Visiting a place like New York City with a crew of kids is a rather daunting proposition, but we had two things going for us. First, we were visiting on a Sunday, when the city is relatively quiet. Second, our friend Gordon had given us some good planning advice and was there to meet us and show us around. In addition, we benefitted from a marked cool-down from the heat wave that just went through the East when we were at Gettysburg. We even had a few drops of rain early in the morning.

We started off on the Staten Island Ferry. Not only is this a free way to get to Manhattan, parking at the ferry lot is free on Sundays. The ferry gave us a great view of the Statue of Liberty, thus eliminating the need for us to pay for the costly (time and money) ferry to Liberty Island.

Gordon was a great help in taking us to places I never would have thought to visit. That included the statue of George Washington in front of Federal Hall, the place of his inauguration.

Location of George Washington’s Inauguration

Tomb of Alexander Hamilton. Luke holds a $10 bill.

We also visited Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel, both historic institutions in the city. We were not able to approach very close to Ground Zero, and I believe we missed by about a month the new visitor’s center to be dedicated on the tenth anniversary of the attack.

Interior of Trinity Church, apparently haunted by a church mouse.

Katie hugs a bronze businessman.

If I had an extra day in the city, I would have enjoyed touring the antiquities collection at the Metropolitan Museum. Instead I settled for seeing the so-called “Cleopatra’s Needle,” an Egyptian obelisk inscribed by two of the greatest of the Egyptian pharaohs, Thutmose III and Ramses II.

“Cleopatra’s Needle” in Central Park

Prior to a little research before our trip, I had no idea that Central Park was the size of a city itself and that the value of the property, should it be sold, is about $528 billion. We walked through a small portion of it and I was impressed by the general cleanliness and apparent safety. (News reports had led me to believe that the park was primarily utilized by joggers and muggers.)

Overview of part of Central Park from Belvedere Castle. Our two friends and guides flank Mark and Bethany.

Our last stop was in Times Square. There was some concern that this might be an unpleasant day since this was the very first day that homosexual “marriage” was allowed in New York, but we saw nothing disturbing related to that event.

The family in Times Square.

If the boys were writing this, they ‘d make sure to mention each time we rode the subway between sites. It served as good transportation for us, but I can’t imagine getting to work each day that way.

We ‘ve been out 8 days now and I think we could all go home happy. We ‘re certainly excited about what is to come, but we ‘ve had what feels like a pretty full trip already. But we ‘re pressing on.

We spent today in Philadelphia. Actually it was just the afternoon, as it took most of the morning driving, including some time in traffic and lunch in Delaware. (We didn’t want to miss that otherwise out-of-the-way state.)

This was also the first day we ‘ve split up, and we have no plans to do so again. I wanted to visit the Archaeology Museum at the University of Pennsylvania, but the kids need to see Independence Hall and Liberty Bell. Kelli and I had visited these sites on a cross-country road trip we took not long after we were married. Thus Kelli dropped me off at the museum and she and Becky took the kids on the tour of the sites. They took some photos but they ‘re not ready for posting, so all you get to see today is boring archaeology. I ‘ll be brief.

Musician figurine from Beth Shean, time of Israelites

The first thing to note is that this was one of the hottest days of the year in Philadelphia and the air-conditioning in the museum was only turned on in a few rooms. When I paid the entrance fee, the worker tried to explain to me which rooms were cool. But I was hardly going to be deterred from seeing what I care about by virtue of some 30 degrees.

Philistine strainer jug, time of the judges

The advantage of the Israel room not having air-conditioning was that I didn’t have to share. An occasional visitor would pass by, looking for the next cool corridor.

Bronze dagger from Beth Shemesh, approximately time of Samson

I was very impressed with the collection here. I should have known, given what I’ve taught over the years, but I don’t know if I ever put it together that it was this institution that sponsored the Beth Shean excavations in the 1920s, the Beth Shemesh excavations in the 1920s, and the Gibeon excavations in the 1960s. James B. Pritchard was a driving force in the middle of the 20th century.

Ceramic box and lid, from Canaanite temple at Beth Shean. I excavated in between this temple and a really cute girl on my first archaeological dig. (I don’t know that I’ve ever blogged about that.)

A LMLK seal impression, from a jar from the time of King Hezekiah. This one is for my friend George who wrote a whole book about these seal impressions.

Triumphal stela of Ramses II from Beth Shean.

I hope you ‘re not too disappointed by not seeing another picture of kids standing in front of something tall. I’m sure we ‘ll have more of those tomorrow when we visit New York City!

Our friend Becky lives near the famous battlefield of Gettysburg, and so while staying with her, we ventured over to see the site. Here Mark is standing on top of Little Round Top.

We were prepared in part for our time at Gettysburg by some advance reading and watching the movie Gettysburg. We purchased a CD which gave us a tour in our car around the area. We also went on a ranger-guided tour of Devil’s Den.

In the cemetery there is a monument to Abraham Lincoln. He gave his famous address here about four months after the battle.

Mark is particularly interested in this speech because it was given on his birthday (some 140+ years in advance).

A special treat (and surprise, for our kids) at the end of the day was a reunion with the Schlegel kids and mom. We just happened to be about 1.5 hours drive from each other and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, though both of our families had had long days.

I wonder how many IBEXers can identify these growing children.

After some long, tiring days sightseeing, it was sure good to relax for a day on the farm of our friend Becky. The kids had a variety of experiences but my camera only captured the time out on the bean pickers.

