DC - Day 2 (Oh what a day that was!)

Well, day 2 of DC started out pretty rough, and stayed rough, and frankly, was the worst day of our trip despite the fact that we saw some pretty cool things. We had been really excited about this particular day because we were lucky enough to get tickets to the White House and the US Capitol as well as the Bureau of Engraving. It was suppose to be a great day.

Then Luke threw up. Everywhere.

Let me just tell you that as big as that RV is, it suddenly becomes very small when someone throws up!

I cleaned it up as best I could, but didn't have time to do the tons of laundry suddenly amassed (he threw up in the big bed) because we had tickets for the Bureau of Engraving at 8am and there was no time to sit over at the laundry room at the KOA. I ended up just shoving everything into big garbage bags and dumping them under the RV to deal with them later. Grrrr.

Then we still had to drive over to the nearest Metro station, find somewhere to park that thing, and figure out how to buy the right tickets at the machines to get where we needed to go. Luke was still puking of course, and the only solution we had for this was a gallon ziploc bag that we brought along. As miserable as he was, we had to bring poor Luke along. We didn't really have another choice. It was a mess.

We got to the Bureau of Engraving and got barked at by a guard because we were at the wrong place - apparently tours meet in an entirely different building across the street. So we ran over there, got through security, and just barely made it as our tour was starting. Whew!

Of course, no photography was allowed, so I got no pictures of the working of it all, but the tour was very interesting as they showed us step by step how money is printed. We walked in an enclosed catwalks above all the operations and could see the machines whirling away printing millions of dollars. Ah, inflation at its source!

We actually really enjoyed this tour and learned a lot. I highly recommend it if you come to DC, and it was worth the mad rush to get there at 8am for us, even though they did not pass out samples at the end like we had hoped

Next time you pull out your wallet look at the serial number on each bill and see if any of them ends in a little star instead of a digit. If so, you have a pretty rare special bill that is used to replace bills that had a flaw of some sort. We haven't found one yet.

The kids had a great time in the gift shop with all the money related items. They sell bags of shredded money. There is also a wall where you can measure how much a stack of bills your size would be worth. It turns out that I am worth quite a bit. In this case it pays to be tall.

Poor Luke, though, was just miserable. Look at that sweet boy who was in Alex' sweater because he was cold despite the sweltering August heat.

When we left the Bureau of Engraving we decided to head toward the White House since that was the next place we had tickets to. We had walked fully halfway across the grass of the mall when we realized that Derek was not with us. I literally RAN back across the whole mall to look for him, thinking he had ducked into one of the museums to find a pressed penny machine. I finally found him still at the Bureau of Engraving. Apparently he hadn't realized we were leaving. Then we both had to hurry back across the mall and find the family who where not where we expected due to closed sidewalks. By this time I was exhausted, and the day was just beginning.

We had a little time to kill before our tour of the White House, so we made a visit to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Wow, what an amazing museum!

The first thing that we saw there was the star spangled banner. Yes, THE star spangled banner that Francis Scott Key saw over Fort McHerny in the smoke early that morning in 1814 that inspired him to write our national anthem. It had never occurred to me that it even still existed.

I didn't take this picture. There was no flash allowed and it was very, very dark in there to prevent further damage from the light, but I found this picture online. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. It was HUGE! Originally 30 X 42 feet!!! The early owners had cut chunks off it to give a patriotic mementos, if you can believe that.

This Star Spangled banner no longer waves, despite Key's hopes that it would. It is just too old and fragile. It is laid out horizontally at a bit of an angle. The room is very dark, but the flagis barely lit from beneath so that you can see it.

It was breathtaking and I was moved to the point of tears. I could feel some of what Key felt when he saw this very flag that fateful morning and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for this great nation of ours.

I will never sing the Star Spangled Banner again without thinking of this experience. So glad we got to see that!

We didn't have time to see much else in that museum. We did see one exhibit that I thought was fascinating. There was a full house right in the exhibit. A while back it was doomed for demolition, and the people of the town contacted the Smithsonian who brought the entire house here and researched all the families who ever lived in it and made a whole exhibit about it. Revolutionaries lived there first, and later abolitionists. It was split into apartments for factory workers during the industrial revolution, and later families lived through WWI and WWII in that house. It was a fascinating slice of American history - the history of the average families during the greatest events in US history. I just loved it! If walls could talk, they would have some stories to tell!

But then it was time to get heading over to the White House. Derek was missing again, and we all had to go off and find him. That child!

