We started our journey leaving Sea Isle City, NJ and driving through the marsh lands of New Jersey and then the forests of New Jersey and then the farm lands of New Jersey (it is the garden state you know). Finally we went over the Delaware Memorial Bridge and got off at the New Castle exit. When we got there and parked the car I was very confused. The only other time I was in New Castle I was in elementary school. I remember it being a field by the Delaware with a few colonial buildings. When we got there I was pleasantly surprised! It was a town! It was really neat! One half of the town was what I remembered with old colonial buildings in the center of the town; but the rest of the buildings looked like they were moved from South Philadelphia. We also walked around by the bay and I began thinking to myself "I could see myself living here". I rarely get that feeling but I truly could. It seemed like such a great small community with historical charm and a nice place to walk around in. The only problem is it gets really cold there in the winter; and after living in AZ I do not like the cold. Anyways! Lots of cool buildings there but my favorite was the library that is now the New Castle Museum! Great old building in the heart of the town!
We left there feeling good about the trip although small and drove down to Baltimore! Now the restaurant we were meeting my sister at is probably the most interesting restaurant I've ever been to! It was called the Paper Moon Diner. I was expecting a regular old school diner but again I was pleasantly surprised! Entering the multicolored exterior we come into the foyer where the walls are covered in Pez dispensers and old CD's. Every inch of the whole place is filled with old toys, dolls, action figures, and trinkets. It was so interesting that I barely even looked at my food when it came out. I got a California Quesadilla with tomato and avocado and it was great. Not the best but the company and ambiance made it great. Here is a picture of our favorite piece in the place! Just to give you an idea of what this place is like.
So we were off again! This time to the Baltimore Inner Harbor. We parked by the Federal Hill park which is a great area! A great place for families, runners, or a nice picnic overlooking the harbor. Now the harbor is an interesting place. It's one of those places that is super touristy but at the same time it isn't. There are the touristy things like people taking thousands of pictures, families getting ice cream, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Cheesecake Factory, Hard Rock Cafe, and street performers. But at the same time there are amazingly unique things there too that are the complete opposite of a tourist trap. Federal Hill Park, Baltimore Aquarium (the best aquarium in my own opinion), Baltimore World Trade Center, Lighthouse, various ships, and of course the Domino Sugar sign.
Now next to the lighthouse, there's an awesome stage called Pier 6 which is one of my new favorite venues. We sat on a bench on the outside and watched people walk by, listened to the Jazz Festival, and watched some guys flying drones around. We walked a little bit further finding the Katyn Memorial in a traffic circle a surprisingly peaceful place in a city setting; and then Little Italy. But after that, we walked back towards Federal Hill Park with the city lights reflecting off the harbor.
Going into Washington D.C. on Independence Day weekend was a little scary to me. I was expecting traffic to be atrocious; but again I was pleasantly surprised! We got into the city, found a spot and walked to the mall right by my favorite building, the original Smithsonian! It's a castle. An amazing red castle which clashes with the other white buildings of the city.
Now I could post pictures and go through our walk around DC for hours but I wont. We did a lot. There's a lot to do there; so I'll give you a list of memorials and monuments and tell you my favorites and why. We did usual ones Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, WWI Memorial, Korean Memorial, the White House, Ford's Theater, and the Capital Building. My favorites however were the World War II memorial and the Albert Einstein Monument.
The WWII memorial was great. tucked below the ground it was quiet and peaceful and everyone was super respectful. All 50 states were represented and my grandfather's name was on the New Jersey column. Two fountains were in the center between the rotunda's representing the two sides of the war Atlantic and Pacific. Everyone there was peaceful and respectful and it's now one of my favorite places in DC.
The other favorite was the Albert Einstein Monument. Across the street from the Vietnam memorial is a statue of Albert Einstein sitting and writing about his theory of relativity. The ground his is on is a map of the stars and a few signs with information about his life. Another great stature and monument that is completely underrated because it's not remembering a politician or soldiers in a war.
The last leg of our journey took us to a restaurant a few blocks away from the national mall called Harry's. It was an awesome spot to sit and eat and take in the sounds of the city. We sat outside and I got a lobster roll with fries and an Oreo as a special treat! It was perfect meal for the end of the day!
Now I have two more parts of the journey. A movie review and a game review. The movie review is a relatively new movie but it was my first viewing of Jurassic World. The game is a personal favorite of mine, Pokemon Heart Gold. Both of these are small journeys that I don't necessarily go on but are journeys in their own right and I would like to share them with you, if you're interested.
Jurassic World was a good movie. Characters were all great and didn't feel generic at all, the dinosaurs look amazing, and the action was great as well. My favorite characters were Owen (Chris Pratt), Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio), and Lowery (Jake Johnson). All of these characters felt really genuine to me; they didn't feel like the generic action movie tropes even though they were. I just felt they had their own personalities on top of the character types. My issues with film were the first 20 minutes of the film. Every conversation felt cryptic and foreshadowing. It felt like they are trying to shove symbolism down your throat to make more room for action. My other issue was it was a little too long. Some of the action sequences were unnecessary at times and it could have been shorter. So with all of that to think about, I give this movie 4 out of 7 stars.
Pokemon is my video game franchise of all time. It's their 20 year anniversary and I have played since the first year it was introduced in the U.S. In honor of Sun and Moon coming out soon (and Pokemon GO); I have been playing through the games in order to get ready for generation 7. I finished Pokemon Red (digital download on DS) last month and I just finished Pokemon Heart Gold. Now this game is my personal favorite. It's a remake of one of the best sequels of all time (in my own opinion). You get to go back to the world of the first game and battle your character! It's just great. Anyways here was my team (if you know or care about Pokemon).... Typhlosion, Quagsire, Ampharos, Bellossom, Crobat, and Heracross. The team was good but wasn't great, I could have used a psychic type for Bruno (that Machamp gave me trouble). Anyways I give this game 7 out of 7!
Well those are the journeys this week. Hope you enjoyed it! Please comment, like, and subscribe! We also have a Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter. So please follow us and support us for more information and pictures!
All the best, Ross
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