Washington DC - Part 1

As promised, although slightly delayed, the remainder of our trip to Washington. We were very lucky to have such great weather the entire week we were there. Missing the rainstorms almost entirely. And let it show that this picture was taken at the end of a very long walking day, and Mark made me jump way too many times. It is only a thousand times harder when you're super tired. So...there you go.

On our first day, we went to see all the sights on the Mall. Naturally. Having always studied the great history of our Nation, I was thrilled to see the Declaration of Independence on display in the National Archives Museum. Although it was a lot more faded then I would have expected, it was still neat to see!

These were the original entry doors. Since increased security, guests now enter through small side doors, which make the photo op in front of the big doors that much more exciting.

How impressive the structures were. Both in size and in details.

Mark's highlight of the trip also came on our first day. Having tuned into Top Chef for several seasons now, he had researched which of the contestants had restaurants open in the DC area.
Just our luck, Chef Spike had 2 located on top of capital hill. So we walked up there to feast at We the Pizza and the burger place next door. After we had ordered our food and sat down outside Mark saw Chef Spike himself walking around checking on his restaurants. Trying not to be paparazzi, we just watched from a distance. That is until my celebrity magnet was overwhelming. I tried the I'm-conveniently-going-to-the-bathroom-and-passing-you-and-wait-i-can't-believe-its-you tactic but to no avail. I then ordered another shake to stall our departure. And then my moment presented itself. I was waiting for my shake, he was waiting for his burger, and BAM-"Excuse me Chef Spike, would you mind if I took a picture with you?" Embarrassing? perhaps. Pushy? maybe. But my philosophy is, if you're going to sign up for TV, be prepared for a little invasion of your personal life. Ya know? So here you go...we saw Chef Spike in DC.
We then walked over to capital hill. To see the capital building naturally. Although we did not take a tour inside, mostly because I was too stubborn to give up my water bottle, it was neat to see outside. We even cornered a small group who fell for the old I'll take your picture swap.

Here is my I'm-too-lazy-to-edit-my-pictures picture. With my friends who we weren't quite sure if they were celebrating a wedding or a quinceara. But enjoy their celebration as well would you?

With the Washington Monument closed , we made our way to the old Post Office to see the skyline view. A slightly unknown place, we enjoyed no lines and a quick ride up for a 360 degree view of the Mall and DC area.

Our first few days, we had the Jeep Liberty with us, so we took advantage and drove up to Gettysburg National Park. Again, with the fall colors. Gettysburg was absolutely beautiful. Although we didn't really know what to expect, it turned out to be one of our favorite memories. If only we had a little more time to really enjoy the battlefield. It was really remarkable.

Gettysburg National Cemetery was also very cool. The monument was not finished when Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address, but it was so cool to see the spot where he stood, and tread the words of the address more carefully. So very cool.



Not exactly a stone throws away, Philadelphia was the next stop on our list. We had to ditch out on Gettysburg earlier than we wanted to ensure we made our afternoon tickets.

We got there in plenty of time, so we went through the Liberty Bell exhibit first, and then walked the 3 blocks to Benjamin Franklin's gravesite. Much to our dismay, there was a 2.00 charge to go in the cemetery!Unacceptable. So we peered through the iron fence to get our glimpse of the stone. Trying to be clever, I said, "why are they throwing penny's on his gravestone. This isn't Lincoln!" Mark's response, "did you expect a bunch of Benjamin's?" Why yes smart Alec-I did.

Independence Hall was really small. But neat to stand in such a notorious place. The building itself was under restoration so our outside pictures are not that exciting. But the inside was grand. And it was here I realized my dream job would be a tour guide of a place like this or at Mt. Vernon.

Now, of all DC, Mt Vernon is probably the only place I would want to revisit. Well, this and Gettysburg. But I am IN LOVE with Mt. Vernon. If I lived near there, I would have a season pass. It is just a fantastic estate and I would say it is a Must See when visiting the area.

Almost everything on the estate is original to Washington's time. And the views are to die for!

I was most astonished by the portrait of Martha Washington when she met George. I've only seen pictures of her old, frumpy, white haired self. But she was a beautiful woman! And it was really fun to hear the stories about their lives together and her cute little personality.

And our last stop with our car was to the Washington DC temple. This was just beautiful. No crowds, no noise, no hustle and bustle of the world. Just fabulous as always.

Once again, we feel so lucky to have the chance to take this trip and see such marvelous things. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering the trip.

Walking in History-Part 2

Being that it is taking near a millennium to upload all these pictures, I'm going to just start with the second half of our trip so at least I can say I've started. And it doesn't really matter what order you get it all in, right?

I have always wanted to visit Washington DC, ever since I was in high school and learned that I had a love for History. Lucky for us, we were able to take our trip there just a few weeks ago. And top off the perfection of it all, we went during the peak of "fall week" when the leaves were perfectly changing, and the weather was really quite lovely. My 2 of 3 favorite parts were done in the first half of the trip (so you'll have to wait in suspense for those) but here is a good sampling of some other thing we did!

The first half of our trip we had rented a car (to facilitate in driving to locations where the metro didn't run). And don't you just love it when the rental car company runs out of the size you reserved, so they have to upgrade you for free? And I love that? We rented the cheapo economy car-but ended up driving the Jeep Liberty. Perfect selection given the topic of our trip. We decided to take the car and drive over the the Iwo Jima memorial and Arlington Cemetery. Although Iwo Jima was well worth the drive, the parking fee at Arlington was a little steep.

And Might I just point out-how awesome were the colors? I know right? ok - proceed.

