Snow!

  We stopped off in Philadelphia on our way to Allentown, PA to spend Thanksgiving with Duncan's brother Martin and family.  We spent a day riding our bikes around Valley Forge National Historic Park.  This is where George Washington and the continental army spent the winter of 1777-78.  There isn't much left of the encampment.  It was interesting to think that the area is only about 20 miles from Philadelphia, which was under British control.

Redoubts at Valley Forge

Enlisted quarters (replicas)

Riding through Valley Forge

George Washington's Headquarters

  We also spent a day walking around Philadelphia where we saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.  

The Assembly Room - The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were both debated and signed here.

Independence Hall

The liberty Bell

Benjamin Franklin's grave

  We are now in Allentown and there is sloppy, wet snow falling.  I am not impressed!  We will start heading for Florida after this.

Our house in the snow.

Wet snow in Allentown

Monuments and Museums

  We have been hanging out in the  D.C. area for the past few days.  We began with a bicycle tour of the Monuments.  Riding our bikes was a great way to get around and we were able to see all the monuments, the White House, and the Capitol.

Sydney in front of the White House

Another view of the White House

Vietnam Veterans Memorial - The Three Soldiers

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

View from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Sydney with her finger on the Washington Monument

Sydney holding the Washington Monument

The US Capitol

A closer view of the Washington Monument

  Next, we visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor.  This is the location of the Battle of Baltimore, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner".   After watching the battle from a U.S. truce ship in the harbor, Key began the poem which became the National Anthem in 1931.

Flagpole

Ravelin

Cannons

 

The Flag as it looked in 1814

  We also visited the National Archives, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, US Holocaust Museum, Ford's Theater,  the Air and Space Museum, and Legal Sea Foods restaurant.

Sydney's height in $100 bills.

The Wright Flier

A Hubble Telescope backup mirror

The room Lincoln died in

Sydney's Birthday lunch.

Chesapeake Bay Area

  We spent a few days on Cape Henry, near Virginia beach. Cape Henry is significant to the growth of our nation for a few reasons.  It is here that the settlers of Jamestown first landed, before moving inland to establish Jamestown.  Jamestown, of course is the first successful English colony (like 13 years before the Pilgrims reached Plymouth.  Cape Henry was also instrumental in the ending of the Revolutionary War.  It was here that the our French Allies defeated the British navy, which kept reinforcements from reaching Cornwallis in Yorktown.  George Washington's men were then able to defeat the British in Yorktown, which lead to the end of the American Revolution.
  We also visited Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, the Virginia Living Museum, and the Virginia Air and Space Museum.

Original jail cells

Oxen delivering a cart of wood.

Cape Henry Landing Memorial

Cape Henry Landing Memorial

This was the location of the blacksmith.

Excavation of a kitchen and well.

Location of barracks.

Location of the back of the fort.

What Fort James probably looked like.

First set of trenches dug by Washington's men.

Second line of trenches.

Redoubt built by Cornwallis's men.

The Moore House where the surrender agreement was made.

Looking out from Cape Henry.

Battle of the Capes Memorial

Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse Memorial 

Cape Henry Lighthouse, the first U.S. lighthouse.

View from the top of the lighthouse.

Assateague Island

  Today's post is for all of the fans of Marguerite Henry's book Misty of Chincoteague. I still have my book and my Breyer model of Misty.  A couple of days ago we traveled to Assateague Island to see the wild horses.     If you don't know the book, or have forgotten, the wild horses are descendants of domesticated horses that were brought to Assateague Island over 300 years ago.  There are two theories as to how they got there.  Either they were survivors of a shipwreck off the Virginia coast, or they were put there to graze tax-free by settlers during the 17th century.
  The horses were made popular by the book Misty of Chincoteage written by Marguerite Henry in 1947.   The horses have adapted to the nutrient poor saltmarsh grasses that the live on, but are now smaller in stature because of it.  There are actually two herds, one on the Virginia side and one on the Maryland side.  The Virginia herd is owned and managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department.  They have a grazing permit which allows for 150 adult horses to be on the island.  Each year they have a "Pony Penning" and swim the herd from Assateague to Chincoteague where the foals are collected and auctioned off.  This keeps the numbers under control and is the basis of Henry's book.  The Maryland herd is owned and managed by the National Park Service.  Their numbers are kept in check due to a vaccine to prevent pregnancy.

Ponies on the marsh.

Heading out to the marsh.

The stallion of this group.

His mares.

We rode our bikes so we could get real close.

More ponies on the marsh.

Another Assateague resident.

A Blue Heron.

"Pony Penning" pens.

Some information

Miss Molly's Inn where Marguerite Henry stayed while writing her book.