On Saturday Melinda, Mom, and I went to see the Nutcracker at the Center for the Arts (CFTA). Melinda and I haven't been there in FOREVER! My Uncle John used to take us to plays there all the time when we were little. He would also take us to dinner at Ponderosa before the show then we would run around the exhibits at the CFTA until it was time for the show to start. One of the highlights of going to the CFTA was the video explaining the pendulum because it had our Grandfather in it. Since he died when we were really little, it was fun to watch the video and be able to see him.
So on Saturday before the Nutcracker we had dinner at Ponderosa. It isn't the best restaurant in town, but it is sort of tradition. It was a nice meal. Then we headed to the theater. We wanted to get there early to get a decent parking spot. We ended up with a pretty good spot. We were disappointed though when we went inside that they didn't have the video for the pendulum turned on. Bummer. We had to wait about twenty minutes before we were let into the theater.
It was just as I remembered it. Ugly! The seats are a bright greenish. The carpet is an orangy red. The doors and curtains are a dark red. The ceiling is really crazy and I can't even think of how to describe it. All together its very tacky and ugly. They really need to update it.
Our seats were in row W, which was further back than I would have liked, but they were nearly dead center. It was a packed house. We had a great view of the entire stage, which is what I wanted. While we were waiting for the show to start Melinda thought she saw her best friend about 6 rows ahead of us and sure enough it was her. There were too many people to go down to say "hi."
The show was amazing. The dancers were terrific. The costumes were gorgeous. The set was really pretty too. There were lots of effects with smoke, fog, etc. I think my favorite part was the Snow Queen with the Snowflakes and Wind. Just gorgeous! The orchestra was amazing as well. I was just in awe the entire show. It was beautiful. Though Melinda and I did notice one small mistake by the Nutcracker, but he covered it up quite nicely. It went really quick. I didn't want it to end. It was fabulous!
After the show we caught up with Melinda's friend and chatted with her for a few minutes. But it was late and we wanted to get home so we could go to bed to get up early for church the next morning.
Overall it was a wonderful evening. I feel so blessed to live in an area that supports the arts and can bring put on such amazing shows.
Now I must go to bed so I can get up early for work since there will be tons of snow on the ground. Oh what fun! NOT!!!!
Later,
Melissa
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Long December and Disney trip update!
This month is going to be CRAZY! And it is going to be so much fun! :)
This Saturday Melinda, Mom, and I are going to see "The Nutcracker" at the Center for the Arts. So super excited about that! I haven't seen "The Nutcracker" in YEARS!
Then the next Saturday Melinda and I are going to Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village. We've never gone before, but it looks really fun. I'm hoping there will be a SMALL amount of snow to make it pretty. The event doesn't start until 6:30 pm so I think we might go to the Village during the day or maybe the Henry Ford Museum. We're going to stay down there and come back sometime on Sunday. Might go see Pat, not really sure.
The weekend after that is the Christmas candlelight walk at Dow Gardens. It was such a fun event last year. I'm looking forward to it again this year.
Then on Christmas Eve we're hoping to make it to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church, but it's at 11:00 PM, which is late and if the weather is yucky we might not go. Then its Christmas! Though this year is going to be sad. :( I already know what two of my presents are! LOL
Not sure what we're doing for New Year's yet. Probably just a quiet celebration of movies and board games at home.
For my birthday in April we had to change our plans a bit. We decided to just do a week at Disney instead of doing a Cruise and Disney. We already made are ADRs. Right now our plans are:
Day 1: Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney
Day 2: Lunch at Tony's Town Square. Since Melinda didn't get to eat there on our last trip.
Day 3: My Birthday! :) Breakfast at the Crystal Palace then dinner at Chef Mickey's. In the past we've done them the other way around, but I'm excited to try the breakfast at Crystal Palace.
Day 4: Breakfast at Akershus then dinner at Nine Dragons. These are two restaurants I'm really excited about going back to!
Day 5: Lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe
Day 6: Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
Day 7: Lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater. I've never been there before, but Melinda ate there in 2005 when she went with Lib. I'm looking forward to trying it.
We're planning right now to stay at Pop Century again, though if a good deal comes out, that might change.
So that's all for right now! Like I said, it's going to be a busy month! :) I'm really looking forward to 2010!
Later!
Melissa
This Saturday Melinda, Mom, and I are going to see "The Nutcracker" at the Center for the Arts. So super excited about that! I haven't seen "The Nutcracker" in YEARS!
Then the next Saturday Melinda and I are going to Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village. We've never gone before, but it looks really fun. I'm hoping there will be a SMALL amount of snow to make it pretty. The event doesn't start until 6:30 pm so I think we might go to the Village during the day or maybe the Henry Ford Museum. We're going to stay down there and come back sometime on Sunday. Might go see Pat, not really sure.
The weekend after that is the Christmas candlelight walk at Dow Gardens. It was such a fun event last year. I'm looking forward to it again this year.
Then on Christmas Eve we're hoping to make it to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church, but it's at 11:00 PM, which is late and if the weather is yucky we might not go. Then its Christmas! Though this year is going to be sad. :( I already know what two of my presents are! LOL
Not sure what we're doing for New Year's yet. Probably just a quiet celebration of movies and board games at home.
For my birthday in April we had to change our plans a bit. We decided to just do a week at Disney instead of doing a Cruise and Disney. We already made are ADRs. Right now our plans are:
Day 1: Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney
Day 2: Lunch at Tony's Town Square. Since Melinda didn't get to eat there on our last trip.
Day 3: My Birthday! :) Breakfast at the Crystal Palace then dinner at Chef Mickey's. In the past we've done them the other way around, but I'm excited to try the breakfast at Crystal Palace.
Day 4: Breakfast at Akershus then dinner at Nine Dragons. These are two restaurants I'm really excited about going back to!
Day 5: Lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe
Day 6: Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
Day 7: Lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater. I've never been there before, but Melinda ate there in 2005 when she went with Lib. I'm looking forward to trying it.
We're planning right now to stay at Pop Century again, though if a good deal comes out, that might change.
So that's all for right now! Like I said, it's going to be a busy month! :) I'm really looking forward to 2010!
Later!
Melissa
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Black Friday Sale at SM!
Score some *AMAZING* deals this weekend at ScrapMatters!!! And the template pack free with purchase is incredible!
So be sure to stocked up this weekend during the Black Friday sale!!! :)
So be sure to stocked up this weekend during the Black Friday sale!!! :)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Battlefield Trip Report - Day 6
Day 6 - September 17
We started our day with breakfast at the hotel. They had a lot of options including the option to make your own blueberry waffles. I opted for a bagel and cream cheese with some melon. We were very pleased with the selection of foods. We ate at the breakfast area by the pool, which was nice.
All week the forecast was saying that it was going to rain on Thursday and I kept praying that the weather forecasters were wrong, but when we walked out the doors to the car it was overcast with a tiny drizzle. NO! The one day I wanted it to be sunny and beautiful, it was cold, gray, and dreary. Melinda and I were quite proud of the fact that we didn't need directions to get to the battlefield that we remembered from the last time.
There were a lot more people there than I was expecting. There really wasn't a lot of activities planned for the anniversary. There was a ranger walk through the cornfield, which it seemed most people had come for. Our plans were to tour the battlefield on our own. Though the large groups of people made it difficult to photograph a few of the monuments. Though we started in the gift shop. I got a Union kepi, which I've been wanting for a while. I have a Confederate one, but I wanted a Union one, and got a Cavalry insignia pin for it. YAY! Melinda bought an Abe Lincoln hat.
Instead of staying to watch the movie and go through the small museum of artifacts we headed out to start the tour. It is easiest to walk to the Dunker Church and Maryland State Monument from the visitor center. We were able to get some photos before a group of other people showed up. Luckily by this point it had stopped misting. Though it was still cool and overcast. The battlefield takes on an even eerie sort of feel under the gray, overcast sky.
After we had gotten the photos we wanted of the Dunker Church and Maryland Monument we headed back to the car to begin the driving tour. YAY!
