New England Trip - University of Pennsylvania

We arrived in Cherry Hill, New Jersey just after midnight and went straight to bed. We chose Cherry Hill because it was close to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but without the prices. It was less than six miles from UPenn. We woke up and drove straight to UPenn.

We needed coffee badly because we did not even eat breakfast. We stopped at Star Bucks near campus for some much needed caffeine. Once we got our fixThe first thing I look for in a university is the quad. At first we could not see it because of the way we came in. But as we continued to walk into the university, WOW, what a surprise: GORGEOUS campus! A lot of buildings were closed but we managed to walk around the campus and found a small quad. There were guards in the main entrance because the university is in big city. We asked to go in and they allowed us. It is in a big city hence the security.

You can literally walk to downtown Philadelphia. The weather was gorgeous which added to the great feeling about the campus. Of course the build were gorgeous and they screamed IVY. Walking around I felt safe and thought my kids would also feel safe too.

Near the campus there are restaurants.

After touring the university, we then went off to breakfast. We at the White Dog. What a quaint little restaurant with very unique decorations. Food was great for me though my husband wasn't very happy about it.

For more photos, click on the slideshow below.

New England Trip: Day 1 -Washington DC, Maryland and Pennsylvania! - Part 3 - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

My son requested that we visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum; so, I had to fulfill his request. He's been here many times with us when he was a lot younger and with school trips but he cannot have enough of it! I enjoy injecting education in our trips so this was any easy one to do. 

 I was worried that we would stand in long lines to get in the museum but the lines were moving very fast. At this time it was a little hot but that did not bother us because we were in the last leg of our Washington DC trip. 

We toured the museum as fast as we could as our day was still long. 

New England Trip: Day 1 -Washington DC, Maryland and Pennsylvania! - Foodies

Having toured M.L.K. Jr. Memorial and Howard, it was time to stop for lunch. Our goal for the trip was to eat at restaurants that are not in North Carolina, are not chain restaurants, organic where we could find one and above all are located in the waterfront. My daughter was tasked with finding restaurants, though I had a hand in finding some before our trip cause her tastes are questionable sometimes!

Did I mention that the weather was perfect? Yes it was gorgeous at this time of the day so dining had to be waterfront.

We found parking in K Street without any issues. We walked around the corner into the waterfront. The place was beautiful and so relaxed. We had planned to eat at Sequoia but ended up eating at Tony and Joe's because we could not bare a two hour wait at Sequoia's.

There were people who came to lunch on their yachts; talk about living the dream!

After we toured Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space we drove to Maryland where we had dinner.
We at McCormick and Schmicks Atmosphere was great but the food was not as great. Maybe this was a reminder that we had sworn not to eat at any chain restaurants, let along one's we frequent. We normally go to the one in Raleigh and there food in Raleigh, though not near the ocean, seems better.

This reminds me, when we were about to sit down, one of the servers spilled  a tray filled with drinks on a customer. That should have been a sign.

Washington DC - Day 1 - Howard University

Howard University surprised me in so many ways. It was first college we visited. Though the trip was focused on Ivy league colleges, we thought including few other colleges would broaden our view. 

Since this tour of colleges was for my son's undergraduate and my daughter's post-graduate school, it was important that we have a feel of each campus: where it is located, the aesthetics and whether the area feels safe, does it have a campus quad (nothing screams college like a quad)!

Howard is located right in the heart of Washington D.C. Unlike most city colleges, it actually has a campus; that's its biggest appeal! Campus is beautiful and feels safe. It actually has a quad!

  It is considered a historically black college (HBCU) and is ranked number two in HBCU rankings. 

Another thing that impressed me about Howard is it's record on civil rights! As someone who originally hails from South Africa, I was impressed by the civil rights leadership they produced and how they continue to honor civil rights from around the world, including South Africa's struggle against apartheid. Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa, is honored at Howard University with a plaque as you get in the main building. 

My daughter and my son

We had an opportunity to tour the library (my daughter's obsession as you will see in subsequent posts). At the library we met a passionate young man who is studying medicine. He told us about how much he loves Howard and how much he feels is preparing him for his career. 

Library at Howard

 We walked around the campus and found engineering building to check it out.

Engineering Building in Howard.

