George W. Vanderbilt opened Biltmore House on Christmas Eve 1885. It took six years for them to build the estate. Today, it is still part of the family business, employing over 1800 employees.

Bruce loved the ceiling of the library, which had a painting by Pellegrini, The Chariot of Aurora. It was stunning and amazing. And it was hard to believe it was here in America. It came from the Pisani Palace in Venice.

Tiffany was in awe of all the amazing fireplaces. The triple fireplace in the Banquet Hall was my favorite, but she loved the one in the library, which was big enough for grown adults to stand tall in. There was also a dramatic hand-painted 18th century Swiss porcelain tile chimney and fireplace in the Tyrolean Room.

Cade and I were amazed at the indoor swimming pool and bowling alley. Oh, so amazing. The wealth was extraordinary. Bruce and I were talking about how our recent travels have shown us extreme poverty (The Honduras) and immeasurable wealth. Thankfully, we aren’t near to either end of that spectrum.

Josh just liked the whole house in it’s entirety. It was really like taking a short trip to another country. Because it’s so hard to believe that this estate is here. It’s a castle in America!

.

Oh, and by the way, their bakeshop makes the most amazing apple cinnamon pastries.

The morning that we left, we stopped in the Waffle House for breakfast. And we immediately noticed all the cigarette smoke. Amazingly, we’ve already gotten used to the fact that you can’t smoke in restaurants in Virginia, and we thought their patrons were breaking the law. THEN we remembered that we were in North Carolina. Not a non-smoking state. Isn’t that funny? Anyway, the waffles were really yummy and Tiffany declared that ‘Waffle Houses are always good, even if they’re always sketch.” Funny!

It took us six hours to get home and we were so tired when we got here. But it was a fun family trip.

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The kids began their quest with a game of laser tag. You enter a dark room to get your mission and your equipment, there follows twenty minutes of running, shooting, dodging and conspiring. The kids came out all flushed and exhilarated.

To calm them down, the manager showed them a video that told how lasers are incorporated into our every day lives. They are in our homes; computers, dvd players and remote controls. They are in businesses, like grocery store scanners. They use them for surgery, like my varicose vein surgery. And they use them for precise cutting of stone, diamonds, and other hard materials.

They also learned about mazes. They were asked to think of mazes in everyday life, Cade (GB) said that cities were like mazes . Other kids said things like grocery stores, houses, and malls.

I learned a very nice tip during the discussion. I’ve always been terrified by corn mazes and such. But the video told us that if you put your right hand out to touch the structure and keep it touching as you move around the perimeter of the maze, you will ultimately find your way out. It might not be the fastest way, but it’ll get you there. Very comforting.

After their discussion, they went back into the maze for another twenty minutes of fun. When they came out this time, he took apart the equipment that they were all using so they could see how the lasers worked with lights, speakers, vibration, and sensors.

Cade (GB) was thrilled that he got two of the high scores for the day. He was ‘Zombie’.

That’s his current fascination. Ugh, not a fan of zombies. He’s a boy, what can I say?

At the end, the kids were all presented with a certificate to show participation. I really think it was very educational because the kids learned how extensive lasers and mazes are in our society.

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By mid-morning we were back in our car headed for DC once again. We thought, since it was now a weekend, that traffic would be lighter, but that was not so. It was terrible and we got turned around several times. By the time we finally got into our parking area it was nearly noon. So we headed over to the Spy Museum to go through that.

It was pretty daggum crowded in there. We paid, got through the line, entered the elevator to go up to the main museum………… and the fire alarm went off………….. we all had to evacuate the museum. We knew it would take a while to evacuate, check the museum and then let all the folks back in who were mid way through the museum, so we went to lunch before heading back in.

It was a very extensive museum and took us quite a while to get through. I found out that I would make a terrible spy. I couldn’t remember my cover story long enough to fool the KGB…..LOL!