Maryland State Monument
Dunker Church
Normally when we tour a battlefield we put on a CD of Civil War music, which is mostly songs from movies like "Gettysburg" and "Glory." When we stopped at the one intersection near a group of monuments to take a photo of them the Ranger guided group was there and one of the Rangers yelled at Melinda that the music was too loud. It wasn't even loud. That upset Melinda and ranted it about it for the next ten minutes. While she was ranting she misread the map and directed us down the Cornfield road which are tour stops 3 and 4. This was ok. I was really excited to see the corn in the cornfield as it would have looked the day of the battle. Our previous trips had been during the summer when the corn wasn't very high so it was hard to really to picture what it would have been like on the day of the battle. Now I could see what it would have been like. It was amazing. You couldn't see anything in front. In the summer you could see the New York State Monument near the Visitor center and Dunker church, but the view was totally obstructed by the corn. When the battle was over there wasn't a single stalk of corn that remained standing.
We continued on the tour towards the next stop, the West Woods. When we stopped to get some photos of the Philadelphia brigade monument it started to rain again. According to the maps we had there were supposed to be several smaller monuments nearby, but we were only able to find one. Since it was starting to rain a bit harder, we decided to go back to the car.
Next stop on the tour was the Mumma Farm and Cemetery. The only deliberate destruction of property during the battle was the burning of the Mumma Farm by Confederate soldiers. They were ordered to burn the properties so that they couldn't be used by Union sharpshooters. The farm was rebuilt in 1863. We didn't spend much time here, but instead continued on towards what is probably my favorite part of the battlefield, the Sunken Road.
The Sunken Road or "Bloody Lane" was an old farm road. There are parts of the road that are deeper than others. The Confederates had taken position along this road until about noon when they fell back to the Piper farm. Melinda dropped me off at the end of the Sunken Road then went to the parking area. I walked back to photograph two monuments. Walking back to towards the road I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be the Union soldiers approaching the road. There are parts walking towards the road where the entire Union disappeared from the Confederate's view, reappearing when they were dangerously close. There was very few other people at the Sunken Road and it was eerily quiet. Melinda joined me and collected some dirt. It was kind of funny while Melinda was taking a picture of the front of the Ohio monument. I was taking some other photos and all of a sudden I heard her say, "I broke it." I looked over and saw that she had knocked the top rail off the fence. It wasn't broken, but it just kind of funny. After that we headed to the Observation Tower at the end of the Sunken Road.
The Sunken Road
I've tried to go up the Observation Tower on our previous trips, but I always chicken out about half way up. I didn't even try this time. Melinda instead hiked up to the top to get photos of the battlefield while I took photos of the Irish Brigade monument and of the observation tower from the ground. It seemed that she was up at the top for a really long time. I was worried that she would slip on the stairs since the grass was wet from the rain, but she made it down without a problem. After that she wanted to rest a bit in the car before continuing on.
The Observation Tower and Irish Brigade Monument
The next stop on the tour is Burnside Bridge and the Georgian's Overlook. In the past we usually go to Burnside Bridge, but this time we decided to split up since Melinda was curious about what the Georgian Overlook was. It was decided that I would go to Burnside Bridge and she would go to the Georgian Overlook. We made sure that we each had our cell phone and a bottle of water before we split up. When I first went down to Burnside Bridge there was just a few other people, but they eventually left. I stood by the side the bridge watching the Antietam Creek flow past as I waited for Melinda. It seemed to be taking a really long time and I did get a bit worried. I tried her cell phone, but even though she had taken it with her, she didn't turn it on. So I waited and tried not to worry. Eventually I seen her walking down the steep sidewalk leading to the bridge at the same time that a large tour group was arriving. We took some photos from the Union side and tried to stay out of the way of the tour group. We deciced to go back to the car to finish the tour since we were starting to get hungry. Melinda waited in the car while I went to photograph the William McKinley monument.
Burnside Bridge
William McKinley monument
The final attack tour stop was next. This was where after Burnside's troops after having taken the bridge meet Confederate General A.P. Hill's troops he had just arrived from Harper's Ferry. The Confederates then drove Burnside back to Antietam Creek. We photographed the monuments we could and continued on our way.
The last stop of the tour is Antietam National Cemetery. The cemetery was created after the battle. There are a total of 4,776 Union soldiers buried here along dead from four other wars. At the center of Antietam National Cemetery is my favorite monument, "Old Simon." The cemetery is arranged with Old Simon at the middle and the graves around it in a semi-circle and grouped by state. It is a peaceful and sad place. It's so sad to see the number of unknown dead. There seemed to be a large tour group forming so we didn't want to stay too long. By now we were really hungry.
Antietam National Cemetery
"Old Simon"
One of the unknown Michigan dead
Before going back to Hagerstown for lunch though we wanted to go back to the visitor center to purchase another Lincoln hat and to see if I could get some photos of the NY State monument since there had been a large group there earlier in the day. I went to go take pictures while Melinda went to purchase another Lincoln hat.
New York State Monument
Since we had missed tour stop #2 earlier in the day we decided to go back and complete that portion of the tour. This was where the Union army had begun their attack on September 17, 1862. This is also where the Clara Barton monument is located. We noticed that they were doing some construction at the Poffenberger farm. We then went down Mansfield Ave back towards the Cornfield. When we got to the Cornfield I wanted to get a few photos of us standing next to the corn to show how tall it was. The photos are pretty incredible because Melinda and I are both about 5'8" and the corn towered over us. I can't imagine charging through that while being fired upon by the enemy. Even more incredible was the fact that not a single stalk of corn remained at the end of the battle.
"The Cornfield"
By this time we were really hungry and we decided to head back towards Hagerstown for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. Every time we've come to Antietam we always finish our tour of the battlefield with lunch at the Cracker Barrel. The funny thing was that we saw quite a few other people from the battlefield there as well. Lunch was really good. I had turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots, and mac and cheese. I really didn't care for the mashed potatoes though. Melinda had chicken and dumplings which is her favorite item at the Cracker Barrel. She was a happy camper.
After lunch we decided to go explore the local outlet mall. There wasn't anything too great. Though we did buy a few items. It wasn't really any different then the outlet mall back home.
We were quite tired and cold and decided to go back to the hotel. We spend the rest of the afternoon in the room just relaxing. I downloaded the photos and even scrapped a page while Melinda watched DVDs on the other laptop.
We were enjoying just relaxing the room so much that we didn't even want to go out for dinner. We opted to order a pizza from Dominos and have them deliver it. It was OK. It was just nice not having to go out. It felt nice to spend the afternoon and evening relaxing. I think its important during any trip to have some time to just relax.
The next day we were going to head back up to Gettysburg.
We started our day with breakfast at the hotel. They had a lot of options including the option to make your own blueberry waffles. I opted for a bagel and cream cheese with some melon. We were very pleased with the selection of foods. We ate at the breakfast area by the pool, which was nice.
All week the forecast was saying that it was going to rain on Thursday and I kept praying that the weather forecasters were wrong, but when we walked out the doors to the car it was overcast with a tiny drizzle. NO! The one day I wanted it to be sunny and beautiful, it was cold, gray, and dreary. Melinda and I were quite proud of the fact that we didn't need directions to get to the battlefield that we remembered from the last time.
There were a lot more people there than I was expecting. There really wasn't a lot of activities planned for the anniversary. There was a ranger walk through the cornfield, which it seemed most people had come for. Our plans were to tour the battlefield on our own. Though the large groups of people made it difficult to photograph a few of the monuments. Though we started in the gift shop. I got a Union kepi, which I've been wanting for a while. I have a Confederate one, but I wanted a Union one, and got a Cavalry insignia pin for it. YAY! Melinda bought an Abe Lincoln hat.
Instead of staying to watch the movie and go through the small museum of artifacts we headed out to start the tour. It is easiest to walk to the Dunker Church and Maryland State Monument from the visitor center. We were able to get some photos before a group of other people showed up. Luckily by this point it had stopped misting. Though it was still cool and overcast. The battlefield takes on an even eerie sort of feel under the gray, overcast sky.
