Woo Hoo! DH told me a couple of weeks ago that he got our 16th anniversary off and his surprise was taking me back to Ohio. We just got back last night and I loved every minute of it.
It's been YEARS since DH could go back to Ohio for any length of time. Mostly because getting time off and the money part to work together hasn't worked. My parents have driven out several times over summers to get the kids and I so this was a wonderful treat to have him.
We decided to take a "short cut" through the top of Missouri instead of heading down I-29 to I-70. After a little bit, we realized we were only a couple of hours from Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois and decided to make a detour. We figured we'd have the place to ourselves since it wasn't the middle of summer and we could just make a quick look through the area.
I was right about having all of Nauvoo to ourselves. To keep from making this a long post, it's a beautiful place. If you ever get a chance to go despite your religious preferences, do it. We didn't do any tours as everything was closed, but to drive around and read the signs made everything extraordinarily real.
We did stop off at the temple. I wasn't expecting the breath taking view as we went around the corner and my jaw dropped. It's even more beautiful than I could possibly describe. I thought it would be full of people, but we were the only ones there. I don't take the best pictures and my kids didn't quite get the two of us in right, but they will be cherished.
We stopped off at the Dayton Air Force Museum the next day and only had two hours before it closed. Even if you don't know a thing about military aircraft, you will find yourself enjoying the sights and the best part is that it's FREE. That's another place not to miss out. DH grabbed a wheelchair and off we went to get as much in as we could.
None of my pictures came out right for the museum. My camera doesn't like dark rooms. They have the Stealth B-2 Bomber on display right now. The funky one that looks like a bat wing. I actually saw the first public appearance of the aircraft at a Dayton air show about 15 years ago. You never heard it coming until it was over your head and it flew around gracefully and left.
I rarely get to spend time with the oldest of my brothers and I spent all weekend with him. We were close as kids and it hasn't changed. We went and got a case of "sliders" to bring back to my kids and I ate my new record of seven. The last time I had "sliders" I made it to four and threw up. They have BBQ ones now that aren't too bad. My kids have never had them so it was a treat.
My mom still can't figure out why anyone would want to eat something that might possibly make you throw up.
A"slider" is a burger from White Castle in case you didn't know. I bet you can figure out why. You gotta do Skyline Chili if you've never tried it as well.
We took the kids to the cemetery were DH's mom is buried. I thought they'd be sad but when my DS walked by the marker, my youngest DD said, "Hey! That's grandma you're stepping on! Get off!" We all burst out laughing. I know it meant a lot to DH to visit as he hadn't been there in 15 years. My other daughter was sad when she realized that DH's mom had died Christmas Day and gave him a hug.
The hardest part about being in Ohio was how everything has deteriorated. Empty shopping plazas. Stores that once were booming are practically empty. Homes for sale in all kinds of places. It was being in a ghost town. I grew up here and moved when I was 19. It's totally different.
I saw my first 3D movie, "How To Train Your Dragon" there. It was really good and while the visual effects made me dizzy, it was cool to see it this way. Sneaking out for the 11pm showing cause grandma has your kids made everything that much more fun. The last time we had a late night date was BK. Before Kids.
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