July 28th, 2014

7/28/2014

Happy Monday & National Milk Chocolate Day!

Hello Peeps!! What better way to celebrate Monday than with National Milk Chocolate Day!! Now, personally, I prefer Dark chocolate and Tanya, as a vegan, will not eat milk chocolate, BUT, I have never been known to turn down a piece of chocolate of any kind!!!

Here is a great little article about this day celebrated on July 28th featured on Chocomize. One little fun fact is that the average American eats 11 lbs. of chocolate a year and a whopping 71% of that is milk chocolate.

Gianna's milk chocolate M&M Cake

Yesterday, I worked with Gianna to set up the Travelin' Cousin's YouTube Channel. Wow, I was amazed at how much she knows about making videos and editing them! Stay tuned for our YouTube big debut!!

Today the girls start another week of Horseback Riding camp. This will be their last full week, until the end of the summer, and then they go back to riding on Saturdays only come September.

I plan to do travel writing and trip research today during the quiet hours. Not sure what else the day will bring. Perhaps a little bike riding, a nice long walk or sitting by the dock in Eastport. Last night it stormed so bad here, and the thunder woke me up. I thought for sure it was going to be a washout of a day. But, lo and behold, the sun was shining when I awoke, and there is a breeze in the air.

Thought you might enjoy a few "travel-related" facts about today in history, which I found interesting:
- 1896: The City of Miami is incorporated.
- 1964: Ranger 7 launched toward the Moon; sent back 4308 TV pictures on this day in history.
- 1973: Launch of Skylab 3, the second manned mission to the first U.S. manned space station.
The mission lasted 59 days, 11 hours and included 858 Earth orbits- 1978: A rock festival took place in Watkins Glen, NY. About 600-thousand people watched the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers and The Band perform.
- 1984: 23rd modern Olympic games opens in Los Angeles
- 1990: Blackout hits Chicago

Well, that's all for now, folks!
Enjoy your day and here's to the start of a fresh new week!!
-E

Another Monday (on Vacation)

Spent yesterday touring Citizen's Ball Park, my 22nd baseball stadium! We watched the home team Phillies beat the Diamondbacks in a 4-2 victory! The game was quite fun, but boy was it hot and steamy! After the game, we had a late lunch and then strolled Penn's Landing, Harbor Park, and streets of the Old City.

Count 'em 22!

The skies of Philadelphia really put on quite a show for us last night!
Having anticipated a storm of rain & lightening; we waited and suffered in the heat all day long, carrying around my umbrella and the very unfashionable ponchos, and then finally during our very late dinner at the new dining hot spot 'Charlie was a Sinner' the skies had finally opened and the electrical storm had hit! Quite similar to the conditions we had upon our arrival (over 2 weeks ago), it was like we are being sent off with a BANG! The kids refused to wear the ugly ponchos, so Cosette and I hid under my umbrella in an attempt to stay dry. We came back to our hotel room and sat cuddled in the pitch dark with our eyes fixed, staring out of the large window over looking Independence National Historic Park with all of our focus on the bursts of light, bolts and strikes! Listening to the thunder that blasted the otherwise silent night. Eventually we became so hypnotized that started to doze off!

And now our last full day for this trip has arrived. We aren't gonna be over here moping around, depressed that the vacation is almost over. We are going to spend it like any other given day on one of my vacations...BUSY!
For starters, we need to make up the tour from Saturday and go check out Independence Hall, we'll also be heading over to the Ben Franklin Museum, Betsy Ross House, B. Free Franklin Post Office & Museum, and Efreth's Alley! Of course there will be a spattering of food thrown in the mix, and then we'll be dropping off Dave B. at the airport. We've had a great weekend in his company and are so glad that he came to join in on the fun!