We did as any tourist would do and stopped to watch the changing of the guards. An interesting tradition. We considered jumping the rope just to see what would happen, but decided a safer bet was the Internet. (from our research, it appears the guard only yells at you and slaps his gun, fairly anti-climactic in my opinion). But it was neat to see the symbolism of everything, and how very serious they take their positions.

Once we dropped off the car, we took the metro back to the Mall and started our grand tour of the memorials. Starting with the white house. It was a lot smaller then I had anticipated, but it was still white and still there. Which was neat. I was disappointed that in all the literature they say the white house belongs to the American people and yet you can't do more than take a distant picture. We even tried to procure a tour 3 months earlier, but to no avail. This is the back side of the house which personally I thought was more exciting than the front.

We did venture around to the front, and then around again to start the monument tour, which in hindsight was a big commitment! Its about a mile all around that whole thing! Wow.

We were disappointed to see the reflecting pool was drained. I really was hoping to be able to see what Dr. King saw when he and the protesters marched to Washington. Alas, another time.

The "Black Wall" in memorial to the Vietnam War veterans. Again, with the fall colors, insane.
WWII memorial with the Washington Monument in the background.
President Lincoln. I think that he is probably 1 of only 3 presidents I find the most interest in. Probably because he was killed during his presidency. Cuz I like Kennedy as my third-and he was also shot dead. I see a pattern. anyway - i digress. Seeing the monument wasn't anything like I anticipated. It was HUGE, that I did anticipate, but I did not expect the enormous crowds that clog the stairs, and the monument itself. Its not like that in the movies! So, although it wasn't like you couldn't get the grandeur of the structure, the crowds of young people was a little distracting. But it really was inspiring. Just a really neat thing to see.
After Lincoln, we walked all the way back up capital hill to hit up "We the Pizza" - a restaurant opened by one of our favorite Top Chef contestants from a few seasons back. By the time were were done walking, we calculated we had gone near 11 miles that day. Holy goodness. But the pizza was well worth the additional 2 miles. I'm just saying.

On our 5th day on the East Coast, my Aunt and Uncle were kind enough to take us into West Virginia to Harper's Ferry. Although I knew very little about this particular spot, by the time we left, I knew more about John Brown's raid than I ever knew even existed.

One reason we enjoyed the town was the Morrell's were mentioned!

And in following in their footsteps we would happily host vacationing boarders and provide a lively center of dance and music here....I digress. More fall. Seriously, I couldn't get enough.
And some fantastic authentic 1800s stairs, carved by 1800s people.

This is John Brown's Fort. Where he was finally captured. This building has been moved a few times, and so it doesn't sit on its original location, but it does sit so there you go.
After we had taken in all the John Brown museums our brains could take, we headed back to the Mall for our much anticipated Segway tour. Compliments of Aunt & Uncle again as Mark and I are too cheap for such a tour. However, you may see us on one again in the future, as Mark really enjoyed them. I was never super comfortable on them. It always just felt really unnatural even though I look like a pro as we practiced in the dark, abandoned ally way. That wasn't creepy at all.

If for only this reason - the segway tour was amazing. The Lincoln memorial at night. Just as majestic as I always knew it would be.We spent the entire next day touring the Smithsonian Museums. The American History Museum had a ton of neat things that are a part of our history. My favorite was the original Star Spangled Banner and the first ladies exhibit with many of the first ladies fancy gowns. We were again bombarded with the loads of buses of school children which made me realize why I get the response I do when I tell people I teach high school. Yuck. Insane. I hate kids on tours. The end.

Our final stop was to Ford's theater. One word - delightful. It has been restored to the date that Lincoln attended that fateful night. And, as you can imagine, I just loved it.

I took about 30 pictures of the presidents box, assuming my next picture will show something different. (strangely enough they all look identical) The seats inside are original, with the exception of Lincoln's which is now at a museum in Illinois-where he is buried. The curtains are reproductions, but THAT painting of Washington was in THAT exact spot when Booth killed Lincoln. How can people not be interested in this kind of stuff!!! And then downstairs they have a museum with all kinds of cool stuff - including THE ACTUAL GUN THAT KILLED LINCOLN!!! We saw that hat he was wearing in the Smithsonian the day before, and his suit is also in the basement museum of Ford's theater.
For those who have forgotten the story, Lincoln was shot point blank, the bullet traveling behind his ear, and stopping just behind his right eye. Following Booths escape, a surgeon on attending the play that evening rushed to the box to help; and soon knew the president would not wake up. He was then carried out to the street-in an effort to find a comfortable place for him to rest. The boarding house owner across the street was outside to see what was going on and motioned the men with the president inside. This back bedroom was the vacant at the time-the tenant out for the evening-so it was here he was brought and died the next morning.It was awesome. All of it. Totally awesome.
And hopefully before the week is out I can catch you up with Part 1 of our trip. Including Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Mt. Vernon, and the temple.

Breakfast Fave

Oatmeal. I eat oatmeal for breakfast 5 out of the 7 days. Its really boring and I sort of hate it. UNTIL...I got a brilliant idea from the "little corner bakery" restaurant. And it is DELIGHTFUL. Now I love my morning breakfast oatmeal. Its simple.

One Serving

Cook 1/3 C. oatmeal as usual. I microwave mine for 2.10 minutes.

Add for deliciousness-

+ or - 1 pinch of dried Cranberries.

+ or - 1 pinch of chopped walnuts

+ or - 1/2 sliced banana

Fat Free French Vanilla Coffee Creamer

Enjoy with your morning magazine/newspaper/scriptures. Whatever suits your fancy.