After we had gotten the photos we wanted of the Dunker Church and Maryland Monument we headed back to the car to begin the driving tour. YAY!
Maryland State Monument
Dunker Church
Normally when we tour a battlefield we put on a CD of Civil War music, which is mostly songs from movies like "Gettysburg" and "Glory." When we stopped at the one intersection near a group of monuments to take a photo of them the Ranger guided group was there and one of the Rangers yelled at Melinda that the music was too loud. It wasn't even loud. That upset Melinda and ranted it about it for the next ten minutes. While she was ranting she misread the map and directed us down the Cornfield road which are tour stops 3 and 4. This was ok. I was really excited to see the corn in the cornfield as it would have looked the day of the battle. Our previous trips had been during the summer when the corn wasn't very high so it was hard to really to picture what it would have been like on the day of the battle. Now I could see what it would have been like. It was amazing. You couldn't see anything in front. In the summer you could see the New York State Monument near the Visitor center and Dunker church, but the view was totally obstructed by the corn. When the battle was over there wasn't a single stalk of corn that remained standing.
We continued on the tour towards the next stop, the West Woods. When we stopped to get some photos of the Philadelphia brigade monument it started to rain again. According to the maps we had there were supposed to be several smaller monuments nearby, but we were only able to find one. Since it was starting to rain a bit harder, we decided to go back to the car.
Next stop on the tour was the Mumma Farm and Cemetery. The only deliberate destruction of property during the battle was the burning of the Mumma Farm by Confederate soldiers. They were ordered to burn the properties so that they couldn't be used by Union sharpshooters. The farm was rebuilt in 1863. We didn't spend much time here, but instead continued on towards what is probably my favorite part of the battlefield, the Sunken Road.
The Sunken Road or "Bloody Lane" was an old farm road. There are parts of the road that are deeper than others. The Confederates had taken position along this road until about noon when they fell back to the Piper farm. Melinda dropped me off at the end of the Sunken Road then went to the parking area. I walked back to photograph two monuments. Walking back to towards the road I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be the Union soldiers approaching the road. There are parts walking towards the road where the entire Union disappeared from the Confederate's view, reappearing when they were dangerously close. There was very few other people at the Sunken Road and it was eerily quiet. Melinda joined me and collected some dirt. It was kind of funny while Melinda was taking a picture of the front of the Ohio monument. I was taking some other photos and all of a sudden I heard her say, "I broke it." I looked over and saw that she had knocked the top rail off the fence. It wasn't broken, but it just kind of funny. After that we headed to the Observation Tower at the end of the Sunken Road.
The Sunken Road
I've tried to go up the Observation Tower on our previous trips, but I always chicken out about half way up. I didn't even try this time. Melinda instead hiked up to the top to get photos of the battlefield while I took photos of the Irish Brigade monument and of the observation tower from the ground. It seemed that she was up at the top for a really long time. I was worried that she would slip on the stairs since the grass was wet from the rain, but she made it down without a problem. After that she wanted to rest a bit in the car before continuing on.
The Observation Tower and Irish Brigade Monument
The next stop on the tour is Burnside Bridge and the Georgian's Overlook. In the past we usually go to Burnside Bridge, but this time we decided to split up since Melinda was curious about what the Georgian Overlook was. It was decided that I would go to Burnside Bridge and she would go to the Georgian Overlook. We made sure that we each had our cell phone and a bottle of water before we split up. When I first went down to Burnside Bridge there was just a few other people, but they eventually left. I stood by the side the bridge watching the Antietam Creek flow past as I waited for Melinda. It seemed to be taking a really long time and I did get a bit worried. I tried her cell phone, but even though she had taken it with her, she didn't turn it on. So I waited and tried not to worry. Eventually I seen her walking down the steep sidewalk leading to the bridge at the same time that a large tour group was arriving. We took some photos from the Union side and tried to stay out of the way of the tour group. We deciced to go back to the car to finish the tour since we were starting to get hungry. Melinda waited in the car while I went to photograph the William McKinley monument.
Burnside Bridge
William McKinley monument
The final attack tour stop was next. This was where after Burnside's troops after having taken the bridge meet Confederate General A.P. Hill's troops he had just arrived from Harper's Ferry. The Confederates then drove Burnside back to Antietam Creek. We photographed the monuments we could and continued on our way.
The last stop of the tour is Antietam National Cemetery. The cemetery was created after the battle. There are a total of 4,776 Union soldiers buried here along dead from four other wars. At the center of Antietam National Cemetery is my favorite monument, "Old Simon." The cemetery is arranged with Old Simon at the middle and the graves around it in a semi-circle and grouped by state. It is a peaceful and sad place. It's so sad to see the number of unknown dead. There seemed to be a large tour group forming so we didn't want to stay too long. By now we were really hungry.
Antietam National Cemetery
"Old Simon"
One of the unknown Michigan dead
Before going back to Hagerstown for lunch though we wanted to go back to the visitor center to purchase another Lincoln hat and to see if I could get some photos of the NY State monument since there had been a large group there earlier in the day. I went to go take pictures while Melinda went to purchase another Lincoln hat.
New York State Monument
Since we had missed tour stop #2 earlier in the day we decided to go back and complete that portion of the tour. This was where the Union army had begun their attack on September 17, 1862. This is also where the Clara Barton monument is located. We noticed that they were doing some construction at the Poffenberger farm. We then went down Mansfield Ave back towards the Cornfield. When we got to the Cornfield I wanted to get a few photos of us standing next to the corn to show how tall it was. The photos are pretty incredible because Melinda and I are both about 5'8" and the corn towered over us. I can't imagine charging through that while being fired upon by the enemy. Even more incredible was the fact that not a single stalk of corn remained at the end of the battle.
"The Cornfield"
By this time we were really hungry and we decided to head back towards Hagerstown for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. Every time we've come to Antietam we always finish our tour of the battlefield with lunch at the Cracker Barrel. The funny thing was that we saw quite a few other people from the battlefield there as well. Lunch was really good. I had turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots, and mac and cheese. I really didn't care for the mashed potatoes though. Melinda had chicken and dumplings which is her favorite item at the Cracker Barrel. She was a happy camper.
After lunch we decided to go explore the local outlet mall. There wasn't anything too great. Though we did buy a few items. It wasn't really any different then the outlet mall back home.
We were quite tired and cold and decided to go back to the hotel. We spend the rest of the afternoon in the room just relaxing. I downloaded the photos and even scrapped a page while Melinda watched DVDs on the other laptop.
We were enjoying just relaxing the room so much that we didn't even want to go out for dinner. We opted to order a pizza from Dominos and have them deliver it. It was OK. It was just nice not having to go out. It felt nice to spend the afternoon and evening relaxing. I think its important during any trip to have some time to just relax.
The next day we were going to head back up to Gettysburg.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Speed Scrap Reminder!
Just a reminder that I will be hosting the Speed Scrap tonight (11/13) at 9:30 PM ET at ScrapMatters! See the post down below for more information! It should be super fun! :)
Happy Friday the 13th!!!
Melissa
Happy Friday the 13th!!!
Melissa
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Congrats to Yzerman!!!
On Monday, November 9, 2009 Steve Yzerman along with Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Luc Robitaille were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame! YAY! Congrats Stevie! :) Now Melinda and I can plan a trip back to Toronto! :)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Remember the Fitzgerald
Today is the 34th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitgerald on Lake Superior. All aboard her was lost. Below are the names of the crew who was lost when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank:
Michael E. Armagost
Fred J. Beetcher
Thomas D. Bentsne
Edward F. Bindon
Thomas D. Borgeson
Oliver J. Champeau
Nolan S. Church
Ransom E. Cundy
Thomas E. Edwards
Russell G. Haskell
George J. Holl
Bruce L. Hudson
Allen G. Kalmon
Gordon F. MacLellan
Joseph W. Mazes
John H. McCarthy
Ernest M. McSorley
Eugene W. O'Brien
Karl A. Peckol
John J. Poviach
James A. Pratt
Robert C. Rafferty
Paul M. Rippa
John D. Simmons
William J. Spengler
Mark A. Thomas
Ralpha G. Walton
David E. Weiss
Blaine H. Wilhelm
So on this day that remember the Edmund Fitzgerald the 29 men lost aboard her, we should also remember the other souls that have been lost in nautical disasters on the Great Lakes. Rest in peace.
