Spirit Of America August 7 - 14, 2009 & WDW August 14-22, 2009 Trip Report

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Hi everyone!

This is our trip report for our Summer adventure! We will be leaving in just a few days for our first ABD trip. We will be doing the Spirit of America tour and then a week at WDW where we will be having an Ohana Reunion with a wonderful group of people we meet on our Panama Cruise last Summer.

We are getting excited about our trip and the packing is underway.

The cast of characters is as follows: Des (Me) Richard (DH) and Tori (DD-12). Our adventures will take us to Philly, Washington, DC, and Colonial Willamsburg, VA. In addition to the ABD tour - we have planned additional adventures in each of the stops!

A little about ourselves...we love to travel (one of the reasons I became a travel agent - I am a planner!) - For the past few years, we have taken some great cruises. We also love to do road trips to see the U.S. and visit WDW. Tori is on a quest to visit every state. She has been to 28 so far and will be adding 4 more with this trip. DH is a software developer (and extremely patient with all my planning craziness!) and DD is a student.

Also on our trip - Tori wanted to do the adventure in an Adventures of Stitch kind of way. So here is Stitch hanging out - waiting for the Adventure to begin:

We are adding on an extra day to allow time to meet up with some fellow Diser's for dinner and rest before our ABD starts!

 

[kjd469]

Have a great trip...sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Hi everyone!

Today is a lot of last minute info getting for the extra things we will be doing on the trip. Paying final bills and getting last minute things done.

Nothing very exciting going on ... the realization that we leave in 3 days is setting in and the stress level of getting everything done is rising

It's difficult to believe that we planned this trip 11 months ago and that the day is almost here.

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Have a great trip...sounds like a lot of fun!

Thanks! We are looking forward to it a lot!

 

[thatslygirl]

Have fun!!!

If you have time in the mornings, be sure to check out the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue (not far from the National Archives). They display the front pages from all the states and many different countries. It's fun to see what's considered front page news in DC versus the rest of the nation: http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/

 

[Icemann]

Sounds like you are ready willing and able.You will have so much fun but you know that,We went in May June this year and had a blast.We were very lucky to have 29 super people to travel with and two of Disney's best tour guides.Maria and Kim.We did the extra planning like you but I bet your's is better.Their is just not enough time for everything.Hint pick one Smith and decide what you want to see and go for it.We did 4 in one day and didn't see anything..The scavange hunt was kinda lame but your DD might like it.That was two hours+ wasted for us we do not have kids.All the little things they do for you are great.Your DD will like Great Wolf Lodge.Reports coming in from this trip say their are children on board so DD might make some new friends.Enjoy and if you forget anything Kim and Maria will help you get through it,did for us.Please tell them FL George wish's them and you the best

 

[knewton64]

...that put me over the top.


I'm subscribing - can't wait....gotta take pictures.

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Have fun!!!

If you have time in the mornings, be sure to check out the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue (not far from the National Archives). They display the front pages from all the states and many different countries. It's fun to see what's considered front page news in DC versus the rest of the nation: http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/

That sounds awesome..we will definitely do that! thanks for the tip.

Sounds like you are ready willing and able.You will have so much fun but you know that,We went in May June this year and had a blast.We were very lucky to have 29 super people to travel with and two of Disney's best tour guides.Maria and Kim.We did the extra planning like you but I bet your's is better.Their is just not enough time for everything.Hint pick one Smith and decide what you want to see and go for it.We did 4 in one day and didn't see anything..The scavange hunt was kinda lame but your DD might like it.That was two hours+ wasted for us we do not have kids.All the little things they do for you are great.Your DD will like Great Wolf Lodge.Reports coming in from this trip say their are children on board so DD might make some new friends.Enjoy and if you forget anything Kim and Maria will help you get through it,did for us.Please tell them FL George wish's them and you the best

Unfortunately, we have picked 3 Smiths but we know exactly what we want to see in each..I have warned my DH and DD that it's best if they just run behind me and keep moving! We know we can't see it all but there are some must sees. I also want to treat my DD to the Carousel on the Mall. The hard part is that everything closes so early! the scavenger hunt will depend on if we saw everything we wanted to see on Friday - we do need to fit in both "famous" Philly Cheesesteak locations tho
I wrote your name down so I can tell them you said hi!

