Day 17: Heading South

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We had another long day of driving.  We left the Eastern Shore of Maryland, traveled south through Virginia, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and stopped to visit a cousin in Portsmouth.  I wish we had time to explore Portsmouth further.  I saw lots of neat shops and a sign for a children's museum that was hard to ignore. 

From Portsmouth we traveled to Emporia, which was our normal place to stop for food, restrooms and fuel.  Our only regret was buying fuel there because just a couple miles south on I-95 there was fuel for 30 cents cheaper.  When we entered North Carolina on I-95 South I stopped at the state Welcome Center.  These are great places to get out and let the kids stretch their legs.  Our kids like to pick out a brochure or two as a free souvenir and most of them have something for kids.  Don't be afraid to ask.  I went into this one alone, so I asked if they had coloring books for the kids.  They provided me with four and would have given me crayons if I had needed them.  They also gave me free stickers when I mentioned our oldest son was born in North Carolina.  Always make sure you sign their visitor log.  We have collected several nice coloring books and coloring pages at state Welcome Centers on this Long Journey.  The coloring books are great for TripLearning because they provide information about the state in a kid-friendly format.

We continued down the I-95 corridor through North Carolina* and into South Carolina, then headed west on I-20 to Columbia.  My husband's family lives in Columbia and we always enjoy visiting here.  EdVenture is their children's museum.  Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is always a favorite.  We hope to go by the zoo on this trip because they have penguins!  I also think the South Carolina State Museum is one of best and largest state museums I have seen.  Columbia is also the state capital and we have visited the capitol building a few times.  They have theaters, other museums, nice parks, and Lake Murray.  We hope to do a few things in the coming days.

We were all pretty tired today and our emotions were closer to the surface throughout the long drive.  It was a good TripLearning opportunity because even when we are tired we need to be kind and patient with those around us.  We have been teaching our children 1 Corinthians 13, which describes the characteristics of love.  At one point yesterday we reviewed what love is and though we were not perfect in our responses to each other, we did try to apply our knowledge through our actions. 

*This links to a great website that is similar to the brochure I picked up at the North Carolina Welcome Center.  It tells you about all the points of interest along I-95 through North Carolina. 

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