Melissa
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Friday the 13th Speed Scrap!!!
If you are here for the ScrapMatters Blog Train, scroll down.
I am so excited to be hosting another Speed Scrap at ScrapMatters and this one is going to be a special Friday the 14th Speed Scrap. :)
When: Friday, Nov. 13 - 9:30pm Eastern, 8:30pm Central, 7:30pm Mountain, 6:30pm Pacific
Where: ScrapMatters.com
Check out the fantastic participation prize by Erica Zane
I hope you can all join me!
I am so excited to be hosting another Speed Scrap at ScrapMatters and this one is going to be a special Friday the 14th Speed Scrap. :)
When: Friday, Nov. 13 - 9:30pm Eastern, 8:30pm Central, 7:30pm Mountain, 6:30pm Pacific
Where: ScrapMatters.com
Check out the fantastic participation prize by Erica Zane
I hope you can all join me!
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Welcome aboard the SM blog train!!!
Welcome to Michigan! Thank you for riding the ScrapMatters DSD blog train. I'm so excited to be part of the blog train! You probaly got here from Chelle's blog.
At each stop we are going to share a slice of our lives with you. The slice I'm going to share is taking care of our cats. They are just like children. We have to feed them, play with them, change their litter, etc. With 14 cats to care for it is a lot of work, but it is also really rewarding. They each have their own personalities. The four littlest kittens are super fun. They full of energy and wonder. So playful and mischievous. The older cats are more laid back and independent. They let us know when they want to be played with. They're content to sleep all day and be left alone. They are all super spoiled and know it. Here are our fourteen cats: Draco and Isis (8), Morgana (7), Cassiopeia (3), Sam and Syd (3), Addy, Chunky Monkey, Sadie, and Wednesday (~8 months old), Butterscotch, Hades, Andromeda, and Loki (2 months).
Here is the Quick page I created:
----------> Download has exptired <----------
This download will only be available until Thursday, November 12, 2009 at midnight ET. After that it will be for sale at ScrapMatters.
Your next stop: Sharon(skyezak)'s blog.
If you missed any of the stops you can find the entire list at ScrapMatters. Be sure to join us at ScrapMatters for all the fun! There are a lots of fun games planned, several Speed Scraps. It will be lots of fun!
If you missed any of the stops you can find the entire list at ScrapMatters. Be sure to join us at ScrapMatters for all the fun! There are a lots of fun games planned, several Speed Scraps. It will be lots of fun!
Melissa
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Digital Scrapbook Day Celebration - Nov 6-9 !!!
Next Saturday is Digital Scrapbook Day!!! ScrapMatters is going to celebrate with games, a fabulous sale, blog train, etc. It's going to be lots of fun! And the kit, "A Slice of Life" will be free of a purchase of $15. It is amazing! So come join the fun next weekend!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Battlefield Trip Report - Day 5
Day 5 - September 16
When I got up the next morning my knee and ankle were feeling a bit better, but a bit stiff. After walking around for a while it felt a lot better. And it wasn't bothering me too much to drive.
Since we had been good and been eating breakfast at the hotel, we decided we wanted something a little different for breakfast so we went to McDonald's for some hot cakes! YUM! The food was OK. The other reason we decided on McDonald's was because it was right next to where we wanted to go, the Civil War Wax Museum.
We had gone there previously and had a lot of fun. The best part is at the end when Abraham Lincoln delivers the entire Gettysburg Address without ONCE moving his mouth. Very impressive! There is also a gift shop there so we looked around and found a few items to purchase before going through the museum part with the wax figures. I will say that the museum is priced perfectly. With our AAA discount it was less than $6 for both of us. We've been to other museums that were priced higher for less content. The exhibits are interesting, though the wax figures could use an update. It was nice that there wasn't anyone else there when we were. At the end of the exhibits is a final presentation about the battle of Gettysburg. We had just missed the start and had to wait for the next one, but that was OK. When it was time to go into the room where the presentation is we were the only ones. YAY! This meant we could talk freely and take lots of photos! The presentation has different scenes set up in the large room and there is a narrator who talks about the battle. Then when its time to highlight a scene it is lit up. At the end Lincoln appears from the floor to give the Gettysburg Address. It doesn't take very long and is actually kind of cheesy, but a fun cheesy.
Jennie Wade scene at the Wax Museum
Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg scene at the Wax Museum
After we were done at the Wax museum we decided it was time to go to Hagerstown, MD. On the way to the highway we found the first shot marker. We were able to find a place alongside the road to pull off and Melinda jumped out to take some photos. We didn’t' want to take too many since it is located on private property, but we at least found it! YAY! Another monument crossed off our list of those to find.
First Shot Monument
We then headed for Hagerstown. There wasn't a lot of traffic, which was good. The way the directions took us we had to go through the downtown part of Hagerstown, which was kind of congested and crowded. Eventually we got to an area that looked more familiar to us. For this trip we had decided to try a new hotel. The hotel we stayed at previously had become really rundown. We were thrilled with our hotel! It was so pretty. The staff was really friendly. We had a poolside room on the ground level. The beds were really comfortable and it had lots of storage space. There was even a refrigerator. The room had a sliding glass door that allows access to the pool area. The only thing I was not happy with was that there was no lock on the outside of the sliding glass door and anyone can walk from the lobby to the pool area. That didn't seem very safe to us.
Our hotel room
After we unloaded the car we decided to go in search of food for lunch. The only downside to the location of the hotels in Hagerstown, is that there isn't a lot of dining options around. When we were driving to the hotel we had noticed a Burger King and after a search of the area we decided to go there. The were very SLOOOOOOWWWW. The food was OK, but the service very slow. We then went back to the hotel and took a brief nap before going to Frederick, MD which is about a half hour away.
Our last trip to Frederick, MD was in 2004 so we decided it would be fun to go to the civil War Medicine again. Though first we had to navigate our way through Frederick's narrow and confusing one way streets. The signs to the museum point you in the wrong direction. It took a bit of time, but we finally found it. By the time we got there it was just after 3:30 PM and the museum closes at 5:00 PM. We were the only people there and the staff kept checking up on us and it was actually a little annoying because we were trying to read the information and look at the artifacts. The museum is interesting, but kind of graphic. They don't allow photography, which is a bummer. They have a lot of neat displays set up with lots of hands on items. At the end of the tour is the bookstore. There are lots of interesting books. We browsed the gift shop for a while. I was disappointed that they didn't have any postcards like they used to have. We took some photos of the building exterior and sign before we went back to the car. When we were leaving the parking garage we didn't see that you are supposed to prepay. The person working the ticket booth gave us a hard time even though we were trying to explain to him that we probably wouldn't be coming back.
National Museum of Civil War Medicine
We decided to leave Frederick and head back up to Hagerstown. As we were leaving the museum there was a bunch of brochures including one on dining in Hagerstown. Melinda noticed that there was a Red Lobster not far from the mall we had found on Sunday. She wanted to go there since they had the endless shrimp. Red Lobster isn't my favorite, but she likes it. I ordered a wood fire grilled chicken dish that was very good. Melinda devoured shrimp after shrimp. The restaurant was a bit busy, but the service was quite slow. It took FOREVER for each of Melinda's shrimp orders to come. The waitress wasn't sure why it was taking so long. It was a good dinner though.
