies, try to only eat from our pantry, freezer, and fridge for the entire month of August. (Quick caveat *We have 2 birthdays this month...Sissi's and Indy's...so there might be exceptions for those special events.)

Can we do it?

I never have done this before, though I've seen it blogged about and tried by many others.

So, I'll comment and post and let you know how we do.

Any suggestions, any thoughts? Have you done this? Any good recipe ideas? I'm off to do an inventory and make a list of what meals we can eat with what we have. We have a pretty well stocked pantry and freezer, so I know we won't starve, but I may have to pull on some creative juices to put a few things together.

We'll let you know how it goes.

The Wildlife Experience

While we were in Colorado we met up with a friend of ours in Parker and also my sister and nephew. While we were together, we took a trip over to the Wildlife Experience and got to enjoy a tour for free, because of our Uncle Sam retiree status. Yahoo!

Sissi, as she turned around after learning about different kinds of bird eggs.

Sissi and cousin Roman, looking at butterflies.

Roman was wearing an animal skin and "attacking" and roaring.

Here he is attacking Gwangi. They loved it!

Roarrr!!! Now he's a bear!

There were a lot of "stuffed" animals on display and information about the regions in which they lived.

Ahhh! It moved and opened it's mouth and sure enough, Roman jumped..."It's alive!"

The butterflies.

Checking out the submarine in the Coral Reef display.

Some creatures that we're used to seeing in the mountains.

Sissi, helping Roman to see.

More fun animals on display.

Where the Buffalo Roam :)....CU grad joke there!

My sister and Roman aren't in this picture, but our friend, Bernadette is!

A trip around the Washington, DC Monuments

While we were in DC, we got to take a day and walk around all of the monuments on the National Mall. We had a great time and I hope you get an opportunity to do the same at some point. I couldn't put up all the pictures or all of the amazing quotations from many of our past Presidents up here on the blog, that would take too long...but, here are some highlights from our visit.

At the base of the Washington Monument.

At the entrance to the World War II Memorial you can find this...the Army Air Forces!

The Atlantic side of the World War II Memorial.

ahhh! It's been a month, but I seem to remember that each star represents 100 fallen soldiers from the US during World War II.

This monument is to the Women Soldiers and Nurses during the Vietnam War.

People looking at the Vietnam War Memorial Wall...so many names.

Another monument. The bushes hadn't been cut back and we couldn't find a marker to tell us what it represents.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial...just about lunch time.

Mommy and Sissi standing at the feet of President Lincoln.

Walking along the Korean War Memorial and looking at the many faces represented there.

The Korean War Memorial.

The Wall at the Korean War Memorial.

Sissi, resting at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

My Gwangi, a bit sweaty and his glasses fogging up.

At the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial.

One of the parts of the FDR Memorial. The quotations and statues depicting the Depression were very moving.

By FDR and his dog, Fala.

Interesting story...American troops in Europe would ask each other what was the name of the President's dog in order to determine if a German soldier was attempting to infiltrate the ranks.

Walking around the Tidal Basin to see the Jefferson Memorial.

We were followed by many a duck on our trip around the pond.

Coming up to the Jefferson Memorial.

Inside of the President Jefferson Memorial.