Visit to Virginia Tech

After we arrived in Blacksburg we went to the Virginia Tech campus. My cousin is a professor there, so we got the grand tour. We started with a nice picnic at a beautiful duck pond.
Caleb enjoyed feeding the ducks and it just felt like a place you could stay for hours and relax.
We then headed over to the campus to start our tour. It was a stunningly beautiful campus. All the buildings had a historic feel. I really thought it was the most beautiful college I've ever seen, and there was so much history preserved.

It just so happened the first place we came to was the April 16th memorial for the lives lost in the tragedy when a gunman opened fire in one of the buildings on campus. It was heartbreaking looking at the faces of the students and teachers lost that day. They did such an honoring job with the memorial.Each of the stones had a name engraved and were cornerstones of different buildings around campus.

We then continued the tour and went to the chapel were they honored different Virgina Tech students that have received the metal of honor through the years. On top of the chapel there was a memorial to the students who fought for our country during WWI and WWII. One of the school's mottos is 'Ut Prosim' meaning 'That I may serve.' This was etched in the stone on the memorial. A visual reminder that people have served this great nation, giving their lives, so I can have my freedom. I really want to make sure my children are aware of this, and touring this campus gave me a greater appreciation.
Caleb is standing on top of a block that was part of this memorial.


From the memorial you can see this entrance to the campus.


It is a huge archway that Caleb thought was cool. He loves going under tunnels.

Next, we went to the communication department to check out my cousin's office and then on the way back to the car we saw a statue of the first student to come to school at VT. He had a mere 20 mile walk to get there.

The last bit of excitement before we left was walking through another tunnel.