Since we were in the neighborhood, we went back to Target to get a few items before going back to the hotel. We rested a bit before going swimming. The hotel had an indoor pool that was supposed to be heated. I don't think it was heated very well because it was COLD! The water wasn't as cold as in Gettysburg, the air was very cold. We didn't stay too long. Plus we were a bit nervous about leaving the room with the sliding door unlocked.
When we got back to the room I took a relaxing hot bubble bath. It felt so wonderful.
We went to bed early so that we could get up early the next morning to go to the Antietam battlefield for the 147th anniversary of the battle.
When I got up the next morning my knee and ankle were feeling a bit better, but a bit stiff. After walking around for a while it felt a lot better. And it wasn't bothering me too much to drive.
Since we had been good and been eating breakfast at the hotel, we decided we wanted something a little different for breakfast so we went to McDonald's for some hot cakes! YUM! The food was OK. The other reason we decided on McDonald's was because it was right next to where we wanted to go, the Civil War Wax Museum.
We had gone there previously and had a lot of fun. The best part is at the end when Abraham Lincoln delivers the entire Gettysburg Address without ONCE moving his mouth. Very impressive! There is also a gift shop there so we looked around and found a few items to purchase before going through the museum part with the wax figures. I will say that the museum is priced perfectly. With our AAA discount it was less than $6 for both of us. We've been to other museums that were priced higher for less content. The exhibits are interesting, though the wax figures could use an update. It was nice that there wasn't anyone else there when we were. At the end of the exhibits is a final presentation about the battle of Gettysburg. We had just missed the start and had to wait for the next one, but that was OK. When it was time to go into the room where the presentation is we were the only ones. YAY! This meant we could talk freely and take lots of photos! The presentation has different scenes set up in the large room and there is a narrator who talks about the battle. Then when its time to highlight a scene it is lit up. At the end Lincoln appears from the floor to give the Gettysburg Address. It doesn't take very long and is actually kind of cheesy, but a fun cheesy.
Jennie Wade scene at the Wax Museum
Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg scene at the Wax Museum
After we were done at the Wax museum we decided it was time to go to Hagerstown, MD. On the way to the highway we found the first shot marker. We were able to find a place alongside the road to pull off and Melinda jumped out to take some photos. We didn’t' want to take too many since it is located on private property, but we at least found it! YAY! Another monument crossed off our list of those to find.
First Shot Monument
We then headed for Hagerstown. There wasn't a lot of traffic, which was good. The way the directions took us we had to go through the downtown part of Hagerstown, which was kind of congested and crowded. Eventually we got to an area that looked more familiar to us. For this trip we had decided to try a new hotel. The hotel we stayed at previously had become really rundown. We were thrilled with our hotel! It was so pretty. The staff was really friendly. We had a poolside room on the ground level. The beds were really comfortable and it had lots of storage space. There was even a refrigerator. The room had a sliding glass door that allows access to the pool area. The only thing I was not happy with was that there was no lock on the outside of the sliding glass door and anyone can walk from the lobby to the pool area. That didn't seem very safe to us.
Our hotel room
After we unloaded the car we decided to go in search of food for lunch. The only downside to the location of the hotels in Hagerstown, is that there isn't a lot of dining options around. When we were driving to the hotel we had noticed a Burger King and after a search of the area we decided to go there. The were very SLOOOOOOWWWW. The food was OK, but the service very slow. We then went back to the hotel and took a brief nap before going to Frederick, MD which is about a half hour away.
Our last trip to Frederick, MD was in 2004 so we decided it would be fun to go to the civil War Medicine again. Though first we had to navigate our way through Frederick's narrow and confusing one way streets. The signs to the museum point you in the wrong direction. It took a bit of time, but we finally found it. By the time we got there it was just after 3:30 PM and the museum closes at 5:00 PM. We were the only people there and the staff kept checking up on us and it was actually a little annoying because we were trying to read the information and look at the artifacts. The museum is interesting, but kind of graphic. They don't allow photography, which is a bummer. They have a lot of neat displays set up with lots of hands on items. At the end of the tour is the bookstore. There are lots of interesting books. We browsed the gift shop for a while. I was disappointed that they didn't have any postcards like they used to have. We took some photos of the building exterior and sign before we went back to the car. When we were leaving the parking garage we didn't see that you are supposed to prepay. The person working the ticket booth gave us a hard time even though we were trying to explain to him that we probably wouldn't be coming back.
National Museum of Civil War Medicine
We decided to leave Frederick and head back up to Hagerstown. As we were leaving the museum there was a bunch of brochures including one on dining in Hagerstown. Melinda noticed that there was a Red Lobster not far from the mall we had found on Sunday. She wanted to go there since they had the endless shrimp. Red Lobster isn't my favorite, but she likes it. I ordered a wood fire grilled chicken dish that was very good. Melinda devoured shrimp after shrimp. The restaurant was a bit busy, but the service was quite slow. It took FOREVER for each of Melinda's shrimp orders to come. The waitress wasn't sure why it was taking so long. It was a good dinner though.
Since we were in the neighborhood, we went back to Target to get a few items before going back to the hotel. We rested a bit before going swimming. The hotel had an indoor pool that was supposed to be heated. I don't think it was heated very well because it was COLD! The water wasn't as cold as in Gettysburg, the air was very cold. We didn't stay too long. Plus we were a bit nervous about leaving the room with the sliding door unlocked.
When we got back to the room I took a relaxing hot bubble bath. It felt so wonderful.
We went to bed early so that we could get up early the next morning to go to the Antietam battlefield for the 147th anniversary of the battle.
Battlefield Trip Report - Day 4
Day 4 - September 15
We once again got up early and got breakfast from the hotel. It promised to be another long day touring the battlefield.
So after breakfast we headed out along Emmitsburg Road so that we could start over by the Peach Orchard and head towards the Pennsylvania State Memorial. We found a bunch of monuments along Emmitsburg Road, which was kind of fun to try to photograph, but we were successful. It was difficult to try to remember which monuments we had photographed the day before and which ones we still needed since we had been in this area before. When we got to the Pennsylvania State Memorial, Melinda decided she was going to climb up to the observation deck. Since I'm afraid of heights I decided to stay on the ground and get photos of it and some of the surrounding monuments. That morning the grass was wet with dew which made walking on the marble a bit slippery. I was worried about Melinda climbing up all those stairs with wet shoes, but she was fine. There weren't too many people, which was awesome. It's always difficult getting photos of the Pennsylvania State Memorial later in the day when more people are there. Once Melinda was finished with photos from above and I was done with photos from the ground we continued our tour along Hancock Avenue.
Pennsylvania State Monument
We didn't really stop here along this road during our tour the previous day. Since there are monuments on both sides of the road, we decided to divide and conquer. Melinda took one side and I took the other. When we got to the High Water Mark monument there was a Park Ranger working on the back of it. This made it difficult to get photos of all sides, but I was able to find some angles where you can't see the Park Ranger. Not long after I got my photos I noticed that the Ranger had put up tape around it to keep guests from disturbing him. I was glad that we had gotten there when we did.
High Water Mark Monument
U.S. Regulars Monument
We finished up on Hancock Avenue each of us photographing one side of the road. We then headed up towards where the old visitor center was. They completely tore down the old visitor center! That was quite shocking. I would have thought they could have found a use for it, but nope, it is completely gone! It was so strange looking to not see it there. The parking lot is still there and now used for parking for the National Cemetery. So we decided to tour the cemetery before going to lunch.
Our first stop in the National Cemetery was the Lincoln Speech memorial. This is the only monument dedicated to a speech! Then we walked around towards the other entrance towards the monument for Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, which was located also near some restrooms. Melinda and I both needed to go, so this seemed to be a sensible route to take. We found Reynolds and took several photographs before heading to the most disgusting, vile restrooms ever! YUCK! There weren't any locks on the stalls. It was dirty. The water was cold. The button for the hand dryer just looked really gross. We learned to never use those restrooms! EWWW It would have been better to wait until the Visitor center.
