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Saturday, April 3, 2010

Days 1 and 2 - Baltimore, Maryland

DAY 1 - Friday, March 26

We've been anticipating our trip to visit Dani and Kelly for some time; finally it arrived! We flew out on March 26, 2010, Rob's birthday. How fitting we would fly right over Cincinnati, Ohio exactly 53 years to the day he was born there.
Dani and Kelly met us at the car rental near the airport and we followed them to Dani's high school - -Baltimore Liberation Diploma Plus High School (what a mouthful!). We were able to see where Dani teaches US History, World History and Geography to her students.
Dani's School and Dani standing in front of her classroom door on Day #1
We then followed them to see some other sites including Johns Hopkins University where Dani attends her graduate courses, Camden Yards, Inner Harbor and Towson (where Dani and Kelly live). We got a nice tour of beautiful homes, lovely country lanes and some inner-city housing projects where some of Dani's students live before we checked into our hotel. Later we went out for Indian food at one of Dani's and Kelly's favorite restaurants, then walked around the Towson Mall across the street from the Sheraton and made our plans for our next day tour of Washington D.C.

DAY 2, Saturday March 27

We arrived early at the Ahern residence to pick them up and head down the freeway to D.C. It was a bright and sunny day, but cool and breezy. We were thrilled to see how many trees and bushes were in bloom as we headed out. It gave us great hope that the cherry trees of Washinton would be in full bloom too. We were not disappointed when we arrived to see that the Cherry Tree Blossom and the Kite Flying Festivals were both in progress. The sky was alive with bright colored kites of every size and design while nearly every tree was spectacularly loaded with beautiful blossoms; I don't think we could have picked a prettier day to spend in our nation's capitol.

shots of different sights we saw on day #2.
We nearly walked our feet off our legs today as we circled the Mall making stops at several of our planned Smithsonian Museums along with the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Monument, the National Arboretum, The Capitol Building, The Vietnam War Memorial and the White House (not necessarily in that order). What an honor to spend a beautiful day feeling inspired, reverent, taught, patriotic and blessed all at the same time!
The National Arboretum was celebrating the blooming of the orchids, they came in every conceivable shape, size and color. This is a small sampling.

The Lincoln Memorial was crowded, but inspiring

A respectful crowd walked past the Vietnam Memorial Wall
We snacked on nuts, fruit and candy on our way back to Baltimore where we made our way to another favorite Ahern eatery--a South American place where we enjoyed delicious empinadas. We laughed and joked and thoroughly enjoyed each others company. What a wonderful day!

1 comment:

Tina said...

Looks like you hit all the great spots in DC! And yes, what a great time to come during the height of the cherry blossoms! I too feel that DC is a reverent, spiritual experience. The majesty of the monuments, the hushed quiet (even with the crowds) is awe inspiring. I can never get enough of it!

Your daughter looks a lot like you. Daughter's are so much fun!!!