Day 5 - DC with Henry

Happy New Year!! 

Today was our last full day in Washington. We have been so blessed with great weather (considering where we are). It has been perfect for sightseeing - much warmer than last week and also warmer than is predicted for next week with snow in the forecast. 

However, the temperature did begin to drop this morning and it was also super windy when we left to go to the Holocaust Museum. All flags here are flying at half mast due to the recent death of former President Jimmy Carter.

 

heading into museum (notice flag)

I only took 4 photos and I will share only one of them. We've all seen photographs of this most horrific historical event, and we won't forget them. I thought the one below was a good one to take as we were leaving the museum - a lesson we would all do well to remember.

 

 

It was lunch time by the time we finished at the museum and we were all getting hungry. Ronnie was wanting some black eyed peas, but finding something open that served them proved to be a huge challenge! Since today was a national holiday, we discovered that most restaurants were closed. Also, black eyed peas aren't just on any menu. However, he discovered that there was a restaurant by the name of Sweet Home Cafe inside the National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

That was great news, but figuring out where to park the car proved to be an even bigger challenge. He first dropped Henry and I off at the museum. We got tickets and went inside (it was too windy and cold to stand outside). We found the restaurant and got a table and waited for about 30 minutes while he continued to search for a legal parking place. It became apparent that his only choice was to park illegally (and get a ticket) or switch to Plan B. We opted for Plan B although the food on others plates looked really good!

Plan B was driving around looking for somewhere to eat. By 2 pm we finally found a Subway sandwich shop that was open so we went in, got sandwiches and drove back to the apartment and ate lunch. Afterwards, Ronnie watched football on his phone and Henry and I both took long naps!

In addition to businesses being closed on New Years Day, let me add that driving in DC is not for the faint of heart. For one thing, many of the streets are not laid out in a grid and many of them angle off. There are also lots of traffic circles. Add to that cars parked on both sides of narrow streets with two way traffic. And there are plenty of one way streets too. Cars drive fast and there are lots of pedestrians out at all hours of the day and night. Also many people are on rented bicycles and scooters. Even the navigator got confused! I can see why so many people (us included) opt for Ubers to get around the city. And even when you arrive at your destination, finding a parking space once you're there seems almost impossible!

Here are a couple of photos I snapped while driving around looking for a place to get lunch. One can see that it started off a beautiful sunny day but then the clouds rolled in.

 

National Monument

Dome of Capitol Building

After naps and a football game, Ronnie and Henry went back to Subway and also a Chinese take-out place next door that looked rather sketchy and brought our dinner back. Ronnie and I watched "The Hiding Place" after dinner until deciding to call it a night.

There are other museums that we would have no doubt enjoyed visiting, but we would have needed at least another week to visit them all. I regret not seeing the Spy Museum (I think Henry would have enjoyed that one) and I would have really loved to visit the Museum of African American History and Culture. We also didn't make even one art museum, but one per day plus throwing in some walking sites was enough to keep us busy.

Tomorrow morning we'll be packing and getting ready to fly to our respective homes. All things considered, I would say it's been a very successful trip!

 

Day 4 - DC with Henry

Today was another busy day! It would be nice to take a little easier pace, but since we're only here once and there's so much to see and do, we've packed a pretty tight schedule.

We let Henry sleep in a little later this morning and after breakfast took off for the Museum of the Bible. The line was a block long and it took about 30 minutes before we got through the front door. One could easily spend an entire day there, no joke! I'm sorry to say we didn't even make it through all 6 floors, but we enjoyed what we did see.

One of my favorite parts was "All Creation Sings" inspired by Psalm 148 and described as "an immersive worship experience." It was really cool, and at the end those watching were invited to touch the screen. I was able to capture a short video of Henry doing that.

 

6 floors - no way to see it all!

inside Museum of the Bible

very early manuscripts

 

There was much more to see but we also had planned to visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall and it was getting on in the afternoon. Once again, we Uber-ed to that location and Ronnie was able to find the names of 2 of his friends who died in service to our country during the Vietnam war. I took photos of the wall, a Christmas tree with soldiers photos and 2 statues, one to the different branches of service and one to the women who served. I just finished reading "The Women" by Kristin Hannah for book club so I was happy to take that photo to share with the group. 

