June 2-3 - Seattle, to Baltimore, to Virginia

Hey everyone! So I did a little blog post very early this morning, but here's a cumulative one from the past two days. 

We were lucky enough to fly out (from Seattle) with the sunset and arrive with the sunrise (in Newark). 

 We took a red-eye flight from Newark, New Jersey and arrived on time. However, not a lot of us slept this flight, so lots of sleep was had in the Newark airport. Our flight from Newark to Baltimore was delayed 2 1/2 hours, so we were in a small part of the airport for about 5 hours.

This time included sleeping, socializing, playing games, listening to music, eating food, and just walking around. 

 Some benches were moved around and sat on/laid on creatively :)

 This short flight was much-anticipated, crazy things started happening...

 We arrived safely in Baltimore, where we gathered our luggage and rental cars.

 "smile for your mom!"

 Lots of waiting around...

 And the first monument, in Maryland! We visited Fort McHenry - first the visitor center and then a guided tour.

 The visitor center is quite new - very interactive.

 We then went to the fort itself - here is the entrance. This was used during the War of 1812, and was the inspiration for the "Star-Spangled Banner," written by Francis Scott Key.

 More of the entrance.

 We got to go through several of the original buildings.

 Our tour guide giving a very extensive history of the fort...

 I believe this is self-explanatory.

 Cannons overlooking the harbor.

 Leaving the memorial.

 We then went to the Baltimore inner harbor, where we had 2 hours to walk around and enjoy the sights.

 After about a two-hour drive, we arrived at the Mansours' in Fairfax, Virginia. As you can tell, we settled in quite quickly!

 You can tell these people are juniors and seniors! (note to parents: nobody was injured too badly)

Tomorrow we will be visiting Washington, DC!