Steam train ride, Riverboat ride and Iwo Jima Memorial

Today we took our grandson to the Essex Steam train and Riverboat ride. I am going to break this down into different categories. First, the guys enjoyed the model train display.

The grounds

The Ride

 On the way back, we were going backwards and had an awesome view of the tracks from our seats.

Then the Special Surprise

The train worker invited Kayden to stand with him (showing him where to hold on) to get a close up view of the tracks. That wasn't all, when they had to give the signal that the tracks were clear after stopping, he let Kayden blow the train whistle three times. No other kids got that special treatment today. That was so special, especially since this kid loves trains. 

The scenery from the train

We saw a deer in one of the fields.

They were very close!

Then there was the advertisements in the train

Next was the Riverboat ride

Don't you just love that everyone always waves to people in trains and boats. Imagine if we did that in cars.....

These are mixture of coming and going from the boat.

Scenery from the boat

Gillette Castle which my girl friend and I went to a few weeks ago.

At the tippy top of the right branch, there is a bird zoomed in several pictures below.

I was taking the scenery and didn't notice this boat and passengers. Then I realized why some guys on our boat were asking for the boat to turn around.  :)

 The Birds

 The guys like the train best, but I liked the river boat with all the birds I got to see.

IWO JIMA

On our way home we stopped at Connecticut's tribute to Iwo Jima. We had seen it from the highway and one day George stopped and had told me how nice it was. This was mine and Kayden's first time. I highly recommend stopping to take the time to see it. I might go back one day when it's not so hot to better appreciate it.

I didn't realize that I was in the reflection. Yes, I was there today.

Eternal flame

A Day in Norfolk

I just love the layers of mountains in this picture taken in Norfolk. We headed up to George's hometown of Norfolk today to participate in some of the festivities they had going on.  I didn't take any pictures of the farmers market which we enjoyed and brought home some edible souvenirs. :)

Our first stop was the Immaculate Conception Church to view the stained glass windows. They were so beautiful.

At another stop we enjoyed the stained glass windows at Battell Chapel. Our guide gave us more details about the work that goes into the various types of designs. The last five were Tiffany stained glass.

We then went to the Historical Society where George aced a little quiz on identifying architectural pictures in town.

This was an interesting display of buildings that were once in Norfolk but no longer stand. 

This was the sign from George's doctor.

Then our day took an interesting turn. We were told of a scavenger hunt that they were starting today and it ends September 4th. We became the first team signed up, "Team Washington". We were given 15 clues of things we were to photograph.
Having grown up in Norfolk, George figured out a couple pretty quickly. I even was able to figure out a couple and we set out driving around Norfolk deciphering the clues and photographing our answers. This kept us busy for over an hour and we thoroughly enjoyed it. This is our kind of fun (though ask us about the road race we did the month before we got married--we each had second thoughts after that!)  We have 5 stumpers left but fortunately we have until September 4th to figure this out and we are determined. 

As we rode around, I was able to take some other pictures besides the scavenger hunt ones. These were other photos of the day. I wish I had my good camera, but my little one does a decent job too.

George made me take a picture of this house because it was a Sears & Roebuck house. It came as a kit bought through the catalog.

A friend told us about this field of brown eyed susans. This was the same spot that I got a great autumn picture last year. I think I need to return with my better camera, but not sure if the owners want me on their grounds. I'll have to do the best from the road.

It's hard to capture that these keep going down the hill. Thousands of them!

Creek was pretty dried up underneath.

It was great to be able to have a "go with the flow" day with many surprises.