Well, it turns out that the White House was a lot further than we had calculated so we really had to pick up the pace. We finally got to the entry gate and the security guard barked at us again. No bags, purses, cameras or anything allowed on the tour! Nothing. Only your wallet and your cell phone was allowed. What? We asked if there were lockers somewhere where we could leave our stuff. Nope. "Go put it in your car" was her only suggestion. Well, our "car" was 10 miles away at the Metro station. What the heck were we supposed to do? Who comes for a day of sightseeing to DC carrying only a wallet and a cell phone? Idiotic. The guards were rude, no, downright mean about it. They treated us like we were fools for carrying purses and cameras in the first place. Who does that? She shooed us away.

Dennis, bless his heart, volunteered to sit outside and not see the White House and watch all our stuff so we could go inside. It was probably a good idea anyway since Luke still felt rotten and had no interest in going inside another big boring building. We asked them if Dennis could possibly come in after we were done. Nope. Whatever time is on the ticket is when you can come. This is not Disneyland and they don't do Fastpass or parent switching! Jerks.

So my very good man Dennis and poor baby Luke sat out in front while we went inside. I was glad that we to go inside, but had a very bitter taste in my mouth that Dennis could not be with us. Going through security was an ordeal. The guards were are pushy and rude. It was almost like "Yes, this is the People's House, and you have a right to come, but we don't want you here, and if you insist on coming, we are going to make your experience as miserable as possible." I do realize how crucial it is that they have the highest security at the White House, but they don't have to be rude about it and can be a bit accommodating, like providing lockers. Grrr.

I had really looked forward on this whole trip to seeing the White House, but when I finally got inside it was just - eh. The tour is self-guided, which is a real bummer because since I know nothing about the place, I am not a very good guide. There was a flier they gave us with only a sentence or two about each room, and there were signs with pretty much the same info - but it was stuff like when the desk was made, and who made the chandelier. I was hoping for some history - to know what events in American government transpired in these different rooms. And of course we didn't see the Oval Office at all.

I'm glad I saw it for the sake of seeing it, but it wasn't that great. (Maybe I'd feel differently if I liked the current occupants.) Truthfully, Dennis didn't miss much.

Outside the White House, pictures courtesy my iPhone.

We took off to find Dennis who was way around on the other side of the whole White House grounds.

As we were coming around the side, just to the White House entrance gate, we were stopped so that a long caravan of buses, accompanies by a full police escort could enter the White House grounds. We were told inside the White House that the Green Bay Packers were coming to the White House today so Obama could congratulate them on the Super Bowl win, and now apparently here they were. It was pretty exciting to be there to see that.

We finally found Dennis and since we were starving picked up a few pretzels from the street vendors lined up along the street. Were were all hot and hungry and tired and still had a long hike over to the Capitol Building for our next tour. I didn't have time, now that I had my camera back, to go take decent pictures of the White House, and even though Dennis had sat right out in front the whole time with my camera, it had never occurred to him to snap a picture of it. Happily, though, Luke was starting to feel better by this point. Yay.

Walking and more walking. DC is a tough place to get around. They really should have free, hop on/hop off shuttles that just go around the whole mall. Still, it was fun to see all the great neo-classical architecture looming overhead.

We made just one stop on the way to the Capitol - a must-see when you visit DC - the National Archives. Again, there was no photography allowed inside, understandably, as they are trying to preserve these founding documents. We went through security and stood again in line, but we got to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It was awesome! It was so great to see the actual freedom documents and read the actual words (those that were not completely faded away) "We the people..." and "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" and read the signatures of those men who risked it all so that we might be a free people. How grateful I am that our nation is founded and grounded on these inspired documents! I am so glad we actually saw them.

Well, the National Archives took much longer than we had expected so we really had to hustle to get to the capitol in time for our tour. we rushed on ahead, but my parents were slower. It was FAR and HOT and we were all getting really sick of walking everywhere.

Security at the Capitol, frankly, was a nightmare. Completely different rules. This time you could have your camera and purses, thank goodness, but they were strict about no water bottles, not even empty ones. Well, I had a nice new metal bottle. I asked what I was supposed to to with it and the guard pointed to the trash can. I went and set it on the curb next to the trash, and the guard ran out and started barking at me that I can't leave that there and that I could throw it away or stay outside. Just yelling and rude. I spent $14 on that bottle and didn't really feel like tossing it in the trash can, but what choice did I have? I tossed it in the trash and stomped off to the long security line. Well, Dennis saw me toss it in, so he went and fished it out of the trash, and the security guards all surrounded him and yelled at him and told him he can't do that, but he did it anyway and walked off. a security guard followed him, yelling at him not to leave that bottle somewhere, yadda, yadda, yadda. She finally left him alone and he found a nice hiding spot for my bottle in the gardens somewhere. He came back to go through security and they glared at him.

