Author: kennedyfamilytravels

Today we headed north on the 405 in our Santa Fe to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl and float barns to watch the floats being constructed. Only a few were in there to see, but the process was pretty cool to see. The homes around the stadium were huge and amazing. We definitely made our way into the foothills of the mountains.

Next we headed into Pasadena to watch the Bandfest and Mason perform their show for the last time. We had a quick lunch at Jack in the Box where we ran into the Myers and the Gallimore’s for lunch. The kids performed at Pasadena City College at Robinson Field. The line to get in was at least a mile long!

The bands who performed were awesome! We saw bands from Costa Rica, Hawaii, and California plus Mason. It was fun to see the styles and uniforms each wore. Honestly I think it was Mason’s best performance yet. The response from the crowd was overwhelming too. So proud of these kids!

Now to prepare for Disneyland tomorrow and watch Seamus march in the Disney parade! I’m hoping to get tons of good pictures tomorrow ❤️🎄

We are on the way to the airport to meet up with Seamus and the Mason High School marching band in California! The band left yesterday morning, bright and early, and took 4 chartered flights to LAX.

After a “boring and bumpy” flight, according to Seamus, the kids arrived in California and headed to the Santa Monica pier.

So we left a day later, heading out of CVG. Smooth and uneventful flight, which is always a good thing in my book!

LAX is big but not overly busy. Until you get on the 90 minute bus ride to the car rental place. But we picked up the car and headed to the Hampton inn on Seal Beach. Joe had to work for a bit, so Max and I went to Barnes and Noble to look around for a bit.

After Joe finished up working, we grabbed him and went for a long walk through the marina to the beach. There was a beautiful sunset and I grabbed some great pictures!! Now it’s time to get some sleep!!

Everyone slept hard our first and only night in Frederick, Maryland. Today we we’re heading into Washington DC to the Hop On Hop Off Bus to take in the monuments and Arlington Cemetery. The drive down wasn’t too bad, but the driving was interesting. This would be our last road trip in the Acura, and as always, she did great! Google drove us in along the Potomac and we were able to find a lot cheaper than valet at the hotel and really right up the street. The bus stop was about 3 blocks away so we sunscreened up, grabbed the backpack and camera, and headed out on our adventure!

We headed towards the Mall to start taking in the monuments. Now the humidity was high, and it was hot. So we ducked into the Natural History museum to look around, eat some lunch, and what the heck, buy a car. Yes, you read that correctly, I bought a car while eating lunch. Thanks to Jill and her salesman Matt, we pulled together a deal over texts! Crazy!!

Next, because it is next door, we ventured into the American History Museum to see some exhibits on war. We didn’t make it to the Dorothy shoes from The Wizard of Oz or other icons, but we did learn quite a bit and had the chance to learn some cool facts. Then we were off to the monuments up the Mall! Lots of walking for sure!

Now we were heading into the Washington Monument area and the WW2 Memorial, which I had not been to before. It was overwhelming and beautiful. The weather was very muggy and the skies threatened rain, but we made it through without any drops falling on us!

After visiting the Washington and WW2 sites, we found ourselves at the Korean Memorial. This one is so striking and realistic, and so different from the others; it just really stands apart from the rest. The faces are what get me every time.

Off to the bus stop we went to make our way across the bridge into Arlington. Now we knew the afternoon was passing quickly, but we had no idea of the adventure we were about to endure! We made it to the Changing of the Guard, which was amazing, but the journey back is where things become interesting!

Now the fun begins. We were told the last bus was at 4:30 back across the bridge. After taking the tram back, we arrived at the stop at 4:35. No bus. So, against Max’s better judgment, we start trekking across the bridge back into DC. It was hot. And muggy. About a mile in length, and then, the damn bus passes us about halfway across the bridge. Now Max has decided to jog the bridge at this point and we all knew a big “I told you so!” was coming, but we did manage a few laughs after this trip. And, once we made it back to the Lincoln, we hailed a cab to the hotel because we were beat!!