...that put me over the top.


I'm subscribing - can't wait....gotta take pictures.

We have a "flat Stitch" that did the PC cruise with us last year but he is a little bigger then I wanted to drag all over so this one won out. My DD loves Stitch We will definitely take lots of pictures! We will post what we can to include you. Thanks for subscribing!

 

[dahuffy]

Have fun Des and we'll see you shortly!

 

[OC_stacylace]

We'll be on that trip with you guys! We leave tomorrow and we want to get there early to settle in. Plus, I think we're heading to Hershey on Thursday for some added fun! We've been in touch before, I believe. We're from south Orange County, and I remember you guys also being from CA. I have two boys, 10 and 4, and my parents are going as well. We'll be leaving my hubby at home due to work getting in the way, but we look forward to the trip and to meeting you and everyone on the tour.

Have a safe flight, and we'll see ya there!

P.S. Which place to go for cheese steaks, I heard Gino's, but I'm open to suggestions!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Have fun Des and we'll see you shortly!

Hi Deb! Can't wait to see you!

We'll be on that trip with you guys! We leave tomorrow and we want to get there early to settle in. Plus, I think we're heading to Hershey on Thursday for some added fun! We've been in touch before, I believe. We're from south Orange County, and I remember you guys also being from CA. I have two boys, 10 and 4, and my parents are going as well. We'll be leaving my hubby at home due to work getting in the way, but we look forward to the trip and to meeting you and everyone on the tour.

Have a safe flight, and we'll see ya there!

P.S. Which place to go for cheese steaks, I heard Gino's, but I'm open to suggestions!

We wanted to go to Hershey but couldn't swing it...only so much time off of work. As for Cheesesteaks.. there are 2 rival places on corners almost facing each other if I understand it correctly - one is Geno's and the other is Pat's King of Steaks...we are going to do one on Friday and the other on Saturday after they let us off for our freetime. We did chat before on the ABD thread -looking forward to meeting you!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Hi everyone! 2 days left and counting -

Woke up today with huge plans to pack and get things going - unfortunately, woke up not feeling well and a migraine

Also had to take my van in for new brakes...home now and starting to get things moving. Finished up with my work a few minutes ago and now plan on working on my postcard list. I print out labels for my postcards. I do this for 2reasons. First, I save time when my DD does her postcards as all she needs to do is peel and stick! And secondly, this way, we know we sent that person a postcard (I print up however many labels for each person we are sending to - 1 or 2 for each of her friends - 3 or so for Grandma & Grandpa). When the label is gone...we know we sent it. Helps with the vacation brain lapse!

All of our clothes have been washed and dried..I will be hopefullypacking tonight except for a few toiletries...trying to take tomorrow for just last minute things and taking the pets to their boarding for the trip. Need an early night tomorrow night! (yeah - that's going to happen!)

If anyone has any last minute suggestions - let me know - would love to hear them!

 

[dahuffy]

If anyone has any last minute suggestions - let me know - would love to hear them!

Breathe!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Breathe!

Thanks! that's a great suggestion...actually..not doing to bad. This time last year I was in panic mode since we had all that extra stuff for the cruise. Everything for Tori and I is ready to be packed tonight except our shoes and toiletries which I will work on tonight. The house is clean (I like coming home to a clean house) and tomorrow looks like a day for giving Tori a mani and pedi and last minute things.

Just that flight thing that hangs over me but I know it will be fine and before I know it..I will be at dinner with Mike and Linda!

Well..off to wash the dog....don't want to offend the people at the boarding hotel.

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Hi everyone!

Final day before the big trip! Everything is packed with exception of a couple of toiletries I need for the morning. All errands have been run. All that's left tonight is dropping off the animals and having dinner with my Mom.

Our friends who are taking us to the airport called to confirm our 6AM pick up time.

Our plans for tomorrow upon arriving in Philly are to meet some great friends from our PC cruise last year. We are going to celebrate Mike & Linda's son's birthday at Dave and Busters. I can't wait to see them!

On Friday we will be seeing Philly by Riding the Duck! We did this in San Francisco and loved it! We plan on going to the US Mint and seeing Betsy Ross's home as well. And of course..have to try a Philly Cheesesteak!

Well..off to give my DD a mani/pedi!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Good morning!