There were lots of cool gadgets to play with and it was amazing to watch actual video footage of real spies describing the challenges and the game of spying. It was fun to test our skills of observation and analysis at the interactive stations that were all over the place. And GB had a great time exploring the overhead ventilation system. In fact, he went through three times!

By the time we got out, it was almost three o’clock. So we headed over to the Mall area to get some pictures and tour the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, GB’s choice.

Here is GB in front of the Capitol,

and the Washington Monument.

Then GB took a picture of us, which he spent no time composing, and got a great shot!

This is the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. We only had time for one more museum, and GB really wanted to go through this one. I have got to go back because there is just SO much that we could’ve seen but had no time. AND we were quickly losing stamina. I hate to say it, but I’m a wimp about walking around. I think Washington needs about a week to really see it all.

This is the famous Hope Diamond. It is 45.52 carats and looks blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron in it’s crystal structure. If you look at it under florescent lights it looks red. It’s current estimated value is at $300–$350 million! Amazing!

By the time we got out of the museum the sun was setting and we were bushed. I had wanted to go see the Lincoln Memorial because I’ve never seen it, but we’ll have to save that for the next time.

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When I was planning our trip to DC, one of the other moms made a suggestion that our group go to Medieval Times, which is in Maryland, and we both thought it would be great to combine the trips.

The food is all eaten with your hands, no serving utensils are provided except for the vegetarian plate, which includes rice and beans. GB was so into the novelty of the situation that he tried everything they brought him, even the tomato soup, which he would never try for me….LOL!

GB and I couldn’t get our crowns to stay on our heads. So we bagged that aspect of the evening, but you can see my dh still wearing his.

This was the announcer for the evening. He told the story and introduced all the knights.

The parade of knights, squires and royalty.

This is the King.

Our section cheered for the blue knight. GB and I speculated that he was from France since he had a fleur-de-lis on his cape and horse. GB was really hoping to be in the green section. That’s his favorite color.

But we still enjoyed watching our knight battle the others.

Here he is with all of his armor on. Impressive, no?

GB posing in front of the castle. He was so excited by the whole evening that he had ‘video game ears’. That’s what I call it when his ears turn red from playing an exciting video game too long!

I’m so happy Kristi had this idea because it really made the day complete.

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We began our trip at 9:00 and drove, without traffic, for a little over two hours. GB has a fascination for the Asian culture so I knew he’d be thrilled to bits when he found out that the Spy Museum is right near China Town. So we immediately walked over to Chinatown to choose an authentic Chinese restaurant for lunch. There were so many good smells coming from everywhere that we could hardly choose. Ultimately, we went on the recommendation of a local and ate at Tony Cheng’s.

My favorite Chinese dish is chicken with cashews, so I ordered that in order to compare to our local restaurant. Wow! What a difference! It was far and away more superior to our place. Not that I won’t still like our little place. But this was a lot more flavorful.

GB doesn’t eat meat so he got the Vegetarian Rice, which came in a huge bowl, meant to serve more than one, I’m sure. And he did some serious damage to it’s contents. I think there may only have been about four forkfuls left. He loved it and the atmosphere!

Then it was on to the International Spy Museum for the day’s main event.

Time is ticking…a terrorist operation is unfolding in DC…sleeper agents are ready to activate a device that will bring the city to its knees. Can you find the hidden password to deactivate it before the terrorists launch their attack? In the ultimate intelligence game, you will piece together clues and decipher messages that reveal a world of ruthless terrorists and deadly choices. As a Special Security Division (SSD) agent armed with a Geo-COBRA, the latest high tech device issued to counterintelligence field agents, you prowl the streets of DC uncovering secret messages, tracing hidden signals, scanning for fingerprints, and breaking codes. Can you foil the plot? Only your wits and time will tell…

This is the COBRA device that gave us all the clues. We broke into five teams and all set off to foil the terrorists. My hubby and I didn’t get too much of a chance to see the screen because GB was insisting that this was a ‘kid thing’.

But we tried to keep abreast since I figured there would be points where he would be confused. And I’m glad we did because we needed all three of us to figure this out.

