We hit it hard today. Maybe too hard. The rest of the DC days will be much lighter.
First – The US Bureau of
Engraving. Once again, glad to be
“off-season.” We walked up and walked
right in (instead of having to get there at 6:30 AM to stand in-line for timed
tickets.) This was one of Brad and Audra’s
favorite things today. We got to see the
process of printing money ($20s) from beginning to end. The guys working there were trying to hand me
a shrink-wrapped pack of $20s ($400,000), but I couldn’t grab it through the
glass.
Second – Holocaust Memorial
Museum. This is a tough one. It was not “neat” or “fun,” but deep and
solemn. I am so glad there is a place
like this so that we will not forget. It
was sad to learn of America’s resistance to taking refugees. It was encouraging to read Anne Frank’s words
of believing in the good in all people.
The main exhibit is recommended for ages 11 and up, but as we had just
studied about WWII last spring, I thought Carmen knew enough to handle it. She
got a little emotional at the end. We
had several good talks about it throughout the day.
We grabbed a quick lunch at
a round refreshment stand in front of the Mus. Of Nat. Hist. (Cheaper than the cart vendors!)
Third – Washington
Monument. Just took pictures as it is
currently closed for repairs.
Fourth – The White
House. We went to the south side and
took pictures. Then we went into the
temporary VC, which was pretty pared down, but we sat in the AC and watched a
great movie tour of the WH. It was very
interesting. We couldn’t get tickets to
go in because you have to ask for them 6 months out and we didn’t know when we
would be here.
Fifth – WWII Memorial. My grandpap was just brought here to see it
about a month ago. There is a privately
funded program that is trying to get as many vets to it as possible. They flew him up for the day and he got to go
to several war memorials. It was a very
moving thing for him. I thought the WWII
mem. was beautiful and very nicely done.
Sixth – Lincoln
Monument. This was Audra’s other
favorite and maybe Carmen’s too. Once
again, Audra didn’t realize that we would see it here in DC. She just hadn’t thought about it. We also found the spot where MLK, Jr stood
and gave the I Have a Dream speech.
Seventh – Vietnam
Memorial. This one gets me every
time. Well, I’ve only been twice. The first time was in college and I remember
getting weepy. Today I was on the verge
and we passed a man kneeling with his hand on the wall, sobbing. His wife was crying softly and patting
him. As we passed them, I joined in their
sorrow. War is a horrible thing.
Eighth – Jefferson
Monument. This was a really long walk
from the other memorials, but it was the big one for Brad. I’m not sure I had been there before. Jefferson is so tall. We love all things Jefferson, so of course,
we loved this. We had a slight scare as
we started to leave, when Audra realized she no longer had her iPod touch. We frantically retraced our steps. (She had taken pics of Jefferson so we knew
she had just had it.) We notified
security and they started to look too. I
ran back down to the gift shop thinking maybe she had laid it down to look at
something and it was on the floor. It had
fallen out of her pocket. She had left a
piece of chocolate in her normal pocket she keeps it in (that zips shut) and it
had melted, so she was putting it in a less secure pocket. Our pulses slowed back to a normal rate as we
walked on and photographed the monument across the water in the sunset.
Back at camp. It is so hot and muggy. Quite the change for us. No AC because of dry camping.
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