Washington DC

Matt found out he would be traveling to Washington, DC for a few days and we decided to see if I could go with him.  Normally, Matt's business trips are on-again-off-again, I can never count on a trip starting or ending when it is scheduled, or even happening.  Because of that I've never gone with him on a trip.  Matt assured me that this was a sure thing so we decided to see if we could work things out so I could go.

Luckily, I have terrific parents who offered to stay with the kids after school and get them off in the morning and Lisa watched Aaron during the day to give my mom a break from entertaining kids all day.

I have to admit it was strange traveling without the kids--on the plane I read my book and talked to Matt and did nothing else--no serving snacks, no picking up dropped toys, no worrying about when the fasten seatbelt sign is off so someone can go to the bathroom!  It was calm and peaceful (but there weren't any funny stories to tell about either--it was more boring than I'm used to!)

We arrived in DC about noon and took a cab to Matt's office.  He checked in and did a little work and then we got lunch and saw Ford's theater (the theater was closed for rehersal, but we saw the museum) and the International Spy Museum.  After the spy museum we checked into the hotel and then went to dinner and a fabulous Spanish Tapas restaurant.  The food was great, but I think the flan for dessert is probably the best dessert I have ever eaten anywhere....it was incredible!

The next day, Wednesday, I was on my own--Matt was working all day and then had a client dinner that night.  The weather was clear, but cold (around 40 degrees).  I had purchased a ticket for a trolley tour company--they have stops all over the city and you can get on and off as you want.  I started the morning by taking the tour of their main circuit--hearing a lot of interesting information about the city and also finding out where all the stops were so I could find them later.

My highest priority was to see the Holocaust Museum.  I have been reading about the holocaust since I was about 12 years old--the history, the concentration camps, the underground resistance, pretty much anything I could get my hands on I have read--easily hundreds of books on just this topic.  It really was an amazing museum and I'm so glad I was able to go.  There were a number of things that I was touched by, but perhaps the three things that was most amazing was to see the bunks from the Auschwitz concentration camps--actual bunks that the prisoners slept on.  I think I stood there for 15-20 minutes remembering all the things I had read about people who had slept on those bunks.  The other display was a room with huge pile of shoes--shoes taken from prisoners who were later killed in the gas chambers.  Finally the rail car that transported prisoners.  The entire museum was incredible.

After the museum my plan was to go to the Smithsonian museum of American History.  But, I decided I needed something outside and refreshing after what I had just seen.  So I decided to walk around some of the monuments. 

I started with the Jefferson Memorial--the wind was pretty brutal, but the walk was really nice.

I loved this picture I took from the walkway near the FDR Memorial.

I loved the FDR memorial, but it was hard to take pictures of.  After FDR I saw the MLK memorial that was just dedicated a few months before.

Then to the Korean War memorial.  There are 19 soldiers representing the soldiers who fought in the war.  When you look in the granite the soldiers are reflected making it appear as if there are 38--representing the 38th parallel.

Next I walked over to the Lincoln Memorial.  I love reading about Lincoln (love the book "Team of Rivals" )

After I finished seeing the memorials I rode the trolley over to the Museum of American History.  I think that was my favorite Smithsonian.  There were a lot of fun and interesting things to see--including the flag that inspired the song "The Star Spangled Banner", the ruby slippers Dorothy wore in the Wizard of Oz, gowns and china from the first ladies, Edison's light bulb, Thomas Jefferson's desk, furniture from the Appomattox courthouse, George Washington's camp chest

The John Bull locomotive--steam powered

Southern Railway steam locomotive

(I had to get pictures of the trains for Aaron)

I could have spent an entire day--or week in here.  It was amazing--but for the time I had I was able to see almost everything, but not read and really get the details on everything.

It was now approaching 5 and I hadn't eaten anything but an apple since breakfast at 7--so I rode the trolley back to the main stop, got some dinner and headed back to the hotel.  After eating quickly I walked across the street and spent almost 2 hours at the American Portrait Museum and American Art Museum (same building) it was luckily open until 7.  Once again, there was so much more there than I had time to see, but by the time the museum was closing, I was completely exhausted!