 

Vietnam Memorial

Three Soldiers Monument

Ronald Martin

looking for Ronnie's friend

 

 

Vietnam Memorial Wall decorated for Christmas, Lincoln Monument in background

 

From there, we walked a fairly short distance to the Lincoln Memorial and climbed the many steps to the top to take our photo with Abraham Lincoln's statue. It was also a great place to look out over the mall toward the Washington Monument. By the time we were done, the temperature was beginning to drop so we called an Uber, this time getting a Tesla which Henry especially enjoyed riding in.

 

Ronnie & Henry - Lincoln Memorial

 

Henry & Jan - Lincoln Memorial

National Mall - view from Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument

 

We decided that rather than battle the traffic and go out for dinner again, we would just eat leftovers in the apartment, which is exactly what we did. Henry had a Frito chili pie, Ronnie had nachos and I had Captain Peanut Butter Crunch. ha! Before long it was thundering and lightning so we were happy to be back and tucked in for the night.

Day 3 - DC with Henry

We decided to let Henry sleep in this morning and not rush. It's a balancing act since there is so much to see and do here in a fixed time frame. At the same time, there has to be time to both see and do and rest and relax. So today started off with a quiet morning. Ronnie ran, I worked on my photos and Henry slept in. After we all dressed for the day, we headed out on foot to....3 guesses....that's right....Chick Fila! Again. Unfortunately there is no Chick Fila in Summit County where he lives, so we let him get his fill of it when he's in Texas. We don't complain much, however, because it's not that unusual for us to have it at least once a week ourselves. Luckily, it was only about a block from the condo we're renting.

From there, we took an Uber to the Smithsonian Space and Air Museum. I would say at least half of it was closed for renovation; however, there was still lots to see and we spent probably 2 ore more hours there.

 

Henry in front of plane his grandfather flew

 

view from second floor

checking out the cockpit

early hang glider (no thanks!)

lots of visuals and hands on

planets

 

lunar roving vehicle

my favorite guys

ever wonder?

now you know!

 

After leaving the museum, we decided to walk around the area a bit. We were close to the Smithsonian and a street over from the mall with the Lincoln Memorial on one end and the Capitol on the other. I now understand why people say it's a lot of walking. It actually wasn't too bad because the weather was nice. We have been so fortunate to enjoy good weather here, especially being the last week of December! 

 

US Capitol Building

Washington Memorial in background

There were several blocks lined with food trucks serving anything and everything you can think of. They were doing good business since there were lots of visitors and locals out and about. After walking up and down the mall, we were ready to head back so once again we called an Uber and headed back to the condo. 

Henry bought some Lego sets and started to work on them, Ronnie finally found the ballgame (though he had to watch it on his phone) and once again I'm on my laptop uploading photos and doing this. All in all, I would say it's been a good day.

Day 2b - DC with Henry

My morning post was getting a bit lengthy with so many photos so I decided to make a separate entry about our afternoon. The weather was unseasonably warm today which was a true blessing. After visiting the Arlington National Cathedral for morning worship, we found a place nearby called Lucky Buns where we had lunch. Afterwards we drove to Arlington Cemetery. We decided to take the trolley tour, as it was the best way to get an overview of the cemetery and also the wind was picking up and the temperature had started to drop. 

Here are some things we learned as the rode along on the trolley. 

* Largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System

* Owned by the United States Army

* Over 400,000 persons are buried there

* Cemetery covers 639 acres

* Up to 30 funerals a day still take place there

* Presidents William Howard Taft, John F. Kennedy and many other famous people buried there

(more info at https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/#/)

The tour was a "hop on hop off" type with several stops along the way. I was so hoping we could catch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which happens every hour on the hour (every 30 minutes during summer months) 365 days a year. Unfortunately, we just missed it and would have had to wait almost an hour which would have put us on the last trolley of the day, so we decided against getting off there. I have always been so impressed with this. It wouldn't matter if a soldier had icicles hanging off his cap, he would still remain at attention while guarding the tomb.

Here are some interesting facts from the internet regarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

3 unknown American service members are buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery: 

World War I: The first unknown soldier to be buried in the tomb 
World War II: An unknown soldier from the European or Pacific theaters
Korean War: An unknown soldier selected from the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu

The tomb has 4 crypts, with the center crypt empty. A 4th unknown soldier was once buried in the tomb to represent the Vietnam war, but was later identified as Air Force Capt. Michael J. Blassie. His body was exhumed and buried in Missouri.

