The Wandering Disciple

Ocean City, Maryland: Located on the Delmarva peninsula, Ocean City is one of the popular Mid-Atlantic Eastern Shore destinations. The famous boardwalk and attractions combined with the off-shore sport fishing makes this stop popular with residents and tourists alike. The concept of a beach resort began in 1869 when Issac Coffin opened a beach cottage. Soon after other boarding houses followed and the area quickly became popular with businessmen from nearby metropolitan cities. In 1875 the first major hotel opened, the Atlantic Hotel provided 400 guest rooms with billiard and dancing rooms to entertain its visitors. Throughout the years, the community continued to grow to meet the needs of the tourism industry. The 1970’s were the busiest developmental times as more then 10,000 condo units were being created to stay ahead of the boom. The major attraction of the city is the world famous Ocean City Boardwalk. Extending three miles in length along the Atlantic Ocean, the boardwal...

Ocean City, Maryland: We spend the morning spending time with family and waiting for my dad to get off work. Then we headed south to Ocean City, Maryland. We had dinner at Phillips Seafood, featuring an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. Then we parked the truck and took a walk down the boardwalk, enjoying the sights and sounds of the Atlantic boardwalk. We stopped by the gaming area and tried our luck with some of the games of skill and rode some of the fair rides that are a mainstay of the Ocean City boardwalk. As the sunset in Ocean City, our vacation was coming to an end. For more photos from day eight, visit my Ocean City photo gallery.

Washington, DC: This city on the banks of the Potomac River nestled between Virginia and Maryland is the most powerful place in the United States. Washington DC, the nations capital, is home to the top of the US government and home to many of the foreign embassies. DC is also one of the top tourist destinations in the country, visitors come to see government in action and also tour the many museums and monuments that the city has to offer. The development of a capital city began by James Madison in 1788, declaring that the capital needed to be separate from the states. The United States Constitution gave the authority to establish a federal capital however it did not specify where the capital shall be located. The Residence Act of 1790 specified that the capital be placed on the Potomac and President Washington chose the location. The ten mile square city was surveyed and the capital began to take shape. The newly created capital city was named Washington in honor of President ...

Arlington, Virginia: The 624 acres of Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for over 300,000 men and women of our armed forces serving the United States from the Civil War through today’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The land that is occupied by the cemetery was initially purchased in 1802 for the construction of the Arlington House. The estate was eventually passed down to Robert E. Lee. Lee declined the offer by President Lincoln to lead the Union troops and became the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War. After Lee’s surrender at McLean House, Union officers decided to make Lee’s estate a graveyard for Union soldiers as a penalty for his disloyalty to the Union. As the United States Soldier’s National Cemetery began to fill up, the need to expand was evident. In 1864, General Montgomery Meigs declared 200 acres of the Lee estate be used as a cemetery. By the early 1900’s the cemetery continued to grow. In 1913, Congress authorized t...

Washington, DC: We hit the road before sunrise, this time enroute to Washington, DC. We were planning on spending a day in the nation’s capitol, just a highlights tour since we were only making a daytrip. To make the most of the day, we used Tourmobile to tour the city. We parked at West Potomac Park and joined the tour by the FDR Memorial. The tour took us into Arlington National Cemetery where we transferred to a tram to tour the cemetery. The tram made several stops inside the cemetery, we got off at the Tomb of the Unknowns. There we watched a wreath presentation ceremony before boarding the tram to head back to the bus stop. Once back on the bus, we headed back into the city to resume the tour. The next stop in which we got off the bus was at the White House. We walked the short two blocks over to the south lawn of the White House to have a good view. Then we went back and toured the White House Visitor’s Center before boarding the bus. The tour continued through the rest...

Lewes, Delaware: Located on the site of a former military base, Cape Henlopen is a state park located on the Atlantic Ocean. At over 5,000 acres, the park features beaches, camping, nature trail and much more. The public park aspect of Cape Henlopen began in 1682 when William Penn declared the beaches to be the publics beach making it the first public lands. The cape was an important military stronghold through the World Wars. It was in operation during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War and both World Wars. The cape was fortified more during World War II with the construction of Fort Miles. The park is also home to two lighthouses that help aid ships through the Delaware Bay. The Harbor of Refuge Light and the Delaware Breakwater East End Light located just offshore help guide the ship traffic through the waters. The state park was founded in 1964 by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. It offers visitors miles of ocean and bay fr...

Lewes, Delaware: Today was a rest day. After no breaks through the first half of the trip, we decided to lay low and recuperate a bit. We took a short drive into Lewes, Delaware and spent some time at Cape Henelopen State Park. We then went back to the house, hung around watching movies and going through pictures from the first half of the trip. Not a very exciting day, but a necessary break. We then went to bed early since we were hitting the road again early tomorrow morning.