Security was a hassle, but we finally got through. My parents weren't there yet, so we missed out tour time. They told us that they had some openings later, so that was good. But we needed tickets to go into the Gallery of congress, and those I had to go pick up from our congress woman's office. OK. So while we waited I ran to go get the tickets. (Why we have to get tickets from our representative, I have no idea!) The person who gave me directions to the office building sent me the wrong way and I ended up at the Supreme Court. I finally found the office, got the tickets, and rushed all the way back to the capitol, only to have to go through security again and this time the line was twice as long! Grrr. Again, the security guards were rude - and seemed to get way too much pleasure out of the power they held to push people around.

We ended up in a tour group with a bunch of Chinese businessmen who spoke no English, and the tour guide we had was a piece of work with a really grating voice, and was, you guessed it - rude.

But the Capitol Rotunda was absolutely beautiful. The frescoes on the ceiling were so pretty, especially the one of George Washington with Lady Liberty. I also liked the trompe-l'oeil carving around the room of great events in American history, like the first flight of the Wright brothers' plane that we had just seen the day before.

I also enjoyed the statues of Reagan and Lincoln, and the beautiful paintings of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and such.

Then we went into the Statuary Hall where we saw more statues, one of a great historical figure from each of the 50 states. Junipero Serra represented California. The tour guide also demonstrated a sweet spot int he half dome room where you can easily hear someone talking on the other side of the room like they were standing next to you. (We have noticed the same thing in the celestial room of our temple - you have to watch what you say in there.)

We spotted this guy sitting in the corner. Hello Brother Brigham!

We also got to see the chambers where the congress meets. It was nice, but mostly I just enjoyed having a soft, air conditioned, quiet place to sit for a few minutes. Once again there were no pictures allowed, and no one there to explain anything or answer questions, which really would have been helpful.

We left just as it was closing, and Dennis fished my bottle out from its hiding place and presented it to me. My hero - he fought the Feds and won!

Not exactly sure what this fountain was, but it had a drinking fountain, so we were happy to see it.

We walked for a while looking for this building...

and when we saw a huge log of petrified wood and a dinosaur skull out in front, we knew we had found it -

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Wow! This was a beautiful museum!

As you might have guessed the boys went straight to the dinosaurs, and they had some pretty great ones there. We grabbed some very welcome sandwiches in the cafe right there among the dinos.

There were other fossils and petrified wood, and another exhibit of mammals that was really beautiful.

My kids especially liked the marine exhibit all about life under the sea.

It is hard to see from the pic on top, but there was a real preserved giant squid on display in a long, long case. It was HUGE! Also a huge whale hung from the ceiling, and there was a giant set of shark jaws. Yikes!

But for me, I think my favorite section was the geology part. They had the actual capsule there that was used to save the Chilean miners a short while ago. That was such a miraculous, heart-warming story, and I was happy and surprised to see it there, but that is not why geology was my favorite.

The had the most beautiful, colorful, and huge display of some of the prettiest rocks you have ever seen! Alex is a rock collector - has been fascinated with rocks since he was little, and he was quite frankly overwhelmed by them all. Oh the colors and shapes and sparkle! But that is not why this was my favorite part.

They even had GOLD! Huge nuggets of the beautiful yellow stuff. Now are you beginning to see why I like this part of the museum so much? Solid gold, baby. But it gets better.

My boys might disagree, but for me the best part of the whole museum was the gemstone collection! Yep - rocks mean gemstones, and gemstones mean diamonds, and at the Smithsonian that means the Hope Diamond (one of the most famous gemstones in the world!) It was gorgeous and HUGE. It was a smokey blue color, which surprised me, and was in the most beautiful setting. I mean, I'd wear it.

As much as I loved looking at what I'm sure could be my new best friend, there were even more absolutely gorgeous diamonds and gems on display. It reminded me of when we saw the crown jewels at the Tower of London. Oh the sparkle! I thought this diamond and turquoise crown was the prettiest thing I have ever seen! The picture does not do it justice. Subtle, understated elegance - NOT! It sparkled like the dickens and made me drool. How many karats do you suppose were in that magnificent necklace? I especially loved the gigantic diamond earrings that were a gift to Marie Antoinette from King Louis! I am quite a fan of Marie Antoinette, and diamonds, for that matter, so I really enjoyed seeing these about as much as the boys loved seeing the dinosaurs. There is something for everyone at the Natural History Museum. If diamonds are nature, than I love nature!