Becky’s father used to pick beans by hand. Today machines are much quicker, easier, and efficient.

The boys rode in one bean picker, run by Becky’s brother. If you look close, you can see the beans shooting into the tank.

The girls rode with Becky’s nephew, though from the looks of it, Bethany may have taught him more than he taught her.

The most impressive part of the operation was dumping the beans into the tractor. It’s quite a maneuvering job to keep them from landing back in the fields.

If you don’t like photos of kids standing in front of monuments, you had better skip this post. (You could read Isaiah 40 instead to make good use of the time…”Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket…”)

Our adventure for the day started off in a parking lot, circling around and around and around. We had chosen a hotel beyond the end of one of the subway/train lines with the thought that we would save some money. I failed, however, to reckon with all the locals who arrived earlier than we did.

When we made it on the train, the kids were delighted. I am not sure if any of them have ridden a train that they can remember. It deposited us near the Capitol building, and after we secured passes to the House and Senate galleries, we left Mom and Baby outside holding everything they wouldn’t allow us to enter with. (Frankly, it’s easier to describe what they do allow in the building: clothes and wigs.)

We didn’t have time for any of the tours, but we did see lots of famous people in the House and Senate and everyone was impressed with the grandeur of the building. An underground tunnel led to the Library of Congress where we saw a couple of old Bibles, including a Gutenberg.

We were walking from the Capitol building to the White House when our famous selves were recognized by one of the best Bible professors in the world and by one of the best wives of a Bible professor. We later met up with seven of their eight children, three of whom we knew from semesters at IBEX. This surprise was fun and encouraging. Their family has become very dear to us over the years; recounting how that has been so would be a happy occasion sometime.

With what was left of the afternoon we paid quick visits to the exteriors of Ford’s Theater, the White House, and the Washington Monument.

We walked down the National Mall to the World War II Veterans Memorial (built only in about 2000) and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Our trek to find a sub for the return to the hotel led us through the campus of George Washington University and past the State Department building (huge; I really struggled when thinking about who is the boss of everyone in that building).

We had a great day and made many memories. The part of the city that we saw was clean, peaceful, and safe. You can review the photos above if you want to learn more about Jonathan’s nap schedule.

Bonus spelling tip: never spell the word “capital" with an o unless you ‘re writing about a building.

This place is unlike Jamestown, Yorktown, Boston, Philadelphia, and other colonial sites because in the middle of the modern city, they have restored the original town to its historic state. Many of the “guides” at the various buildings in the village are dressed and act as a character would in the 1770s.

The boys wanted to go to the magazine and see where all the weapons were stored. Later in the day we were able to see some of the muskets fired.

We have been having some difficulties with the girls on this trip and after the last episode, I had had enough. Into the stocks they go!

We saw several performances, including one where a suitor proposed.

It was a day in the stroller for the little guy.

After the Declaration of Independence was read from the statehouse, they fired off the muskets.

The kids played a game which challenged them to go to various sites in the village and do certain tasks. In the garden they were put to work.

The church building continues to have services and is not part of the paid admission. Here Mark sits in the pew where George Washington sat when he came to Williamsburg.

By the end of the day we were quite tired, though some lemonade helped to perk the kids up. We could easily spend another day here, but our hotel for the night is near Washington, DC, which means we have a three-hour drive yet before we can rest!

After an enjoyable morning drive through the Virginia countryside, we enjoyed two sites in close proximity but significant in very different times.

My plan on the map was to drive a more northern route to Jamestown, but the GPS suggested the southern route and the ferry crossing. The ferry was certainly better because it gave us a view of the area of Jamestown similar to what the first English settlers in America would have had. Unfortunately, not everyone could see over the railing.

A historian played the part of John Rolfe to explain what life was like for the earliest settlers. Luke was asked to play a part.

Mark likes guns and big guns. This one seems pointed in the wrong direction.

A statue of Pocahontas served as a good photo op. Since our schedule did not take account of everyone’s nap times, some had to take them during the tour.

In the foreground is a model of the original Jamestown fort. Behind the kids are on-going excavations of the same fort.

The Visitor’s Center and the marked auto trail at Yorktown made it easy for us to understand just how George Washington laid siege successfully to the British general Cornwallis.

Our family vacation this summer is to the East Coast, with specific emphasis upon sites important in American history. We will visit places related to America’s settlement, the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War. We also plan to see friends along the way. I am going to see what I can do in chronicling our travels day by day. I ‘ll probably let photos do most of the talking.

Yesterday was a long hard drive from Dallas to Knoxville. Kelli thought this was just a logical place to drive for the first day, but my plan was that it would set us up for a beautiful morning hike to the place where we were engaged in the Smoky Mountains. I tried to keep the hike a surprise but was never really sure that Kelli hadn’t figured it out. But it was only when we drove into the parking area for Rainbow Falls that she realized that the first stop of our vacation was a place unknown in American history but very important in our own.

The Smoky Mountains are a National Park for a good reason. Their beauty attracts travelers from all over the country. The trail to Rainbow Falls is popular because it leads to the highest single-drop waterfall in these mountains.

We, however, had no interest in the waterfall, since on a late afternoon in December 1991 we halted on a bridge and I asked Kelli a most important question.

The first time, we were all alone and there was no one to record the moment. This time one of our children took a picture of our reenactment.

And here is our tribe, standing together on that bridge where Kelli said “yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.”

Tomorrow is our 19th wedding anniversary.