Our hotel was the Embassy Suites near the Convention Center. The location was perfect and we found a parking lot that was much more economical and safe than the valet. We ended up parking next to the Chanel and Louis Vuitton stores! After retrieving our bags and getting to the room, we rested up a bit before dinner at the hotel and then off to the Treasury Building to embark on our ghost walk through DC!

Finally we were ready to head for the hotel and catch some sleep but not before grabbing ice cream at a McDonald’s where the ice cream machine actually worked!!!

So with some big trips looming on the horizon, we decided to keep it simple this year. Stanley Cup game in Vegas to kick off summer, and now a quick adventure into history with exploring Gettysburg and Washington DC!

Starting out early on Sunday, we jumped into the Acura and headed east towards Pennsylvania and the battlefield of Gettysburg. Overall the drive wasn’t too bad, but lots of construction in PA. As is now custom, we stopped in West Virginia at Cabela’s to stretch our legs and grab a quick photo.

We hit the road again to get to Gettysburg by 3:00 and our bus tour. Driving into Gettysburg we traversed a lot of back roads, but it wasn’t too bad except the windy mountains! As you drive in, the battlefields and markers showing people involved first greeted us as we came into the town. The town itself was bustling and filled with cute little ice cream shops and historic buildings. It was busy but we made it through to the park pretty quickly.

Our 3:00 bus tour was waiting and we jumped right in to learn. Now, hindsight being 20/20, I would recommend doing the auto tour on your own. We learned quite a few things on the tour, but it would be to my liking to take time and explore more than the tour allows. We did learn that Jenni Wade was the only civilian killed during the war; she was accidentally shot while baking in the kitchen.

The whole tour was about 2 hours long and we visited most of the battle sites. The final stop was an overlook memorial of the final day of fighting when Lee retreated and General Meade proclaimed victory. Meade had only been appointed 3 days before the battle. We also learned about Senator Sickles who lost his leg to a cannon and then had the men grab his leg and send it to Washington. It is still on display in Fredrick, Maryland today!

After the tour we headed over to the cemetery where President Lincoln delivered his “Gettysburg Address “ speech following the battle. It’s a very moving place to be especially when you considered some of the battles happened here on Cemetery Ridge. Lots of Buckeye trees were placed around the fences as we found the Ohio memorial.

Next we were off to Frederick, Maryland to rest up before heading into Washington DC tomorrow. Dinner was a local place called Oscar’s Alehouse west and the food was great! Once our bellies were full, it was off to bed!

Oh I forgot! No trip is complete without a WalMart trip for Seamus. So yes, we did take care of that!!

Well, it happened again. The Knights made it to the Stanley Cup, and yep, once again, we made the trek out to watch a game. This time it was game 2 against the Florida Panthers at TMobile Arena. This was a really quick trip out and back as everyone had to work! Max is now employed at Kings Island, Joe was preparing for interviews with Miami, Seamus was working for Grandma and Grandpa, and I had to work at the Casual Pint! So, quick trip to Vegas it is!

We started out getting to the airport with PLENTY of time as our flight was delayed by 45 minutes as we were en route. Due to needing to come back on Tuesday, it was easiest for us to use Frontier Airlines this time out; lesson learned. That is one airline I will not be using again; it’s not worth my time. We were literally on the flight for 6 hours; easily a flight to Reyhkavik, Iceland by the time we landed. The airline literally kicked 10 people off the flight due to weight issues in the front and a mechanical issue. Yeah, we were a bit nervous to say the least. Max did his best to find a comfortable position once everyone moved around and Joe found himself in an empty row! Seamus jumped over and we all stretched out for the flight!

On the flight and ready to roll

Max getting in a nap on the plane

Finally we made it to Vegas, only about 2 hours later than expected. We tried a new hotel this time around: The Nomad, which is on the top floors of Park MGM. We liked it and found it quite perfect for our needs this trip out!

Vegas from Nomad entrance

After checking in we headed to New York New York to hit our favorite restaurant Nine Fine Irishmen. Before our table was ready Max tried a cookies and cream milkshake from the Hershey store.

