East Coast Adventures

All last week I got a little taste of what life is like living on the east coast. Growing up a west coast girl, I gotta admit that I had a preconceived notion that the states lining the Atlantic could never compare to those along the Pacific. But after 9 days and over 50+ miles of walking, I've come to a different conclusion...

The east coast is pretty freaking amazing!

I started off my trip in Philadelphia, and besides all the Eagles stuff EVERYWHERE (I'm still not over the Patriots losing), the city and it's infamous cheese steaks were pretty incredible.

From Philly I went to New York, where I did almost every tourist activity you could possibly do. But by far, the most emotional afternoon was the one I spent at the 9/11 Memorial. Words cannot accurately describe how it feels to see the names eteched onto the two water features outside where the Twin Towers once stood, then go inside and walk into a room filled photographs that belong to those etched names. The only words that come remotely close to the indescribable feeling I was experiencing are "heavy" and "heartbreaking."

After New York I went down to our nation's capitol where the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom. Now before Washington D.C., I'd never given much thought as to what my favorite type of tree was. But after seeing a cheery blossom tree in full bloom, under a bright blue sky and surrounded by warm sunlight, I've gotta say that very few trees come close.

On the last full day of my trip, I spent the day exploring Gettysburg. Knowing that thousands of Americans had died right where I was walking had a pretty sobering effect on the experience. But seeing where the battles took place and knowing the outcome of the war and why it is so important to our nation's history made for an epic day!

Overall my trip to the east coast was one for the books. Sure I went to more museums in 9 days than I have in the past 15 years, but so what?! It's cool to geek-out sometimes!