Day 10 - Arlington, VA - Milford, NY

Today was a travel day, but before we left the Washington area, I wanted to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.  A quick drive from our hotel in Arlington across the Potomac and we arrived on a beautiful morning.  Dr. King has a great view of the Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin from his spot.  After a quick stop by the north side of the White House (the kids and Caroline didn't see it the day before), we loaded up and drove towards Dulles Airport so we could arrive at the secondary Air and Space Museum located nearby.  I had been once before, but this visit was even better.  They've opened a new section which allows you to overlook their preservation lab/hangar.  The Apollo 11 Lunar Module was currently there having some work done to it.  In the main museum are several early aviation gliders and planes, an Air France Concorde, the Enola Gay, the Blackbird, and, of course, the Space Shuttle Discovery.  We all agreed that what we liked about this museum is that it doesn't go overboard trying to educate you.  What I mean by that is, the planes and space ships are displayed for you to enjoy fairly up close.  Placards nearby tell you what you're looking at and some of the history, but you're free to just roam around and gawk at the artifacts.  Be sure to make a visit here if you're ever in the DC area.

After a quick bite for lunch in Leesburg, VA, we headed north with our first stop at Gettysburg, PA.  Lena and I were the only ones really looking forward to the stop; Yorktown left a bad taste in the others' mouths for battlefields.  Fortunately, Gettysburg is better as there is so much more to look at.  This was my second visit, but it was fun to see all that has changed in the 30 or so years since I was last here.  We stopped at the Visitors' Center to load up on maps and snacks and then off we went.  We didn't drive the entire auto tour, but hit the highlights:  Pennsylvania Monument, National Soldier's Cemetery where Lincoln gave his famous speech, Virginia Monument, and the Arkansas Monument.  It was a short visit, but well worth it!  We got lucky too as a guided tour came up while we were in the cemetery so we got to hear where the real spot Lincoln gave his address:  spoiler alert, it's not where it's marked!  Instead, recent technology has confirmed it's located near two trees and the road in the middle of the adjoining city cemetery.

The rest of our day was driving as we made our way to central New York.  We stopped for dinner in Hazelton, PA, at a great local diner.  We unfortunately drove through the mountains and valleys around Wilkes-Barre and Scranton in the dark and didn't get to see any of the south central views of New York state.  We pulled into the hotel in Milford at about 11:00 pm (our latest yet) and all crashed into bed immediately.  Our journey continues tomorrow at Cooperstown!