Tampa Bay Trip

On January 1, 2008, Tim and I (along with two of our friends, Craig and Becky), attended the Outback Bowl game in Tampa, Florida. The Wisconsin Badgers were playing the Tennessee Volunteers.

Our hotel was right on the beach.

The day before the game was spent playing in the surf, sun and fun. Here are Tim and Craig on one of those water bicycles. Come to find out, these bikes aren't as easy as they look!



The night before the game, we went to Ybor City, which had a lot of shops, restaurants and bars.

We found an outside bar that was crawling with Badger fans, so we made ourselves at home.

The game was played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. This is the same stadium where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play.

Our seats were in one of the endzones.

Sadly, the Badgers lost, but we all had a great time anyway.

San Antonio Trip

Over Memorial Day weekend in 2008, my family went to San Antonio for a long weekend. We were there Friday-Tuesday of the holiday weekend.

This is my family enjoying the Happy Hour our hotel offered every evening from 5-7:

The hotel we stayed in over-looked the famous Riverwalk. This is a view from the balcony of our room:



These are a few pictures illustrating how beautiful the Riverwalk is:

While in San Antonio, we saw many cool sights. This is The Alamo:

This is the church where Davey Crockett's remains are buried in a vault:

This is the Tower of the Americas:

And this is the view of San Antonio from the top of the Tower:

Here are some fun pictures from our trip:

Springfield, IL

On the final day of our mini-vacation, we stopped by Springfield, IL, on our way home from St. Louis. We wanted to see the house where Abraham Lincoln lived before he was elected the 16th President of the United States.

St. Louis

On our way home from my brother's place, we took a side trip to St. Louis, where we saw the Gateway Arch.

We took the short ride to the top of the Arch and were able to see the city of St. Louis on one side:

And Illinois on the other:

Kansas City

In October, we took a mini-vacation through the Midwest. First, we went to visit my brother in Kansas City (he actually lives in Overland Park, Kansas). The Sunday we were there, he took us to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

Here's a statue of Rodin's 'The Thinker' in front of the Museum:

Farewell, DC.

DC is a wonderful, historic city. I'm glad we were able to spend a full week in our Nation's Capital.

DC Vacation - Day 7

On our final morning in DC, we went to the Washington National Cathedral. This Cathedral is immense and beautiful. Anyone and everyone are welcome to worship at this Cathedral.

Here's a picture of the inside:

The stained glass windows in this Cathedral are stunning:

Here's a view from the tower of the Cathedral:

DC Vacation - Day 6

Day 6 of our vacation was spent at the National Zoo. I really wanted to see the Giant Pandas I had heard so much about. The Zoo has three Giant Pandas - Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Tai Shan.

Giant Pandas weren't the only animals we saw at the Zoo. We also saw:

Elephants:

Gorillas:

Meerkats:

Lions:

And, one of my favorites, a Capybara:

DC Vacation - Day 5

On day 5 of our vacation, we visited the National Archives. We saw the Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase; among other historical documents.

After the Archives, we were hoping to visit Ford's Theatre, where President Lincoln was shot, but unfortunately, it was closed due to renovations. We were, however, able to tour the house across the street where President Lincoln died at 7:22AM on April 15, 1865. Here are two pictures of the room where he died:

On our way back to our hotel that afternoon, we passed basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the sidewalk. I did not recognize him, but Tim did. As far as I'm aware, this was our only celebrity sighting while in DC.

DC Vacation - Day 4

By now, the weather had cooled off greatly, so our day 4 visit was to Arlington National Cemetery. This Cemetery is huge, and its grounds are covered with thousands and thousands of gravestones.

Among the most famous people buried here are:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis:

Robert Francis Kennedy:

While at Arlington National Cemetery, we were able to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns. The Tomb is engraved with the words, "Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God." The Tomb is guarded 24 hours-a-day and 365 days-a-year by specially trained members of the 3rd United States Infantry (The Old Guard).

After Arlington National Cemetery, we walked through Union Station. Union Station was bigger than I expected. It was full of stores, restaurants, and even had a movie theater. This picture overlooks the food court. If you notice the lights on the left-hand side, near the bottom of the picture, these lights are made by Tim's company, Electronic Theatre Controls, in Middleton, Wisconsin.

DC Vacation - Day 3

Day 3 was a busy day for us. We started the day by touring the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where we saw lots of soon-to-be-spent money being made.

After the BEP, we walked through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This Memorial Museum is informational, yet heart-breaking. It's impossible to understand why all these people were murdered because of who they were, and where they came from.

After the Holocaust Memorial Museum, we took a walk to the Jefferson Monument. It was a picture-perfect day, so we were able to snap lots of great shots of this Monument. Here is one of them:

After visiting the Jefferson Monument, we walked back to the National Mall, where we saw these next two Memorials:

Korean War Veterans Memorial:

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall: