Vacation Recap Part Two: Washington, D.C.

I rode the Metro!!! It was not too bad at first, but then we went through the second tunnel and I started feeling very, um, well it was not cool anymore. I was very glad to be above ground again, though, I will admit that the Smithsonian Station was not too bad. It was not dark like the others...

We emerged from the Metro Station at what they call "The Mall", which is a big stretch along which you have a bunch of monuments, like the Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, and Smithsonian museums. We first went to see the capitol building. Unfortunately, since they were preparing for 4th of July festivities, it was blocked off and there was a huge stage and lots of tall lights blocking the view. I still got some decent pics, though, and I was closer to the capitol than I ever thought I would be in my entire life, so I did not complain...too much.

The next stop was the National Archives where we saw the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. I very nearly cried when I saw the Declaration. It is the most amazing document of our history and it was right in front of me! Of course, I bought copies of it and the Constitution in the gift shop to be framed at some point in the future. No, I am not a teacher so I do not need it for instructional purposes. I just have very nerd-ish tendencies sometimes, LOL! In all seriousness, I do not care how far our government sinks down, I and any future children I have will NOT forget our nation's roots.

We stopped at the Museum of American History for a bit where we saw a lot of dresses and accessories from First Ladies throughout our history. Some of the dresses were amazing, simply beautiful..some of them were just plain ugly. I really, really, really wanted to hate our current first lady's inauguration dress, but I could not. It was actually really pretty...unlike the one she wore on election night...shudder. The museum also had a semi-decent Civil War section, though not near as impressive as the museum at Gettysburg.

Next up was a LONG walk, LOL, to get to dear Old Abe. On the way, we passed the Washington Monument (did you know that they had to stop construction during the Civil War so part of it looks slightly different than the rest?), a very green, nasty looking pond (gross!) with lots of cute ducks (awww!), the WWII Memorial (very impressive - wish I could take Poppa to see it!), the Vietnam Wall (we just saw it from a distance), the fenced of Reflecting Pool (about to start a two year long cleanup and...something project), and finally I was there: standing at the feet of a statue of Abe Lincoln. Along with a few hundred other people, LOL! Definitely not like you see it in the movies, where the main lead just walks up and holds a quiet, one-sided conversation with Abe, especially not on the day before a national holiday, but anyway...I was there. I had wanted to see that memorial ever since the first time I saw it in a movie. I cannot remember what movie it was in...it was some time ago. Do not get me wrong - I am loyal to the South. But I admire Abe. He had a goal and he accomplished it. It saddens me that it took a war to do it - a war in which so many were killed or died of disease - but he never lost sight of the end goal. Our union was preserved and surely made stronger once it recovered.

Once my friend's were able to pull me away from Abe, we made a long, long trek to a place called Clyde's for dinner. It was yummy. And pricey, but it was vacation!

After stuffing ourselves with great food we walked to Ford's Theatre, where Abe was shot, and "the house where Lincoln died", to quote the sign on the porch railing exactly. Ford's Theatre is very nondescript. So is the house where he died, now that I think about it. Two very plain places, on the outside, have been preserved due to the events that happened there.

Before starting the "journey" back to the Metro Station, we stopped for gelato and let me tell you: it is amazing! I had an almond chocolate and chocolate with chips combination and it was so yummy! Of course, the best part was that I really could not tell that I had just eaten a whole cup full of an ice cold chocolate dessert. That is how light it is. Amazing.

There is TONS, literally, that I did not get to see in my one day at D.C., though I literally thought my legs would fall off by the time we got home, LOL! It is definitely a place I would like to go again someday.