Visiting Our Nation's HometownMy sister, Karen and her husband Ron, came to visit us at our new home in Maryland. As a result, we spent the week visiting our Nation's Hometown to see some of the sites and enjoy each other's company at the same time!
For their arrival and introduction to our friends, we had a dinner at our house-- the picture to the right shows part of the spread. We had Cheryl & Larry, Lee & Jim and Karen & Ron (and us, of course); a good time was had by all!!
Sunday afternoon, we went to the Arlington National Cemetery. Even considering the number of spouses and children that are also buried in the cemetary, there are a lot of grave markers there-- a frightening number, actually.
The ceremonies for the guards and wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers was wonderfully stirring! There wasn't a dry-eye on the steps when Taps were played!
We, of course, stopped to see Robert Francis Kennedy's grave marker and, the eternal flame that was burning at the John F. & Jacqueline Kennedy gravesite.
By the way, this is my sister and her husband: Karen & Ron!!
It was cold and very windy on Monday morning. I'm brave but we had decided long before their arrival to take the Metro rail system down to DC. On that first day, went to the Capitol building where we stopped for a cup of coffee in the cafeteria. After that, courtesy of Representative Levin from Michigan, we got to sit in the gallery of the House of Representatives.
We also went to Union Station for lunch at the Centre Cafe-- wonderful food! It was, a bit delayed, however, due to a "suspicious package, doused with lighter fluid" that was found. After everyone returned from the mandatory evacuation, our lunch was served and we enjoyed the meal immensely.
After lunch, we went to the Supreme Court building and wandered around and were able to see the chambers where the justices convene their trials. There were no tours going on and the Court was not in session so we saw no real "action".
When we left the Supreme Court building, we headed over to the Library of Congress building but we weren't able to actually tour the building due to a lack of time. We took pictures of the outside and had a quick tour of the first floor-- there never seemed to be enough time!
Tuesday morning wasn't as windy and the temperatures were a little warmer. We were touring the city on Monday and Tuesday using Tourmobile-- sure made it easier to get from place to place!
We started that morning at the Jefferson Memorial and walked around the Tidal Basin to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. This was an extensive memorial with three "rooms" sectioned off for the three terms he served in office.
Oh, and the Cherry Blossoms!!!
(along the Tidal Basin)
FDR
Stopping for a sandwich at the kiosk outside of the Lincoln Memorial, we ate our lunch and enjoyed the view around us. The reflecting pool had water in it (which is the first time I think I've seen it with any water in it!) and the Memorial and Mall were beautiful in the sunshine.
After Karen and Ron went up the Lincoln Memorial, we continued on around the Tidal Basin to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. There was a name on this Memorial that Ron knew-- I've never known anyone who's name was up there.
We should've picked up the Tourmobile but didn't-- instead, we walked the distance to the Korean War Memorial. While it was a beautiful walk, it turned out to be quite a distance for us!
On our last stop of the Tourmobile, we went to the White House Visitor Center and, eventually, to the south lawn of the White House. George wasn't home but the lights were on-- in the middle of the day!!!
For Wednesday, we spent the morning touring and lunching at the Holocaust Museum. This is a very moving display of artifacts, pictures, and historical records. It is frightening to view them all in one place. It gives a complete view of an evil man and a profound time in the world's history.
After lunch, we headed over to the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History, lunch in the cafeteria and hitting the Arts & Industries Museum in the afternoon. Since Wednesday and Thursday turned cold and rainy, it was nice to be able to stay inside and tour the museums!
We decided to make an early afternoon of it and went home-- I took a nap-- and eventually, after Brian got home, we all went out for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Karen and Ron really like Mexican food and, of course, we do, too so there was no discussion needed about that!
Thursday began with a trek to the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History and ended with a trip to the National Air & Space Museum. At the left, you'll see the elephant that "greets" you at the entrance of the museum. The Natural History museum houses the Hope Diamond, which is picture at right-- its quite large and, yes, quite gorgeous (and expensive!). We again had lunch in the cafeteria in the museum and spent a minimal amount of time outside.
Friday morning we headed over to the Dulles, Virginia location of the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. It was fun to take a little slower look at the planes than when Brian, Pete and I did the tour in December. Karen took lots of pictures-- I had no idea until this trip that she was so fascinated by planes!
We never did get to the inside of the Washington Monument. We tried but you have to have tickets-- in advance-- or on the day of the tour, you have to be at the Monument at 7am (NOT on MY vacation) to get the freebies! Wayyyy too early for us so we'll see that another time!
Friday evening, we finished the food that was planned for their trip, headed off to bed early and promptly overslept! Thankfully, Karen came to wake us up which obviously, made it a little easier to get them to the airport on time!
Hopefully, they'll come back really soon and we'll spend the next week getting to know Annapolis and Baltimore better-- I can't wait!
Copyright 2004, Marcia L. Dykstra
