Three days after Christmas we went on a great adventure across the United States to Washington, DC and Virginia. Jason's brother, wife, and family are living in Charlottesville Virginia for a year, and we decided to take advantage of their being in a part of the country we may never visit on our own. So, with some careful planning and a lot of frequent flier mile points redeemed, we were able to fly our family out to see them for a week. What fun we had!
We spent a couple of days in Washington, DC where we visited the Capitol Building, the National Mall and the monuments thereon, some of the Smithsonian museums, and even the White House. With our gang of nine children, we tried to use our time wisely to visit the highlights of the area, but even then the kids got "museumed out" and tired of walking. When they're with their cousins, they really just want to play and goof around with each other, so keeping them entertained with Monet art and presidential monuments wasn't their idea of the best time. I thought we'd have a lot of nice family photos with historical monuments in the background. We did get some, but really, I had to settle for pictures of what was really happening, which was kids being goofy or whiny.
I was humbled by the fact there is so much about our country's history I have forgotten since I learned it in school. It was nice to be reminded of many of the important events in our history and how and why they took place. Although it was freezing cold and we didn't get time to really soak in much of the spirit of the war monuments, I appreciated them and most certainly felt a reverence for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom. The WWII Memorial is huge and beautifully, carefully designed. The Vietnam Memorial is powerful. I explained to the kids what they were viewing and even little Karina, after a moment of looking and walking beside the wall, said, "Wow. Those are a lot of names."
The presidential monuments were a treasure to see as well, and to be honest, I was glad we had seen the Lincoln movie prior to our coming here so I could better appreciate everything related to President Lincoln and the Civil War.
I didn't realize there was so much to see in Washington, DC. I had no idea about all the Smithsonian museums and we enjoyed seeing just a smidge of the national treasures they contain. One could spend an entire week or more going through the museums and not see everything there is to see. It's simply amazing how much history is located there. Some of the highlights we saw were: the Hope Diamond and other jewels, a recreation of the books purchased from Thomas Jefferson after the Library of Congress' books burned in the Capitol during the War of 1812, beautiful original art from Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, etc, dinosaur bones and fossils, the real ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz movie, many of the inaugural gowns worn by the First Ladies over the years (one of my favorite exhibits!).
We saw many, many things during our visit to Washington. But the one thing I loved the most, whose glory and history stood above everything else, which took my breath away when I laid eyes on it, and which brought tears to my eyes as I took it in, was the Star Spangled Banner. I was completely stunned when I turned the corner into the darkness and reverence of the room where the flag lay. I have never seen such a sight and I was in utter awe at the flag and its glory. I had no idea it would be so huge! The flag is absolutely gigantic, which added to my astonishment of this great national treasure. And to see it, in all its tattered, faded, red, white, and blue glory... it literally brought tears to my eyes. The way the Smithsonian has designed the exhibit is truly wonderful and really adds to the reverence of the piece. It is absolutely stunning. The history behind the flag is quite fascinating too and it was fun to learn about. If you'd like to know more, follow these links to discover for yourself the history of the flag which inspired our national anthem. And, by the way, the photo below does the flag absolutely no justice. You really have to see it in person to appreciate it.
We spent a couple of days in Washington, DC where we visited the Capitol Building, the National Mall and the monuments thereon, some of the Smithsonian museums, and even the White House. With our gang of nine children, we tried to use our time wisely to visit the highlights of the area, but even then the kids got "museumed out" and tired of walking. When they're with their cousins, they really just want to play and goof around with each other, so keeping them entertained with Monet art and presidential monuments wasn't their idea of the best time. I thought we'd have a lot of nice family photos with historical monuments in the background. We did get some, but really, I had to settle for pictures of what was really happening, which was kids being goofy or whiny.
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