Well..after 11 months of planning and waiting..the day has arrived to start out adventure! I'm both nervous and excited (flying is not my thing so the nerves are kicking in - but I am actually doing better then I thought I would at this point).

Stitch is safely secured in my Adventures by Disney backpack. The suitcases are waiting by the door and our friends will be here in about 45 minutes to pick us up. Hopefully tonight I will be able to post some pictures of our hotel and evening out!

Have a great day!

 

[Aburns8]

Enjoy your trip. I can't wait to hear about it. My DH and I live in Michigan and are moving an hour away from Colonial Williamsburg, and I still think that we should take this trip!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Enjoy your trip. I can't wait to hear about it. My DH and I live in Michigan and are moving an hour away from Colonial Williamsburg, and I still think that we should take this trip!

It sounds like it's going to be fun! Will post all about it!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Good Morning from Philadelphia!

Well...as much as i dislike flying..the flight was overall pretty good..only about 10 minutes of severe (atleast to me) turbulance but other then that..really good. We arrived 45 minutes early! Woo Hoo

Upon getting to the baggage claim area, we were met my a couple with a cart for our bags. One was our driver and one was to help us get our bags to the car. Had a sign with our name on it (was kind of fun to see we had people waiting for us!)

Our bags were in the 1st 10 off of the plane so that was a little extra pixie dust...we were in the car and on our way to the hotel within 25 minutes of landing. Traffic was terrible but our driver made his way around and we got to the hotel. We have a nice room that overlooks the Delaware River.

Upon arriving in the room we found a little gift from ABD. Some luggage tags and an ABD tote bag and a pair of binoculars. Always nice to find a gift waiting for you

We unpacked a little and contacted our friends who we were meeting up with for the evening.

While waiting for our friends we walked over to a little monument they have here for Christopher Columbus and dedicated to the people and thier familes who were on the ships.

We were picked up by our friends and headed over to Dave and Busters for some dinner and games. Hubby and I shared some appetizers for our dinner and enjoyed great company (Hi Mike, Linda, Tom, and Lisa!) the kids played for awhile and we headed back to the hotel about 10:30. Even though our bodies are technically 3 hours earlier California time...getting up at 4A.M. did us in and we headed off to sleep....

Took some pictures and as soon as DH can tell me how to upload them off of the camera - I will post them!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Hi everyone!


Got up about 7 this morning..even Stitch had to rise and shine!

We are in the middle of day two here and thought I would stop in a drop a few lines and post a couple of pictures of Stitch's adventures.

We started out the morning meeting up with Linda and the kids and headed over to ride the duck! Great fun...splashed into the Delaware River and drove through the streets of Philadelphia. We quacked along on a great tour.

After the Duck...we walked over to Betsy Ross' house and toured the home. It is incredible how small and narrow her home is and yet she raised 5 girls in the home and shared it with another family! We spoke with character actors acting as Betsy Ross. Tori shared Stitch with her. She asked if Stitch was the same as a sewing stitch....Tori found that amusing!

We headed over to Christ Church after the home tour. It is a beautiful church where George Washington, Betsy Ross and Benjamin Franklin attending amond others. There were plaques in the pews to tell you which family's pew it was.

After the tour of the church we headed over to Campo's to enjoy a traditional cheesesteak sandwich! We were going to go to gthe more famous ones but found out how far the were. The sandwiches were yummy! I had mine with onions and provolone cheese.

After lunch we stopped by Benjamin Franklin's post office. Tori sent herself a postcard because they stamp each letter/postcard there with Benjamin Franklin's signature!

Linda returned us to our hotel long enough for us to drop everything off. We were headed to the U.S. Mint and they do not allow you to bring in anything! Linda dropped us off at the Mint and we took a tour. We saw how they make the medals given to people for Congressional Awards, Military and other honors. We also saw how they make the coins. Unfortunately, they were done making coins for the day... but it was fun to see.

We walked back to our hotel and gathered our things together. While on the Duck...we saw a ferry that takes you over to Camden, New Jersey. Since my DD is on a quest to visit states..we thought what the heck! We grabbed the ferry and headed over. Long enough to get off and take photos and head back.

We are now in our room waiting for our welcome reception to start in a few minutes and our welcome dinner...more later!