Historical Tour to East Coast of USA August 20, 2013

On 29th of June 2013 Poppa, Mom, and I left for Philadelphia from Los Angeles. We stayed with my aunt Ana. Next day morning Sunday June 30th 2013 we all, including aunt Ana left for Washington DC. We rented big car it was a fun drive to DC. One thing I noticed is, east coast is full of lush green vegetation. Poppa was driving I enjoyed the scenic ride.
DC was one of the best monumental place. We stayed in Marriott Hotel. It was very close to bus and train stations for local sight seeing. Next day , July 1st mom, Aunt Ana and I took a bus to Museum of American History, while Poppa attended his conference in the hotel. The museum had a big collection of almost everything that I read it in my history book. From discovery of Columbus route to America to few presidents of America. Saw the most interesting inventions of Thomas Alva Edison; the most used now every day and night by entire world, the light bulb. One thing I saw is the tv sitcom ‘All in the family’s’ Archie bunker’s chair. Aunt and I rode a stimulating ride. It was a fun ride with dolphins movie especial effect. One time I got really excited. It was when dolphins almost tried to touch me by its mouth. Over all it was a good experience.
On July 2nd We took a city bus to White House. I liked president’s place. It was a big house. I wish was able to meet president Obama. It would have been a great opportunity to meet him and tell him how well he is playing an important
role in bringing up US economy. Next time I will get an appointment to meet him in person.
Next we walked to air and space museum from White house. It was a good long 4 mile walk. On they way we saw Lincoln tower, federal buildings-treasury building, Internal Revenue Service. We saw Capitol building. In the museum it was so amazing to see the space shuttles, rockets, and different airplane models. One thing is clear America has popularized the invention of Wright brothers. I was pleased to see so many inventions and discoveries.
Going to Raleigh, NC was little tiring. We got stuck in the 4th of July holiday traffic. But we made it to mom’s cousin’s place in Chapel Hill near Raleigh.
We visited cousin Prashanth’ s place. It was good to see my niece Amrita and sister- in-law Venus.
We saw a 200 years old Yates mill. It was a wonderful sight. There was a gigantic wooden wheel mill attached to barn like building, it used to run on water pressure. To get the water pressure they had built a small dam to the lake. It was an amazing technology. I learned the mill was used to mill corn, wheat, corded wool, and it also produced lumber. Inside the visitor center are displayed old hand mills. I tried one huge hand mill to grind; boy! It was hard and heavy. I could only imagine how people were strong in olden days doing such work. I even got to see one mill that was used by Incas. It was a nice educational trip. After that we went to see one of the last civil war battle field, Bentonvillle. I saw the war site where the first shot was fired. Initially I was not interested to go to the war site but I was so impressed by the tour guide’s explanation of war. He explained how the Union and Confederates did not agree on the black Americans civil right issues. I thoroughly saw the documentary movie on this war in the mini theater as well as some war artifacts in the war site visitor center. Finally the war ends by the surrendering of Confederate leader Gen. Johnston to Union leader Gen. Sherman.
We also saw Harper house. The Harper’s were farmers in the war site. Their house became a nursing home for severely wounded soldiers. The guide told us it is now a museum. They have preserved harper’s household items, medical equipment, medicines and bloody cloths of wounded soldiers. The pictures of Harper house is really a sad memory of the war.
On july 7th we left for aunt Ana’s house from Chapel Hill, NC. On our way back we passed through the state of Virginia. It was the first colony in the pre independent USA. We drove through beautiful country side highway, passed Chesapeake bridge and tunnel. It is an engineering marvel built on and under the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Bay. It is 23 miles long. I was so stunned to see the intelligence of these brainy engineers who came up with this outstanding design. I have to say this, I can relate to poppa’s work better now after seeing this since he also oversees and manages massive construction projects. I am so proud of him.
We ( mom, poppa and I) took train and bus to see New York from Philadelphia. Paid visit to 9/11 memorial. It was so sad to see so many people’s name who died in the attack. I was so touched by the tale of their sacrifices. We took ferry ride from manhattan to Staten Island. From the ferry I was utterly delighted to see lady liberty. She is an evergreen gorgeous girl; also saw Ellis Island, which used to be port of entry to New York during colonial times. Great to see the stock exchange building on Wall Street. oh boy! The statue of the big bull in front of the building made me think the economy is going to pick up with a roaring speed!
I was delighted to see Long wood Gardens in Kennett Square, near Philadelphia. Saw so many varieties of plants and flowers. The garden was purchased from William Penn by an industrialist George Pierce.
One last thing I want to add is, we saw so many little people in our hotel in Washington DC. They were so cute. They were attending a conference called Little People Of America. I was so fascinated to see how God’s creation in this world is. It was an amazing experience to see how happy they are in this big universe. People come in different color and size, yet we are all children of God. It made me think how important each individual is in their own respect.
We came back to Los Angeles on 13th of July. It was a memorable trip.
Rohit

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