We had planned to visit Georgetown as well where we planned to eat lunch but accessing the college was not allowed as the gates were closed.   Thank you for reading :)!

New England Trip: Day 1 -Washington DC, Maryland and Pennsylvania!

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial 

In one day we drove through three mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia. We zoomed through Virginia, toured Washington DC, had wonderful dinner in Baltimore, Maryland and slept in Cherry Hill, New Jersey to prepare for our tour of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Washington DC was first stop of our trip. We had a wonderful start to our trip. We woke up as planned at 2:00 a.m. and left the house at 3:20 a.m. Because we did not go to bed early the night before, we ended up being too tired to drive all the way to D.C. as planned. We stopped at Virginia Welcome Center and slept for an hour! We arrived in Washington DC around 9:30 a.m.

As soon as we arrived in Washington DC, we hit the National Mall running. Our goal was to visit Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial because it is one of the few memorials we had not seen in Washington D.C. and one of the newest.

First things first, we had to find parking. Finding parking near the memorial was a bit of a challenge as a result it was quite a walk from the parking lot to MLK Jr. Memorial. It ended up being a beautiful walk though, as the whole path goes through Jefferson Memorial and is near a lake. The weather was perfect also as it rained the night before; so it made for a great walk. It was the start of our trip, so it did not matter to us, our spirits were high!

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial itself is small but very powerful. We toured it in about thirty minutes. There is the famous statue of him which is nicely crafted and there are quotes of him that are written on the walls behind the statue. Standing there and reading those quotes was very calming and it reminded you what a great man he was and still is.

 He was a brilliant man who spoke the truth. I view a statement to be truthful if it can stand the test of time. Most of what he said in the quoted messages was, is and forever will be true. Below are some pictures that we took. Scroll down and read a section on our next stop Howard University.

For more quotes:

First Day of Our Trip - Washington DC to Pennsylvania!

Our first day of the trip will be fully packed. We plan to drive to Washington DC and end in Pennsylvania all in one day! WOW, I hope we can make it and that there will be no snags as we have very tight schedule.

We plan to leave the house at 3 a.m. to make it to Washington DC by 8 a.m. for breakfast! After breakfast, we will be off to the Martin Luther King Jr. Museum for my first visit ever. I hope that an hour will be enough! I've read it is 4 acres in size, so we will see. I always include educational activities to our vacations! I like to remind myself and my kids of where we come from so we can move forward with confidence that we have it in us to achieve anything we want!

After a dash to the MLK Jr. Memorial, we will visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space. My kids love science and appreciate and marvel at the creations of man and nature, so this should be a lot of fun. We've visited here in the past, but for our family it was when we first moved to the USA and I was pregnant with my son. We've been to Washington D.C. since then but not to the museums. Kutala has visited multiple times and Lukhanyo has visited with his school.

Our last stop in Washington D.C. will be Howard University. The primary reason for this trip is to tour colleges. So, including Howard as our first stop makes sense and it is in Washington D.C. We want to give HBCUs equal opportunity in our search for a university for our child. This will be a chance for Kutala to visit universities as well as she intends to do her post-graduate.

After Washington DC, we will drive to Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. We want to visit the college the same day as Washington D.C.  but there is a 4.5 hour drive in between. I know we will be tired since we will have left at 3 am in the morning. My hope is that will check into the hotel then drive to the university. We hope because it will be summer, the time of the day won't mater much. Visiting Carnegie Mellon University is inspired by Professor Randy Pausch, the author of "The Last Lecture'

The College Road Trip

          In the summer, as a family we will be heading up north to go and preview what various Ivy League colleges have to offer. Though the focus will be on Ivy Leagues, we want to include two non-ivy colleges.

We will be doing a circuit starting at Howard University, going around all 5 New England states, and ending at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. We are starting with Howard because it our trip starts in Washington DC and Howard is a renowned university.

Howard University is a historically black university which origin dates back to 1867. It was named for General Oliver Otis Howard, a hero of the civil war and founder of the university. Its purpose is to educate the youth in liberal arts and sciences.

Famous civil rights leaders like Thurgood Mashall, James Farmer, Albert Wynn, Sean "Puffy" Combs, etc. come from Howard University. Of the thousands of colleges in America Howard University is ranked at #145 (by U.S. News University Ranking). I'm looking forward to walking the the campus.