Lincoln Speech Memorial
Major John Reynolds and New York State Monuments
So after that we wanted to get photos of the Michigan graves and the Soldier's National Monument and go. It is always so sad to see all of the unknown dead. All of those men whose loved ones never knew were they were buried. So sad. So after laying a flag on the marker for the Michigan section and saying thank you to all of those who gave their lives for our freedom, we took some photos of Soldier's National monument. It is impossible I have decided to get good photos of each side. It seems that no matter what time you go, the sun is always in a bad spot.
Soldiers' National Monument
Unknown Michigan Dead
By this time we hungry and felt dirty and just wanted to take a bit of a rest, so we decided to head to the visitor center for lunch. When we were there the day before we saw that they had added a restaurant and thought it would be fun to try. Before lunch though we made sure to wash our hands in the bathroom to try to rid our memories of the nasty one. We then got in line. Melinda said she would wait in line and get the food. I told her what I wanted and went to go find a table. A few minutes later I see Melinda motioning for me to go up to the counter, so I go up to see what she wanted. I had wanted a Turkey panini, but didn't want it with peppers and onions. It turns out that all of the sandwiches are premade and can't be altered. Melinda wasn't sure what I would want, so she didn't order anything for me. So I was a bit annoyed. Since the no one was in line I decided to step over the rope queue instead of going all the way around. Big mistake! While stepping over the rope queue my foot must have snagged the rope and I was suddenly falling forward. With a large crash I landed on the ground on my knees amidst the ropes and poles. It felt as if all eyes were on me. When I stood up my right knee, ankle, and arm were hurting, but luckily nothing felt broken. I limped up to the counter to place my order. Everyone was asking if I was ok. I just wanted to crawl to under a rock. Melinda said she would wait for my order and let me take her food back to the table. Melinda came back to the table with the food and we proceeded to eat. I was still really embarrassed and just wanted to get out of there quickly. The food was good, but a bit overpriced. I ordered a ham panini, which did have onions on it, but it was pretty easy to scrape them off.
Saloon at the Visitor Center
So after we finished lunch we decided to go finish our tour. I was happy to leave the visitor center. My knee was pretty scraped up and my ankle was hurting. As we were walking to the car I worried if I would be able to drive. It didn't hurt too bad to accelerate, but braking really hurt my ankle. When we got to the battlefield I handed the keys to Melinda. She wasn't on the rental agreement, but it was either let her drive or have me crash the car. I wasn't too worried though since Melinda is an excellent driver and we would be on the battlefield road. We decided to continue our tour of the battlefield near Spangler Spring and Culp's Hill. There are lots of little roads and there are parts where you can go in circles. We found quite a few monuments that we were missing. Melinda even hiked through some weeds to get a photo of a missing monument. After we had gone down every road on Culp's Hill we headed for Evergreen Cemetery to find Jennie Wade's Grave.
Jennie Wade was the only civilian killed during the battle of Gettysburg. She was killed by a bullet that went through several doors to kill her while she was baking bread for the troops. The stone on her grave is beautiful. While we were in Evergreen Cemetery we also got a few photos of the Women's memorial.
Jennie Wade's Grave
Women's Memorial
After we found our way out of Evergreen Cemetery we headed for the East Cavalry battlefield which is about 3 miles east of Gettysburg. Since we were going to be driving on the main roads, we switched drivers, though my ankle was still hurting. While we were looking for the East Cavalry battlefield this person behind us was driving like a maniac. I know I was going slow, but we were trying to find the driveway and I knew from previous experience that the driveway is sort of hidden so I didn't want to go be going too fast and miss it. I was happy when we finally found the driveway to be rid of the jerk behind us. Once we were back on the National Park roads, we switched drivers to give my ankle a bit of a rest. There isn't much at the East Cavalry battlefield, but the reason we go is for the Michigan Cavalry monument. It is beautiful, even if General Custer is on top. When we got to where the Michigan Cavalry monument was there was a group of people climbing on it, which is not only disrespectful, but against the rules. Luckily when we got there they decided to leave. Since the Michigan Cavalry monument is so tall it is difficult to get a really good photo. The sun never seems to be in the right spot. One of the parts of the East Cavalry battlefields is that it is VERY quiet. Almost no one else goes there. It is sort of eerie in how quiet and empty the area is.
Michigan Cavalry monument
Once we had photographed all of the monuments at the East cavalry battlefield we headed back towards the main portion of the battlefield. Earlier when we were near Spangler Spring we noticed a one way road near the Indiana State Monument, but we weren't sure how to get to it. When we looked at the map, we found the road and it connected to the road that you take to the East Cavalry. We found a few more monuments along the way. Since East Confederate Ave comes out near Spangler Spring we went back around to see if there was anything we had missed.
Next we headed towards the start of the tour and McPherson's ridge near where the 24th Michigan and the Iron Brigade fought since we hadn't photographed those monuments yet. After we were satisfied that we had photographed all of those monuments we went back to the hotel to rest a bit.
For dinner that night we decided to go to Friendly's. We had gone there on our previous trip and we really enjoyed the food. This time we decided to get an appetizer called Munchie Mania and we got to pick the items we wanted. We choose chicken quesadillas, Honey BBQ popcorn chicken, and mini mozzarella cheese sticks. It was soooo good! Then for our main dinner I had the Turkey Club SuperMelt with mashed potatoes and gravy. Soooo good! Melinda ordered the Chicken Parmesan SuperMelt and even got the cheese on it! She also got mashed potatoes and gravy. She said hers was also very, very good. Our waitress was really nice and very efficient. Since we were stuffed we didn't get any ice cream.
We decided to go back to the hotel and watch some DVDs before bed. We also had to pack up our stuff since the next day we would be leaving for Hagerstown, MD.
We once again got up early and got breakfast from the hotel. It promised to be another long day touring the battlefield.
So after breakfast we headed out along Emmitsburg Road so that we could start over by the Peach Orchard and head towards the Pennsylvania State Memorial. We found a bunch of monuments along Emmitsburg Road, which was kind of fun to try to photograph, but we were successful. It was difficult to try to remember which monuments we had photographed the day before and which ones we still needed since we had been in this area before. When we got to the Pennsylvania State Memorial, Melinda decided she was going to climb up to the observation deck. Since I'm afraid of heights I decided to stay on the ground and get photos of it and some of the surrounding monuments. That morning the grass was wet with dew which made walking on the marble a bit slippery. I was worried about Melinda climbing up all those stairs with wet shoes, but she was fine. There weren't too many people, which was awesome. It's always difficult getting photos of the Pennsylvania State Memorial later in the day when more people are there. Once Melinda was finished with photos from above and I was done with photos from the ground we continued our tour along Hancock Avenue.
Pennsylvania State Monument
We didn't really stop here along this road during our tour the previous day. Since there are monuments on both sides of the road, we decided to divide and conquer. Melinda took one side and I took the other. When we got to the High Water Mark monument there was a Park Ranger working on the back of it. This made it difficult to get photos of all sides, but I was able to find some angles where you can't see the Park Ranger. Not long after I got my photos I noticed that the Ranger had put up tape around it to keep guests from disturbing him. I was glad that we had gotten there when we did.
High Water Mark Monument
U.S. Regulars Monument
We finished up on Hancock Avenue each of us photographing one side of the road. We then headed up towards where the old visitor center was. They completely tore down the old visitor center! That was quite shocking. I would have thought they could have found a use for it, but nope, it is completely gone! It was so strange looking to not see it there. The parking lot is still there and now used for parking for the National Cemetery. So we decided to tour the cemetery before going to lunch.
Our first stop in the National Cemetery was the Lincoln Speech memorial. This is the only monument dedicated to a speech! Then we walked around towards the other entrance towards the monument for Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds, which was located also near some restrooms. Melinda and I both needed to go, so this seemed to be a sensible route to take. We found Reynolds and took several photographs before heading to the most disgusting, vile restrooms ever! YUCK! There weren't any locks on the stalls. It was dirty. The water was cold. The button for the hand dryer just looked really gross. We learned to never use those restrooms! EWWW It would have been better to wait until the Visitor center.
