From Philadelphia to Washington DC

So we finally made it to Washington DC and everyone is super excited!
The weather was a bit uncooperative yesterday as we traveled from the world's worst Holiday Inn expess through Intercourse and Gettysburg.  Actually, we only had to run through the rain a couple times.  We timed our stops appropriately and stayed in the car during the rainy bits.
The morning started off interestingly.  The TV caught fire...yeah, like something from an old movie.  Watching the weather, loud pop, flames from the back of the TV followed by smoke.  Kind neat actually.  It really put the icing on the cake for the award of world's worst.
We drove through scenic hilly farmland to seek out those whacky Amish near Intercourse, PA.  We all screamed when we saw our first buggy!  Then more buggies.  Then we even saw an Amish old man walking through town in the rain.
Quote of the day: Elizabeth, "I guess those Amish can use umbrellas after all."
After stopping for a hearty lunch at some folksy Amish/Menonite restaurant and filled up on chicken and mashed potatoes we drove on to Gettysburg.
Gettysburg is so big and so filled of salty old history stuff that it can't really be appreciated by most who visit it, especially not 7 and 8 year olds.  We drove around a bit, saw a muriad of shrines and statues and pickets and more statues.  The museum was decent.  I still struggle with the fact that it's privately owned yet on a National Park.  I wonder what fat cat is drawing a profit from the battlefield.
A Park Ranger recommended we go to "Devil's Den" near the south end of the park.  Good suggestion.  We "got our wiggles out" and expended some of the tireless 2nd and 3rd grade energy on those interesting and seemingly out of place boulders.
We made it to Washington DC by evening and shared a home-cooked meal with our friend Ms Rachel.  It is nice to stay with friends and family.  Hotels get to be a drag after a while.
Today is DC and I better get to it.  The kids are getting restless!