The tomb is guarded by the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, The "Old Guard"

Below are some of the "bus window" shots I took in the sections of the cemetery that we drove through. We obviously didn't make it through the entire cemetery. Our guide spoke as we were driven along, giving historical facts and pointing out sites of well known persons buried there. Driving through and gazing out at the sea of head stones is to me a very sobering experience.

statue at entrance to Visitors Center

 

Arlington Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial in back, plane landing at Ronald Reagan Airport

each decorated for Christmas

a sea of grave markers

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Day 2 - DC with Henry

Whew, another busy day! We want to see as much as we can, knowing this is probably our only sight seeing trip to DC and possibly Henry's as well. There's so much to see and do, and 4 days is barely enough time to scratch the surface.

So yesterday was the NRA Museum, a shooting range and the U.S. Capitol Building. Today we attended a church service at the National Cathedral and this afternoon we took a driving tour through the Arlington National Cemetery. Some quick facts about both:

The National Cathedral:

2nd largest cathedral in the U.S.

Construction began in 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt helped lay the foundation stone and ended exactly 83 years after it began, when President George H.W. Bush oversaw the laying of the final stone atop the towers in 1990.

Made completely of limestone (no steel)

Helen Keller and President Woodrow Wilson are buried there 

 215 beautiful stained glass windows, one embedded with a moon rock

However, Henry and I will most remember it by Ronnie's faux paus when he accidentally dropped his wafer into the wine cup, causing consternation among the clergy as to how best to retrieve it. Henry and I were able to contain it until we reached our seats but then we had a hard time holding it together, so the final benediction couldn't come fast enough!

National Cathedral

fortunately found parking nearby and arrived on time

state flags surround sanctuary

1 of 215 beautiful stained glass windows

after service

still laughing

pointing out flying buttresses

From the internet: Flying buttresses are architectural features that support the walls of buildings by pushing outward from the outside. They are made up of an inclined arch that extends from the upper part of a wall to a pier.

incredible architecture

Day 1 - DC with Henry

Yesterday we met up with our grandson Henry at Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, DC. It went smoothly except for Henry accidentally leaving his birth certificate on the plane. But with a little extra effort it was recovered and we were off to Fairfax, VA. It was nasty weather but we made it to the hotel after stopping at a Chick Fila (of course) for dinner. 

The next morning we were up early to drive to the National Firearms Museum. Henry is like a walking encyclopedia when it comes to gun knowledge! I have no idea where he has learned so much, but we were both blown away by his knowledge of the subject. Seriously. I do know that his paternal grandfather Bill Whatley, who served as an Air Force pilot in WWII and later served in law enforcement as a constable, had a nice collection of guns, which Henry's dad now owns. So I'm assuming this is where Henry's interest in firearms comes from.

Needless to say, he was excited about going there as it is home to a display of approximately 3,000 firearms. It was amazing to us how he knew the names and types of so many of them. The museum was "heaven" to a teenage boy with an interest in firearms!

NRA Firearms Museum

where do I look first?

world's tiniest gun

From there we went to a firing range so he could do some practice shooting. We had to jump through a lot of hoops for a 16 year old to be able to do it but we got it done. He's done a lot of practice shooting with his Dad in Colorado, but not in a different state as a minor. I bought him a t-shirt so he could say "been there done that." However, he said he could never wear something like that to school, and I can understand why with all the crazies running around with guns in this day and age. Henry was able to choose 2 from hundreds of guns to shoot. He chose a 9" barrel AR15 and a 10mm robo cop gun.

 

decisions, decisions

pow pow pow!

a good shot!

 

When we were finished there, we drove in really yucky weather to Washington, DC in order to get there in time for our 2:30 pm Capitol Building tour. We had just enough time to find the apartment we rented, throw our bags inside and call an Uber to take us to the Capitol. It was a good decision, as it was too far to walk and parking is next to impossible in that area. 

We were among hundreds of others, most under umbrellas, as we walked from the drop off point up to the building. We had a very knowledgeable and interesting tour guide and I think we will always remember visiting the Capitol together. Naturally, I took a lot of photos but I will only post a few.

 

US Capitol Building from a distance

Statue of Freedom

Capitol Visitors Center

Capitol Crypt

Dome of Rotunda

Washington with 13 women representing founding colonies

Statuary Hall

Chief Standing Bear (detail on moccasins was incredible)

Ronnie with Sam Houston (TX)

Henry with Jack Swigert, Jr. (CO)