Lincoln Speech Memorial
Major John Reynolds and New York State Monuments
So after that we wanted to get photos of the Michigan graves and the Soldier's National Monument and go. It is always so sad to see all of the unknown dead. All of those men whose loved ones never knew were they were buried. So sad. So after laying a flag on the marker for the Michigan section and saying thank you to all of those who gave their lives for our freedom, we took some photos of Soldier's National monument. It is impossible I have decided to get good photos of each side. It seems that no matter what time you go, the sun is always in a bad spot.
Soldiers' National Monument
Unknown Michigan Dead
By this time we hungry and felt dirty and just wanted to take a bit of a rest, so we decided to head to the visitor center for lunch. When we were there the day before we saw that they had added a restaurant and thought it would be fun to try. Before lunch though we made sure to wash our hands in the bathroom to try to rid our memories of the nasty one. We then got in line. Melinda said she would wait in line and get the food. I told her what I wanted and went to go find a table. A few minutes later I see Melinda motioning for me to go up to the counter, so I go up to see what she wanted. I had wanted a Turkey panini, but didn't want it with peppers and onions. It turns out that all of the sandwiches are premade and can't be altered. Melinda wasn't sure what I would want, so she didn't order anything for me. So I was a bit annoyed. Since the no one was in line I decided to step over the rope queue instead of going all the way around. Big mistake! While stepping over the rope queue my foot must have snagged the rope and I was suddenly falling forward. With a large crash I landed on the ground on my knees amidst the ropes and poles. It felt as if all eyes were on me. When I stood up my right knee, ankle, and arm were hurting, but luckily nothing felt broken. I limped up to the counter to place my order. Everyone was asking if I was ok. I just wanted to crawl to under a rock. Melinda said she would wait for my order and let me take her food back to the table. Melinda came back to the table with the food and we proceeded to eat. I was still really embarrassed and just wanted to get out of there quickly. The food was good, but a bit overpriced. I ordered a ham panini, which did have onions on it, but it was pretty easy to scrape them off.
Saloon at the Visitor Center
So after we finished lunch we decided to go finish our tour. I was happy to leave the visitor center. My knee was pretty scraped up and my ankle was hurting. As we were walking to the car I worried if I would be able to drive. It didn't hurt too bad to accelerate, but braking really hurt my ankle. When we got to the battlefield I handed the keys to Melinda. She wasn't on the rental agreement, but it was either let her drive or have me crash the car. I wasn't too worried though since Melinda is an excellent driver and we would be on the battlefield road. We decided to continue our tour of the battlefield near Spangler Spring and Culp's Hill. There are lots of little roads and there are parts where you can go in circles. We found quite a few monuments that we were missing. Melinda even hiked through some weeds to get a photo of a missing monument. After we had gone down every road on Culp's Hill we headed for Evergreen Cemetery to find Jennie Wade's Grave.
Jennie Wade was the only civilian killed during the battle of Gettysburg. She was killed by a bullet that went through several doors to kill her while she was baking bread for the troops. The stone on her grave is beautiful. While we were in Evergreen Cemetery we also got a few photos of the Women's memorial.
Jennie Wade's Grave
Women's Memorial
After we found our way out of Evergreen Cemetery we headed for the East Cavalry battlefield which is about 3 miles east of Gettysburg. Since we were going to be driving on the main roads, we switched drivers, though my ankle was still hurting. While we were looking for the East Cavalry battlefield this person behind us was driving like a maniac. I know I was going slow, but we were trying to find the driveway and I knew from previous experience that the driveway is sort of hidden so I didn't want to go be going too fast and miss it. I was happy when we finally found the driveway to be rid of the jerk behind us. Once we were back on the National Park roads, we switched drivers to give my ankle a bit of a rest. There isn't much at the East Cavalry battlefield, but the reason we go is for the Michigan Cavalry monument. It is beautiful, even if General Custer is on top. When we got to where the Michigan Cavalry monument was there was a group of people climbing on it, which is not only disrespectful, but against the rules. Luckily when we got there they decided to leave. Since the Michigan Cavalry monument is so tall it is difficult to get a really good photo. The sun never seems to be in the right spot. One of the parts of the East Cavalry battlefields is that it is VERY quiet. Almost no one else goes there. It is sort of eerie in how quiet and empty the area is.
Michigan Cavalry monument
Once we had photographed all of the monuments at the East cavalry battlefield we headed back towards the main portion of the battlefield. Earlier when we were near Spangler Spring we noticed a one way road near the Indiana State Monument, but we weren't sure how to get to it. When we looked at the map, we found the road and it connected to the road that you take to the East Cavalry. We found a few more monuments along the way. Since East Confederate Ave comes out near Spangler Spring we went back around to see if there was anything we had missed.
Next we headed towards the start of the tour and McPherson's ridge near where the 24th Michigan and the Iron Brigade fought since we hadn't photographed those monuments yet. After we were satisfied that we had photographed all of those monuments we went back to the hotel to rest a bit.
For dinner that night we decided to go to Friendly's. We had gone there on our previous trip and we really enjoyed the food. This time we decided to get an appetizer called Munchie Mania and we got to pick the items we wanted. We choose chicken quesadillas, Honey BBQ popcorn chicken, and mini mozzarella cheese sticks. It was soooo good! Then for our main dinner I had the Turkey Club SuperMelt with mashed potatoes and gravy. Soooo good! Melinda ordered the Chicken Parmesan SuperMelt and even got the cheese on it! She also got mashed potatoes and gravy. She said hers was also very, very good. Our waitress was really nice and very efficient. Since we were stuffed we didn't get any ice cream.
We decided to go back to the hotel and watch some DVDs before bed. We also had to pack up our stuff since the next day we would be leaving for Hagerstown, MD.
Monday, October 26, 2009
My weekend getaway
Melinda and I had a super fabulous weekend! We went to Chicago with Pat on Saturday then stopped in Dearborn at the Henry Ford Museum today on our way home. So much fun!
We went down to Pat's house on Friday night after work. The drive down wasn't much fun since its was raining and dark. Yuck! But we made it there in one piece, which was nice. We hung out with Pat for a bit before going to bed.
We got up at 5:00 am on Saturday to head for Chicago. We got on the road about 5:30ish. The plan was originally that we would switch drivers, but Pat ended up driving the whole way since it was his car. Though Melinda and I switched spots and each got to nap some. I think I slept through about 1.5 hours of the 4 hour trip. We didn't encounter much traffic, which seemed a bit unusual for a Saturday.
Our first stop was the Field Museum for the "Real Pirates" exhibtion, which was ending. The exhibit is about the pirate ship "Whydah" which Melinda and I had first learned about at the Pirate Museum in Salem, MA back in 2007. The exhibit was really neat, but they didn't allow photography. Boo! Though I did purchase a book about the exhibit so hopefully I can scan some photos from that to use for scrapbooking. We looked around a few of the other exhibits, but not much as changed there since our last visit so we left.
Next stop was Navy Pier for lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. This is were we ALWAYS have lunch when we go to Chicago. The food was AWESOME! So good! I had a cheeseburger. Pat had a variety of different shrimp. Melinda had shrimp lingini. Then we all split a chocolate chip cookie sundae! It was soooo delicious! It got devoured. After lunch we looked around Navy Pier a bit, took photos, did some shopping, etc.
After Navy Pier we headed to Water Tower Place to go to American Girl Place. It had recently moved from its previous building, but it was still a mad house! WOW! That is one crazy store. I am so sad that they are going to be retiring my favorite doll, Kirsten at the end of the year. I had to get a few things I was missing. Melinda and Pat each got me an outfit as my Christmas present. LOL Melinda and I only really looked around the historical doll section. We didn't really get to explore much of the rest of the store. It seriously is super crazy with kits running EVERYWHERE!
The next objective for our trip was to find one of the locations where they filmed "The Dark Knight." We did find it, but it was difficult for Melinda to get photos of. We'll have to go back another time to try to get better photos.