We stayed until closing and then when we came outside, with everything else closed, the Washington Monument stood there, beckoning us to come pay it a visit.

We had seen it and rushed past it for the last two days, and now we were drawn to it. Whoa! It was big!

The sun was low in the sky and it was the perfect time to get some fun pictures of the monument and the flags surrounding it.

I love this shot with the plane flying past. It make the monument look enormous.

You can't help but look up.

It was a nice place to rest our weary feet, relax, and see so many of the DC sites and monuments from one central location.

This is the one and only picture I got of the White House. The lighting was terrible so it wan't worth it to keep trying. Oh well. There it is.

The Lincoln Memorial - that is where we were heading next.

And the Thomas Jefferson memorial on the other side of the river.

Once we had a chance to catch our breath, and I had taken my fair share of pictures, we moved on the the WWII memorial.

What a lovely memorial it was! Simply stunning, especially at twilight.

They are redoing the huge reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, so I could not get the cool shot of it all lit up in the pool with a fabulous sky behind like I had hoped. The view was all pretty ugly with all the construction vehicles and such, so we had to go around them.

But the Lincoln Memorial itself is stunning.

There were a ton of people on the steps, and the crowds grew as the sky got darker and Lincoln was lit up and people came to pay their respects to the greatest American president, who had the hardest job of any president ever.

His face is solemn, conveying the heavy task he had to save a broken nation by plunging it into a civil war. I love this memorial!

And it was just such a nice place to hang out for a while and enjoy the cooler summer air and watch the commotion of all the people around us. It reminded me of sitting on the Spanish Steps in Rome, only with a bit more reverence for the man seated behind us.

And it provided a great view of the Washington Memorial and the Capitol dome beyond it.

I love this picture!

Simply majestic! The Lord sends us great leaders when we need them. I'm hoping he has a few more in mind for us soon.

I had a little bit of fun here with my new telephoto lens.

So glad we remembered to pull out the map to get this picture, even though it was already dark.

Finally we decided to call it a night and walk all the way back to the metro which was clear over on the other side of the Washington Monument. We walked past the sobering Vietnam memorial which had statues of soldiers in rain gear tromping through the jungle. But it was very dark and the only shot I got was of the flag and the full moon. It was good that it was so dark though, because it made the memorial all the more haunting and powerful for me.

But I did stop long enough to get a great picture of the Jefferson memorial with cars whizzing by it in the night leaving trails of red light.

We found the metro station and there was some confusion in buying our tickets. We were all so tired and brain dead and just couldn't wait to get back to the RV and go to bed (but then I remembered that I had bags of puked-on blankets to wash before I would get to sleep that night! Lovely.) I was more tired than I have ever been in my life - and I had walked much further than everyone else because I had to go back and find Derek that one time, and then run all over the place trying to find the congresswoman's office too. I felt like I had walked a marathon that day. It was pretty darn well close to one.

We had seen some amazing things that day, but when it was all said and done, I was so ready to be done with DC! Don't get me wrong, I would love to come back to DC, but mainly to visit all the museums. I'd visit and devour every exhibit in every one of them. But I have absolutely no desire to ever, ever go see the Capitol or the White House again. It was just like how I felt after we saw the Sistine Chapel. It was such a horrible experience just getting there that it lost all the magic by the time we saw it, and I never want to do that again! I was just so sick of being pushed and prodded and yelled at all day. We all were.

I have a theory that folks in DC is rude because DC is all about politics and politics is just not a happy business to be in. It ain't no Disneyland, that's for sure.

In fact, the feeling I got there was the same feeling we tend to get from the federal government - that they push us around to show us that they really are the boss, and not the people. They berate us and talk down to us, and treat us like we are all bad and stupid - a very elitist attitude. I didn't like it at all! That is not how it should be, and if the way we were treated this day is any indication of how our leaders really feel about us, that we are a necessary evil instead of their boss, then we are in trouble.

When we finally got back to the Metro station, it turned out we had purchased the wrong tickets and there was some confusion about how we were to pay the difference. The guy at the gate saw us and our pathetic, bedraggled, confused state, and just opened the gate for us and let us leave without having to worry about it. I was SO grateful!!! He was the only person that had been nice to us the whole day, and I told him so! That one kind act might just have redeemed all of DC for me, I think.