Road Trip South

So now there I was back in the USA and the lease on my parents rental place was quickly coming to an end so the only natural thing to do would be drive to Florida... right? Well maybe only a crazy person would do that but work had to be found. So my mom and I packed up the Subaru and started our journey south. We had a serious itinerary planned with stops on our way south.
We started with a stop to see my grandmother in Massachusetts and stopping for the night in Connecticut. Next we were in New York City where we went to the Museum of Modern Art and then met my childhood friend Kara who lives and teaches in the city and then headed across town to have dinner with Fred and Adria, Club Med guests I met while working there. We then drove to just outside Philadelphia and the next day toured Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and other historic sites in the Old Town. We had heard about the Longwood Gardens which are about 30 mile west of Philly so we got tickets and toured the 4 acres of indoor gardens and the outdoor fountains with music and lights shows. What a beautiful experience!
The next stop on our tour was Washington DC which included seeing the Phillips Collection Art museum, tours of the Capitol Building with tickets for Senate and House viewings, Supreme Court, and White House(which was fully decorated). We also had dinner with one of my former co-workers from Sea Base who is attending college in DC as well as an afternoon at the Smithsonian American History Museum.
We heard about all kinds of weather happening and decided to get as far south as we could so we made a quick stop in Richmond, VA to have lunch with one of my cousins, Laura, before heading on 95 to Fayetteville, NC. We awoke to reports of bad weather just north of us so we headed south in rain and slowly increasing temperatures to stop just north of Jacksonville. The next morning we drove to Kennedy Space Center and toured around for the day. Saturday we drove in torrential down pour for several hours to the Fort Lauderdale Miami area and went to the mall where I used to work to by a new suitcase for my mom. Sunday we visited Fairchild Gardens and toured the grounds before heading to Sunny Isles Beach to Fred and Adria's apartment for drinks and to meet their son and to watch the sunset. We then enjoyed dinner at a local Mexican restaurant before packing up our things. Then the final leg! Monday morning I brought my mom to the Miami airport for her flights to Phoenix and I continued south to the Keys and arrived at Sea Base before lunch.
A week and a half later I had arrived!

Pictures from the trip can be found here... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2117675&id=44801562&l=94038be142