Day Two- It’s Game Day!!

As is our tradition, Joe and I woke early and headed down the Strip for our morning walk while the boys slept. We love being on the Strip when most of Vegas is sleeping; plus, with it being a fast trip, I wanted to see as much as possible!

Vegas is preparing for the big upcoming Formula One race that will happen in November. They are currently repaving all the roads and tearing up the Strip. I’m intrigued to see the progress as the time draws closer.

Next it was time to get the boys and head to our favorite breakfast spot: Hash House AGogo at The Linq. You can’t go wrong with this as a choice. After we finished eating the boys played at the Arcade at Horseshoe before it’s time to head to T-Mobile!

After walking back to the hotel, it was time to get ready for the big game. Joe and I headed to the Armory for a bit to check out the game pucks and to check out the celebrations in front of TMobile. There were free Knights’ tattoos, marriage renewals, drink booths and entertainment. Vegas knows how to host a Stanley Cup game for sure. Now, each day we also had Max calling in to Kings Island to call off work as he needs 3 week’s advance notice to call off work. He spent lots of time with the automated system but it all worked out fine!

Another successful trip in the books! Go Knights Go!

I forgot to write this post. So, it’s summer, why not now? Let’s hope my memory holds up!

Universal Studios. I was most excited about this day because of Harry Potter world. Our hotel was close by and offered a shuttle. Yeah. That didn’t work out so well. Who cares? We can drive and be on our own schedule. First stop was VooDoo Donuts until we saw the hour wait. So, Auntie Annie’s pretzels for us!

So we headed in to the park. Ok these lines were long! We used the app and found our feet. The park was at capacity for the day; that had just started back up the week we arrived!! We tried to wait for the Shrek Show but the line was crazy so we headed to ET!

So clearly I didn’t take as many pictures here because I was enjoying the rides! But we got as many rides in as we could. Hot both parks and the Harry Potter ride and ran like crazy. Longest line was for King Kong. It was ok. Not great. Seamus and I have decided we need to go back!

On our way to the other park!

So we didn’t get to ride Hogwarts Express this time but found it easy to go back and forth between the parks. For lunch we had burgers and fries. You had to order through the app like Disney, but Universal did deliver the food!

We ended our day with literally walking on to the Transformers ride! Because it was SO cold and windy! Seamus had two sweatshirts on to cut the cold that night! Now, it was warmer than Ohio, but still! The shoppes on the way out received some love from us and we were ready to head for home! The drive through Atlanta was terrible! We pulled into an outlet mall to try to pass some of the time but still sat for several hours trying to get back! We had a great time but were ready to get home for Easter!!

Day Two led us down the strip after donuts from Krispy Kreme for the boys! We stopped by the Bellagio garden to see their latest creation and I was so excited to see the foxgloves and calla lilies they had included in their gardens! We saw some fun sights along the way as well! We even found a place that I think is Seamus’ namesake: Milk. We didn’t stop in to eat as it wasn’t open when we walked by in the Cosmopolitan; actually, many places had reduced hours due to lack of staffing brought on by Covid. The poor guy at Krispy Kreme literally had to run down to the docking area to pick up his donut orders, run back up to the Food Court in Excalibur, and then deal with the huge line snaking around the seating area there. This has been really tough on the service industry and I hope it can make a recovery soon!

On our way to the escape room we found some delicious looking food too!

We finally reached Caesar’s Palace to complete our first Escape Room: Prison Break. Seamus and I were in one room and Joe and Max in the other. We had to work together to find our way out of the cell and eventually the prison room. Seamus and I rocked it, but Joe couldn’t understand my directions to follow a maze in the “window” in the room. He’s still complaining about it🤣🤣. Eventually we worked our way out and escaped with 1 minute and 20 seconds left! Victory!!

Next we drove to Summerlin to skate at City Arena where the Knights practice. Joe and the boys hit the ice while I tried out my new camera! Lots of skaters so it was hard to have much room!