This is a great program but littler kids would have a very hard time. We had one team who dropped out because their kiddos were having a rough time.

And GB was off!! He kept telling me, the whole time we were trying to figure this stuff out, that it was just like one of his favorite tv shows, The Amazing Race. And it really was, minus the gross food eating parts…..LOL!

I was very impressed with how well everybody was able to work together. We usually had one or two parents per team to help out.

Every once in a while, you would hear the unit alert you to an incoming text or results from a fingerprint scan that you got off of a postal box, or something like that. So GB used these moments to get a bit of a respite.

And then he’d be off again. This is in front of the Newseum, where my hubby had to go in and ask them if they had ever heard of the NW Council because we couldn’t find it anywhere. The guards let him by so he could ask the people at the desk and they had a good time Google-ing it for us. Nobody could figure out where it was, but GB figured out that if you used the map on the COBRA, which was a GPS, and followed the dots on the map, it would guide you to where you were supposed to go. Guess you gotta be a kid to figure that out. Once we got there, the clues began again and we were able to finish our mission.

We did have trouble with our COBRA twice, once in the beginning before the mission began, giving us a late start. And once midway through the mission, the battery gave out and we had to walk back to the Spy Museum to reprogram another unit.

But we finished and we had a great time. And it was a great way to learn our way around the city and see what else it had to offer besides the traditional museums on The Mall.

We had planned to go through the Spy Museum after the mission was over, but we took so long that it was time for us to journey up to Maryland for our evening’s activities. We decided that we’d come back to the Spy Museum the next day.

Here are some games and info from the International Spy Museum:

Games

Spy Guide

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Coal was first discovered in Chesterfield County in the early 1700’s. In 1730, commercial mining began in Chesterfield County. It was the first industry this county undertook. It was also the first operation of it’s kind in North America. During the Revolutionary War, Chesterfield’s coal pits supplied the cannon factory near Richmond with fuel that was used in making shot and shells for the Continental Army. Because of the success of the County’s coal industry, funds were allocated to establish the first paved road in the state of Virginia; Midlothian Turnpike, which I use on a weekly basis. This turnpike was used to transport coal from the mines to Richmond. The second commercial railroad, built in the U.S., was built here in Chesterfield County to aid in the transportation of the coal.

Mr. Truzzie, a geologist in our county, began our tour with a quick reminder of the three different kinds of rock; igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. He also went over how fossils are made and showed us a fossil that had been found in the mine.

He showed us some of the equipment that minors would have worn back in the 1700’s and 1800’s.

This is a coal minor’s lamp and cap.

This would be a typical lantern that coal minor’s would use.

This is another type of cap and lamp. It actually had oil in it, which burned quickly and was a terrible safety hazard.

This picture shows a sink hole. It’s caused by portions of the mine, beneath the earth, collapsing. A few years ago there was a huge ruckus in our county because some of the folks who lived nearby had sink holes developing in their yards, some of which destroyed the foundations on their homes.

The hill in this picture shows the cast-off debris from the mine, which is still there today. The children were so excited to scramble around the hill and find genuine bits of coal. And some of the boys were planning on going home to light them up and see how they burned….LOL! Boys!

GB is standing in front of the mine. Through the archway there would be a hole in the floor which held a pulley system. That pulley would raise and lower the minor’s to and from the mines. It also was used to bring mules down into the mine. The mules would pull the coal carts. The stone that the mine is made of is from a quarry nearby and the bricks were created on site.

As you can see, the mine is well protected against interlopers. The mine was shut down in the 1940’s because it had suffered many cave-ins and explosions. Plus, mining in Western Virginia and Pennsylvania had become more profitable.

The children were grouped and given a bag of rocks. Using a nail and a penny they were to determine the hardness of each rock, using Mohs Hardness Scale, and try to figure out what type of rock they were.

This is a clinker, it is a fused or partly fused bit of coal with iron, which likely occurred because of an explosion down in the mine.

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