I know that I have SO MUCH to catch up on!!!! I have really been slacking in the blog department lately. But I thought I would start my catch-up by talking about the fun, exciting, educational, and amazing trip I took to Philadelphia and Baltimore with some of my co-workers to attend a museum conference and get museum ideas for our re-design project.
On May 16 we flew to Philadelphia. In keeping with my usual tradition, the delicious food that I ate shall be mentioned several times throughout this post :)
We discovered a wonderful place in Philadelphia: Reading Terminal Market (as seen during one of the chase scenes on the first "National Treasure"). One of the food vendors was serving these DELICIOUS crepes filled with Nutella, bananas, and strawberries. They were so good that I ate them for breakfast both days we were in Philly.
We spent our first morning exploring before going to the National Museum of American Jewish History. This museum was the main reason we stopped in Philly--because the designer who created this museum is the same designer we are using. So we wanted to check out things that we liked/didn't like about the museum. Before the Jewish museum, we saw some cool Benjamin Franklin sites--like the original post office he created! Later in his life, he would sign his letters "B. Free Franklin"--pretty cool! That evening we went to a reception at the Barnes Foundation--a world-famous art museum. They have a great collection of impressionist paintings, featuring works by Monet and Renoir. Those impressionist artist sure liked to paint naked people!
The next morning (after another delicious Nutella crepe), we visited Independence Hall--the birthplace of our country! It was so cool to be there in the very room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were both signed. We also visited the Constitution Center which was also cool.
After our Constitutional morning, my supervisor/friend Maryanne and I broke off from the rest of the group (they were going to more art museums, and we were a little art-ed out after our evening at the Barnes Foundation!). We had a great afternoon eating PHILLY CHEESESTEAKS (yum!) and visiting Betsy Ross' house and Christ Church (where all of the founding fathers attended church). We even got to sit in George Washington's pew!
Here we are at Christ Church--I just noticed that we are standing on someone's grave. Oopsie! Sorry, person! That evening we met back up with the rest of the gang for some dinner, then we all employed various means of transportation to head to Baltimore. I was in a car with Maryanne, Alan, and Laura. We made a slight detour to visit Valley Forge--which ended up not really being on the way--but it sure was cool. When we got there the park was closed and it was dark and kind of rainy out, but we snuck into the park (am I incriminating myself? I suppose as a former park ranger I should know better!) and walked around. It was kind of creepy at night, but it was also REALLY cool! That was actually one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. We climbed split rail fences and eventually found our way to Washington's headquarters. What an adventure!
On Sunday morning we went to church and then a group of us drove to one of my favorite places: Gettysburg! Once again, we were on official business because we were checking out elements of the visitor center--which our designer also designed. This was another favorite part of the whole trip. Here we are with Lincoln. Beginning in the back row, from left to right: Alan, Wayne, Sallie, John. Front row: Abe Lincoln, me, Maryanne. Good times!
The next couple of days in Baltimore we spent most of our time at the American Alliance of Museums conference where we learned a lot of great things. We also got to spend some time sight-seeing. On Monday we visited another of my favorite places: Fort McHenry! And on Tuesday we got to check out some of the awesome historic ships in Baltimore Harbor. Here is the USS Constellation from the Civil War.
I even got to walk through this submarine: the USS Torsk! This sub sunk the last Japanese ship of World War II. It was pretty awesome.
Here is some proof that I did actually attend the conference. As I was walking through the expo area at the convention center, I found Abraham Lincoln . . . eating seafood and drinking beer with Frederick Douglass.
On Tuesday evening Carrie and I went to Babe Ruth's birthplace.
Then a few of us went to a Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards . . . where I got to meet up with my good friend Angie!!! It was so great to see her. We have been friends ever since we worked together in Natchez. We had a great time at the game, and the Orioles beat the Yankees!
On Wednesday morning, I attended the last sessions of the conference, then it was time to pack our bags and check out of the hotel. Thankfully I had a little time before heading to the airport, so I was able to meet up with another of my good friends, Emily! It was wonderful to see her too! We have been friends for 10 years (we can't believe it has been that long!) since we were roomies during the semester in Nauvoo. We had a delicious lunch at a seafood restaurant with a funny name: the Rusty Scupper.
I had many crab cakes on this trip (yum!!!), and I decided that my favorite was at the City Tavern in Philadelphia, but this picture of my crab cake sandwich at the Rusty Scupper was the best crab cake picture I had (it was also really tasy). After lunch with Emily, our group headed to the airport and flew home that evening. It was such a great trip--I had a lot of fun and learned many good things. We decided that the most important part of the trip was just being able to see and talk about different museum design ideas, as we are currently in the middle of planning the design for our re-designed museum. I am so fortunate to have a job that doesn't even feel like work. This trip was extra fun, but each day at work is also fun. I feel really fortunate to work with such wonderful people at the Church History Museum!
Since returning from my trip, we have also been having a lot of fun around here with baseball games, Memorial Day, and projects around the house . . . pictures to come soon!
