I really, truly did not mean to put off writing this for so long! But life kinda got in the way and here we are, over three months since our trip to Washington, D.C., and I'm just now talking about it again! I'm sure that many of my pictures have been seen over and over again but I still want to share them with anyone who decides to read this :)
So after Nathaniel's graduation we went back to the D.C. area and spent two days being tourists. I had a ton of fun! My feet were killing me because I was super smart and only packed sandals but it was still awesome.
Somewhere in Virginia. VA was gorgeous. I want to live there! Maybe not year round though...Alaska is calling my name :)
The Capitol Building. It was under construction. Those clouds were definitely a God send!!! It was pretty hot!
Our hotel was two or three blocks from Union Station so we walked over to it. We booked a really cool night tour while we were in there.
Inside Union Station. It was under construction too. I bought a little pair of earrings, nothing special or souvenir-y, just some cheap filigree earrings and I lost them somewhere! I'm glad they were on sale for $3!
This is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with the Washington Monument in the background. We were standing behind (or in front of?) the Capitol Building when I took this picture.
Another perfect view of the Capitol Building hahaha
We walked over the U.S. Botanic Garden. Everything was so close! It was easy to walk almost everywhere.
I thought the gardens were beautiful! I loved it!!
I have a bunch more pictures from the gardens but it's all just flowers. I won't bore you with 50 more flower pictures :)
After the tour of the gardens we walked back to our hotel, rested for just a few minutes, and headed back out to Union Station--our night tour was about to start!
On the bus! I LOVED the night tour!
We drove by the National Archives. We didn't get to in during the tour but we went back the next day and saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution
, and the Federalist Letters.A new Smithsonian is opening--a museum of African American history and culture. Apparently Oprah has donated a ton of money toward the building of this museum. To be honest, I have no idea what this is. Besides that the building is called The Organization of the United States...but other that I have no clue. I had to look it up to see what it was!
I thought this little building was really cool! It's called The Lockkeeper's House. Our tour guide gave a history on it, although I'm certain she embellished it a bit :) it's ok though, it was interesting! Here's a link for more info on it: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6296982 This is about as close as we got to the Jefferson Memorial. Ok, this is a really crappy picture but I thought this hidden monument was pretty neat. It's a memorial for George Mason. He's called "the forgotten founding father" and the memorial is in a secluded, forgotten place. I barely even saw it! He's on a bench over in the left corner. Our first stop was the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. It was really nice. That statue was impressive! Next up was the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial. It was massive. There were four "rooms" to it and, to be totally honest, it was pretty weird. The Lincoln Memorial. I loved seeing everything all lit up! The Marine Corps War Memorial (also, Iwo Jima Memorial). Side note, recent renditions/reimaginings of this memorial really piss me off. I won't go into it anymore (this isn't a political post) but it really angers me. The Wall was dark and somber. Nathaniel's grandma saw some bird droppings of the memorial and cleaned it up. Those men don't deserve their names to be crapped on. Nurse's memorial. Nathaniel's mom and aunt will appreciate this one! This is a picture of the side of it though, the lights were too bright to get a good picture of the front. The American Red Cross Headquarters The Albert Einstein Memorial. Our guide said that his nose is a different color than his body because it's supposed to be good luck to rub his nose! The last thing we saw on our tour, besides the streets filled with drunks, angry that their team lost (no idea what team or even what sport!), was this little church. It's St. John's Church, also called "the President's Church."
So the next day we got up early, went back to a Corner Bakery to fulfill my cinnamon roll dreams, and then headed to Arlington National Cemetery (via taxi, that's a long walk!!)
Just a few of the far too many graves. Cemeteries always make me sad.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We watched the changing of the guard while we were there. We went to Arlington to pay our respects to the fallen but we also came to visit one particular grave. A friend from high school lost his father in a helicopter (Blackhawk) accident. Nathaniel was good friends with him and his family. Mr. Troxel spoke with Nathaniel a day or two before he left for his deployment and the words have resonated with him. We were all sad when we heard the news. After Arlington we went to The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This is a picture of the remembrance room. I loved and hated the museum. It was extremely well done and very detailed. The layout was a little confusing though, and I wondered if it was to symbolize the way the victims of the Holocaust may have felt when they arrived at the camps (confused, lost). I didn't take any pictures except two. It was somber and saddening to be in there.
"We are the shoes, we are the last witnesses. We are the shoes from grandchildren and grandfathers
from Prague, Paris, and Amsterdam,
and because we are only made of fabric and leather
and not of blood and flesh, each one of us avoided the hellfire."
This made me cry. The shoes, the gold teeth, the watches...all more valuable that human life. This is similar to what's going on in current events. "Tissue" samples are more important than human life. It's all saddening and sickening.
We walked into a few of the Smithsonians, saw some awesome stuff, and as I tried to take pictures I discovered that my camera roll was full. So I had to delete a million pictures and then was able to snap these next few pictures.
Ford's Theater! I was excited to see this place. The alley that John Wilkes Booth ran down after shooting President Lincoln in the head. The inside of the theater. It's actually still used! I didn't know that until we walked in. The balcony that Lincoln and his wife were sitting in. I thought the theater was awesome. I loved it.
After visiting Ford's Theater we went back to our hotel, packed up, checked out, and headed to the airport. It was a really fun trip and I wish we had more time there! I need to thank Nathaniel's grandma for everything since she made this trip happen :) so thank you!! I was happy to see her and Ginger again. And thank you to my parents for watching our kids!! It was a nice little "vacation" from being mommy. I sure missed them though. I was so incredibly happy to be back with my babies!!
Here they are, waiting for us to come home. I love them!
