Old Salem

The week before Christmas the girls of the family took a day trip to Old Salem, a historic town near Winston-Salem, with some friends.

The first thing we did was go to an organ concert. This organ was built in the 1800s and then stored for 85 years and was recently restored.

I believe this is the Vogler's house.  Beautiful and distinctive architectural details adorn many of the buildings in the restored village.

Here's our little group.

I'm not quite sure which building this is but a lot of the buildings have moravian stars like this one.

Along the street

Since it was Christmastime, we had the added pleasure of seeing the buildings with period decorations.

Birthday Boy

Two weeks ago Carter turned 15, and to celebrate we went to the Oceanic Restaurant on Wrightsville Beach. And this week he went to the DMV and got his driving permit!

The light outside was absolutely golden so I went out with the girls to take some pictures around a nearby old pier.

New York City

Sorry this is out of order but here are our great-grandparent's name.
Grandpa and my mom

Tuesday we drove to New York City (and got kinda lost) to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
None of us had seen Lady Liberty before and didn't realize how large she is.
Ellis Island was a fascinating place. Learning about all the millions of people who came through and how Ellis Island functioned was interesting. Many of the buildings have not yet been restored and you get a clear sense of what they looked like during the time the island was in use.

We found our great grandparent's names on the Wall of Remembrance. They arrived from Ukraine and came through Ellis Island around 1911. Having Grandpa along, he could fill us in on more information about it which was was great.

Dinner at Abotts

Art
A beautiful New England Harbor+

Abotts+

+ lobster dipped in butter

+ steamed clams =a happy girl

NY-weekend

Last week we visited family and friends in New York. Over the weekend we had dinner with friends in Greenwich, CT, at a park overlooking Long Island Sound. The view was especially delightful as we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

My friends and I had great fun taking pictures of everything.

On Monday we visited Mystic Seaport, a restored 18th century whaling village.

Mystic

Emily in front of some old lobster pots.

Family picture time :)

They had some restored whaling ships that visitors could explore.

Dad and Charlotte tried their hand at whaling and had a little trouble...