By this time we were all pretty tired and wanted to go to the hotel. We weren't going to stay at the hotel we normally stay at in downtown Chicago since we had decided to use some reward points with a different hotel chain. The hotel we had reservations at was by Midway airport and had gotten good reviews on TripAdvisor.com. When we got closer to Midway we got stuck in some traffic due to construction on S. Cicero Ave, but we eventually got to the hotel. The hotel was nice. The room was clean. Not all that spacious, but it wasn't bad. The staff was really friendly and we had no issues redeeming our points. Pretty much after we unpacked the car we all took a nap.
When we woke up we were hungry. We had seen a Giordano's Pizza two blocks from the hotel and decided to order a cheese stuffed pizza. WOW! Was it good! SOOOOOO full of cheese. I swear the cheese was about 2 inches thick. Seriously good. Though I'm not sure it was better then Gino's where we normally go, but it was really, really good. Better than Uno's. I LOVE Chicago style pizza. Though sadly I didn't get a photo of it.
After that we just hung out in the room watching "Milk" on HBO. It was an interesting movie, though I really wasn't paying attention.
We then went to bed so we could get up early to leave for home. Our original plans were to go to the Halloween Nights at Greenfield Village, but the event was sold out for Sunday night. Bummer. So we decided to go to the Henry Ford Museum to see the Lego Castle exhibit. In all the years going to Greenfield Village, Melinda and I have never been to the Henry Ford Museum. It gave us another chance to use our membership. The Henry Ford Museum is really neat, though the set up is kind of confusing and at times seems haphazard. Lots of exhibits about different kinds of history other than automotive. One of the neatest parts was seeing the chair that Abraham Lincoln was shot in at Ford's Theater. Will have to post some photos of the museum later.
After that we went back up to Pat's house to get Melinda's car and head home. We were looking forward to seeing our babies. It was a short weekend, but lots of fun. We had fun spending time with Pat.
I'll post photos later! Right now I need to go to bed so I can go to work tomorrow.
Later!
Melissa
We went down to Pat's house on Friday night after work. The drive down wasn't much fun since its was raining and dark. Yuck! But we made it there in one piece, which was nice. We hung out with Pat for a bit before going to bed.
We got up at 5:00 am on Saturday to head for Chicago. We got on the road about 5:30ish. The plan was originally that we would switch drivers, but Pat ended up driving the whole way since it was his car. Though Melinda and I switched spots and each got to nap some. I think I slept through about 1.5 hours of the 4 hour trip. We didn't encounter much traffic, which seemed a bit unusual for a Saturday.
Our first stop was the Field Museum for the "Real Pirates" exhibtion, which was ending. The exhibit is about the pirate ship "Whydah" which Melinda and I had first learned about at the Pirate Museum in Salem, MA back in 2007. The exhibit was really neat, but they didn't allow photography. Boo! Though I did purchase a book about the exhibit so hopefully I can scan some photos from that to use for scrapbooking. We looked around a few of the other exhibits, but not much as changed there since our last visit so we left.
Next stop was Navy Pier for lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. This is were we ALWAYS have lunch when we go to Chicago. The food was AWESOME! So good! I had a cheeseburger. Pat had a variety of different shrimp. Melinda had shrimp lingini. Then we all split a chocolate chip cookie sundae! It was soooo delicious! It got devoured. After lunch we looked around Navy Pier a bit, took photos, did some shopping, etc.
After Navy Pier we headed to Water Tower Place to go to American Girl Place. It had recently moved from its previous building, but it was still a mad house! WOW! That is one crazy store. I am so sad that they are going to be retiring my favorite doll, Kirsten at the end of the year. I had to get a few things I was missing. Melinda and Pat each got me an outfit as my Christmas present. LOL Melinda and I only really looked around the historical doll section. We didn't really get to explore much of the rest of the store. It seriously is super crazy with kits running EVERYWHERE!
The next objective for our trip was to find one of the locations where they filmed "The Dark Knight." We did find it, but it was difficult for Melinda to get photos of. We'll have to go back another time to try to get better photos.
By this time we were all pretty tired and wanted to go to the hotel. We weren't going to stay at the hotel we normally stay at in downtown Chicago since we had decided to use some reward points with a different hotel chain. The hotel we had reservations at was by Midway airport and had gotten good reviews on TripAdvisor.com. When we got closer to Midway we got stuck in some traffic due to construction on S. Cicero Ave, but we eventually got to the hotel. The hotel was nice. The room was clean. Not all that spacious, but it wasn't bad. The staff was really friendly and we had no issues redeeming our points. Pretty much after we unpacked the car we all took a nap.
When we woke up we were hungry. We had seen a Giordano's Pizza two blocks from the hotel and decided to order a cheese stuffed pizza. WOW! Was it good! SOOOOOO full of cheese. I swear the cheese was about 2 inches thick. Seriously good. Though I'm not sure it was better then Gino's where we normally go, but it was really, really good. Better than Uno's. I LOVE Chicago style pizza. Though sadly I didn't get a photo of it.
After that we just hung out in the room watching "Milk" on HBO. It was an interesting movie, though I really wasn't paying attention.
We then went to bed so we could get up early to leave for home. Our original plans were to go to the Halloween Nights at Greenfield Village, but the event was sold out for Sunday night. Bummer. So we decided to go to the Henry Ford Museum to see the Lego Castle exhibit. In all the years going to Greenfield Village, Melinda and I have never been to the Henry Ford Museum. It gave us another chance to use our membership. The Henry Ford Museum is really neat, though the set up is kind of confusing and at times seems haphazard. Lots of exhibits about different kinds of history other than automotive. One of the neatest parts was seeing the chair that Abraham Lincoln was shot in at Ford's Theater. Will have to post some photos of the museum later.
After that we went back up to Pat's house to get Melinda's car and head home. We were looking forward to seeing our babies. It was a short weekend, but lots of fun. We had fun spending time with Pat.
I'll post photos later! Right now I need to go to bed so I can go to work tomorrow.
Later!
Melissa
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Disney Challenge and Template
Since I posted my "Disneyland Memories" layout back in June I have had a *TON* of requests for a template of it. Well now is your chance to get it!
How you can get it:
I'm hosting the challenge this week at Mousescrappers.com. Mousescrappers is a great site for digital and paper scrappers who love Disney. So if you want the template, you need to complete a layout for the challenge before MIDNIGHT on October 27, 2009.
How you can get it:
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Shutterfly book winner!
I used Random.org to select the winner of the free 8x8 Shutterfly photobook. The lucky winner is:
Comment #11 was by Stefanie!!!
Congratulations! I'll send you a PM at ScrapMatters with the code! Thank you all who left a comment!
Comment #11 was by Stefanie!!!
Congratulations! I'll send you a PM at ScrapMatters with the code! Thank you all who left a comment!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Free Shutterfly book giveaway!!!
Last week I noticed that TripAdvisor.com had sent me a code for a free 8x8 hard cover book from Shutterfly for being a member. I then got ANOTHER code for posting a review about the hotel we stayed at in Maryland from our recent trip. I posted two other reviews and got 2 MORE codes for books from Shutterfly. I plan to use 3 as gifts for family/friends for Christmas, but have decided to give the code to one lucky reader!
I've printed several photobooks from Shutterfly and the quality of them is AWESOME! They are a great way to show off yoru photos or digital layouts.
So if would like win a free 8x8 hard cover photobook from Shutterfly, leave a comment here by midnight PT on Tuesday, October 20 on why you like to win a free photobook. On Wednesday, October 21st I will randomly select one person to win the free photobook!
Good luck!
Monday, October 05, 2009
Friday Night Speed Scrap!
I am so super duper excited to be hosting my first Speed Scrap at ScrapMatters on Friday night!!! YAY!
And check out the AWESOME participation prize by Sahlin Studio:
So I hope that some of you will join me! It promises to be a fun evening! :)
Melissa
And check out the AWESOME participation prize by Sahlin Studio:
So I hope that some of you will join me! It promises to be a fun evening! :)
Melissa
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