We ended the day by hitting Lucille’s BBQ at Red Rock Casino. The food was amazing! Max loved the biscuits and Seamus enjoyed the pulled pork. Joe and I shared the pulled pork, brisket and beef ribs. We were stuffed and headed back to the Strip to get some sleep!

Now it’s time to prepare for the Gold Mine Tour!!

Today was THE day; the reason this trip came into being. We headed out of Cocoa Beach bright and early after the rainstorms and air conditioning replacement at the hotel before finally getting some sleep! The boys were ready to build-although at this point in the day we had no idea if that would actually happen!

When we arrived we were the 10th car in line to get into the parking lot. Waiting went pretty quickly and we followed the parade into the lot.

Heading into the park the mask police we’re in full force, and they were all day. We literally watched a work person jump a table to yell at people who were trying to take a picture without the masks! It. Was. Nuts. “Cover your nose and mouth” could be heard all day from every corner. A bit over the top.

Once in (which NO ONE checked any bag at all going in; I was shocked) we headed straight back toward Galaxy’s Edge. Trucking through the mostly empty park was pretty easy and the boys arrived at Savi’s Workshop in no time. They were motivated to get there! From my observation they were second to arrive and put their names on a wait list to make their own light sabers! The waiting game begins!

While waiting and since it was pretty empty still, we headed to the Millennium Falcon ride, Smuggler’s Run, to ride! Now virtual queues were the thing, and we NEVER were able to get in one for Rise of the Resistance. I wasn’t impressed with this aspect at all. But the details and creativity that went into creating this place was off the charts! Details were amazing! It was quite the visual feast for the eyes!!

One of the must haves for the trip was trying Blue milk and green milk like Luke Skywalker drank in the movie. Now, it’s not actually milk, but a fruity drink. Max described it as berry like but not bad. Seamus said it tastes like berries and good. Max also tried green milk was more tropical tasting but he definitely liked blue milk better. Seamus stuck with the blue!

So eating was interesting. You could have your masks off while stationary and actively eating. You ordered on the app, picked up and then found a place to sit. Joe had a meal from the ABC Commissary while the boys had Star Wars foods! I had a pretzel and finished off Seamus’ food too. Because the boy hardly eats!! Then back out to find rides!

While waiting for our callback to Savi’s we ventured out to the Toy Story area of the park for some rides. It was fun to hear what the kids remembered from our first trip; honestly it wasn’t much!!!

Once that text came in, Joe and I could not keep up with the boys heading back to Galaxy’s Edge🤷‍♀️🤣. It’s the fastest I’ve ever watched them move outside of skating. We were able to get a 4:05 build time and they were so excited!

Once there they picked out their designs and waited to be called back. This process was a lot like the Ollivander’s Wand Experience at Universal; it was definitely a production. Savi and his helpers come in and talk the builders through the process. It was really cool watching this all happen and the excitement on the faces of everyone in there. I may have gotten yelled at for not staying on my dot; however I didn’t hear them so I just continued taking pictures!!

It was done! We decided to do one more round of blue and green milk and another ride on the Falcon.

It was time to head back because we were exhausted! 20,000 steps for the day. We ended with a trip to see Woody and Buzz one more time! A great day!! We tried to have dinner at Disney Springs and the Irish pub but it was such a disaster we gave up; even with reservations it was a HUGE wait and already 9:30. We were done and headed to the hotel to rest up! One more day to go!

We quickly headed out of Valdosta bright and early (like before 6 am) to get on the road and start our Kennedy Space Center adventure. After 4 more hours of driving on 900 toll roads we made it to Cape Canaveral and the rockets! Although it was warm this morning, the sun was a much needed site as we made our way through the space voyages and seeing the Atlantis shuttle! It was very moving to see the Hall of Remembrance and those who died. The boys enjoyed their adventure trying to endure what the astronauts went through with lift off was an adventure too. We enjoyed lunch at the Orbit Cafe and helped Seamus keep from overheating!!

Next we were off to Cocoa Beach so Joe can teach his class!! Of course storms rolled in and the boys and I were soaked while heading back from the beach!