01/10/11

Event Name: National Jamboree 2010
Event Date: July 21 - 30 2010
Attendance: 6 adults, 2 scouts

We saw many things on our trip to the National Scout Jamboree. We had 8 days to see as many things as we could in the Virginia/Maryland area. Our first stop after meeting at the Philadelphia Airport was to visit Valley Forge.

After Valley Forge we ventured into downtown Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. That evening we ate authentic Philly Cheese steaks for dinner.

On the second day we went into Washington DC to see a few sites. The first was Arlington National Cemetery. We did a quick tour of the Cemetery and witnessed the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown solder.

After the cemetery we went into Washington DC and explored the Museum of Natural History.

The next day we went back into Washing DC to see more. Our first stop was a tour of the capital building.

After our capital tour we went into the Air and Space Museum to eat lunch and and see all the cool exhibits.

Some general photos from around Washington DC

On day 4 we drove down to the Richmond area. Our first stop was the Museum of the Confederacy and the capitol house of the former Confederate States Of America.

Next we visited the American Civil War Center and learned how cannons were made. We participated in a demonstration of what it takes to fire one of them. It takes 8 people to properly operate each cannon.

We still had extra time that day so we decided to hit the beach. We drove around a bit and happen to find a very nice place called Buckroe Beach. After the beach we splurged for dinner and ate at Joe's Crab Shack.

On the 5th day we went to the Kings Dominion amusement park. Everyone had so much fun we didn't want to leave!

On Day 6 we decided to head back to the beach closer to our hotel. After driving around for a while, we found Colonial Beach. The sand at this beach was more coarse, almost like gravel. But we still had fun swimming and building sand castles.

On Day 7 we visited the Gettysburg battlefield and Luray Caverns. Our first stop was Gettysburg. It was a very humbling experience being on the same ground where thousands of men died fighting for what they believed in. 

Also on day 7 we visited Luray Caverns. It's a massive underground cavern system similar to Kartchner Caverns here in Arizona.

On Day 8 we visited the Boy Scout National Jamboree at Fort AP Hill in Virginia. Unfortunately, there was a guest speaker that day and they didn't open the gates for visitors until 11am. By the time we got in, parked and registered it was 2pm. We didn't have much time to see things as everything closed down at 5pm. Patch trading was a big thing at the Jamboree as you can see in a few of the pictures.

 On the last day of our trip we made a stop at Fort McHenry and learned how our National Anthem came to be.