On November 2, Stro, Lily, and I boarded an Amtrak train headed for Virginia! The train left New Orleans at 7 am on a Sunday, and we arrived in DC at about 11:30 on Monday. We stayed in some pretty tight quarters, but it was so nice to feed Lily, change diapers, eat meals, etc without having to stop! Stro loved looking at the scenery; he usually misses out on that because he's driving. Here are a few pictures from the train:
Lily did really well on the train! Here she is during dinner one night:
Of course, she was the most popular passenger! Everyone oohed and aahed over her and asked lots of questions about her.
We took a few pictures in MS and AL on the way, but missed out on GA, SC, and NC since we were asleep by then.
When we got to DC, we bundled Lily up before exiting the train. She looked so cute!
After that, we went to this coffeehouse in DC called Ebenezer's.
It is owned by National Community Church, whose pastor is Mark Batterson. Our community group read Batterson's book The Circle Maker, and in it he tells the story of purchasing this property and opening the coffeehouse. We enjoyed actually seeing what we had read about.
From there, we headed to Fredericksburg, VA, where we would see Stro's grandma and aunts. We had a great visit with them. They loved meeting Lily! They also reminisced about past visits and stories, and we even looked at old family pictures and genealogies.
Auntie "M" (Emma, Grandad's sister)
Aunt Lizzie (Grandad's sister)
Grandma Sacra
We went to visit Aunt Mildred, Grandma Sacra's sister. They were so funny together, discussing their age and what it's like to grow older.
One of the old family pictures was this gem on the left of baby Stro. More proof that Lily looks an awful lot like him!
The next morning, we were able to explore downtown Fredericksburg. There's so much history there and some really beautiful homes too! Here are a few pictures:
Shopping!
Rappahannock River, where we took a break from walking
Haha
Old soda shop and pharmacy, both still up and running
Mary Washington House, where Stro's grandma used to volunteer
On the 6th, we headed back to DC with time to explore.
Washington Monument
Jefferson Memorial
Stro and Lily standing in the grass near the Jefferson Memorial, where he proposed seven years ago!
After the memorial, we went to the Museum of American History. I carried Lily in the Baby Bjorn and she slept the whole time. :)
We boarded our train at around 6:30 Thursday night and arrived in New Orleans at 9 pm on Friday. Long ride, but we both agreed it was worth it with a baby!
All in all, it was a great vacation! Here are just a few more pics of Lily that we took throughout the trip:
No comments:
Post a Comment