2015 Year In Review

   In January, we took an extremely impromptu trip to Atlanta. Drove through downtown, visited Stone Mountain and historic Oakland Cemetery.

   In March, we went with Mom to visit family in North Carolina. Visited Wilmington, the Outer Banks-Kitty Hawk and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and eventually to Mt Airy, the real life Mayberry RFD.

   On May 10, Mother's Day, we took a little day trip down to Lynchburg, Tennessee. Didn't see the distillery, but stopped for photos in small towns along the way.

   On May 27 we left on one of our biggest trips as a family. We spent a week on a lightning tour of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and all over New England.

   Finally in October, we went to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. It was rainy, but we were visiting Mom so it didn't really matter.

Liberty Tour Wrap Up

   I called our quick trip this past May the "Liberty Tour" because we essentially started with the Statue of Liberty and ended at the Liberty Bell and included Boston, where our country was born. It was a quick trip, took a total of 5 days-though 2 of those was simply getting to and from Tennessee. The main point of the trip was really to visit those states marked in red above. It has always been a dream of mine to visit all 50 states. Missing all of New England was an area easily covered in a short time. Getting in those last 10, in the Pacific Northwest, is going to be a bit more difficult.

Liberty Tour Day 3: Lost in Boston and Seeing Salem

   Bumper to bumper traffic at 6am going in to Boston, of course. Remember, I don't need no stinkin' gps, I got maps and instinct! Take Storrow Drive, sure, that sounds right. Charles River, ooh pretty! There's an exit for Fenway, take that! Oh, not Fenway Park...where are we? Wrong way, take a right at the next street, then another right, then a left, just a few more streets. I think. Yes! There she is, what a beauty!

Liberty Tour Day 2: New York to Boston

    Finally being "in" New York after having stared at it all day was a little unusual. Just seeing the magnificent skyline felt like being immersed in it. I can't remember a time when I have spent so much time staring at another state without actually being in it. New Jersey and New York made states visited #33 and #34 for me, and that number would jump to 40 before the trip was over. I'm hoping to make 50 before I hit that age, but I'm starting to think Alaska will never happen.

   On to the trip!

Our Liberty Tour, Summer of 2015

Today I will start with an overview of the trip we took. Each day this week I will discuss more about each individual place we stopped. We called this the "Liberty Tour" because one of our first stops was the Statue of Liberty, and one of the last was the Liberty Bell. We also stopped at Revolutionary War sites along the way. Took in lots of history. This made me very happy!