Our DC Trip

Neil and I took our vacation this year to Washington, DC. We went the week of Oct. 13-18. One of my really good friends moved there this year. She was kind enough to open her home and let us stay with her for a week. The following pictures begins our journey through DC.
So, please sit back and enjoy the show.

The Old Senate

The is inside the Rotunda. It was absolutely breath taking. Much bigger than I ever imagined it to be. It was a surreal moment to know we were standing where many of our great leaders had once stood and been remembered. The detail of the paintings and carvings were miraculous. There were paintings from time periods that marked our way to becoming the United States of America. They were HUGE and I mean HUGE portraits of Christopher Columbus, The Indians, George Washington , and so many other greats.

This is the ceiling of the Rotunda. It has the picture of George Washington as an angel.

These are the different portraits portraying America's journey.

The Library of Congress. Inside it housed Andrea Jackson's library which was incredible. What a brilliant man. He loved to read . He had everything to Romance novels to Science to Recipe books.

The US Supreme Court

WW11 Memorial

Tennessee

Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial

The Vietnam Memorial. People were searching for their loved ones so they could take pictures. It was truly moving to see.

This begins the second day of touring. There were so many Smithsonian Museums. The following is the Air and Space .

The Wright Brothers first plane that took the first flight.

DINOSAURS!!!! This was in the museum of Natural History. I really learned alot while I was here. There is so much to see and do. It really made me think that I need to learn more about our world and country. There were so many exhibits. It really was very educational.

This is in the museum of American History. This was my favorite out of the three we visited. This housed many artifacts that depict America. Here are Dorothy's shoes from the Wizard of Oz. However, my favorite part of the museum was the section on the different Presidents and the different wars the US have been in. They had president Lincolns' Top Hat, different inaugural ball dresses from the first ladies, Bill Clinton's saxophone to name a few.

Kermit

Julia Child's Kitchen

The first electric lawn mower

On Friday we visited Ford Theater. This is the theater were President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. This is the Presidential box where Lincoln was killed.

The White House

On Saturday, we went to Mt. Vernon. This is George Washington's Home. It was incredible and very serene. It sat on the Potomac River. It was a great mansion for his time.

This is overlooking the Potomac River.

Finally on Sunday we made a quick trip to Arlington Cemetery. This is the Iwo Jima statue. It represents the end of the Vietnam war, longest faught war, where our men placed the American Flag.

The cemetery goes for miles. We didn't make it to the tomb of the unknown soldier or JFK"s eternal flame. We were told by a local that during the week you can go to the cemetery and they are burying our soldiers from Iraq. He said it is very touching and some families don't mind if you attend. I wanted to, but time permitted. It would have been a way for me to thank the men who died for me.

I hope you enjoyed our trip as much a we did. I highly reccomend a trip to DC, but FYI you need good walking shoes, a good 7 days, and knowledge of the Subway, it's the only way to travel.