The water fountain outside our hotel looking out onto the Potomac- on the other side is Alexandria, VA. They did a fireworks show right after I took this pic. After we checked out of this hotel, we drove to Alexandria and from our hotel room we could see across the water to the Gaylord- kinda funny!
Me at the WWII Monument- on the Atlantic side.
Great saying by General Nimitz
Looking out from the WWII Monument to the Lincoln Memorial.
I wasn't actually very close to the Jefferson Memorial- I zoomed in as close as I could on the camera. I never did get to go to the monument so this the nearest I got!!
Me standing at the pier by our hotel.
The Washington Monument. There was a really pretty pond where you could feed the ducks. Lots of shade and trees.
The Atlantic side with the Pacific side peeking through the waterfall.
WWII Monument. Each of those concrete rectangle shaped things have one of the states on it and a cool greenish colored wreath hanging on it.
Had to take one of Texas
WWII Monument.
Hangin' with Honest Abe.
Lincoln Memorial
Statue at the beginning of the Vietnam Wall
Walking along the wall looking at all the names.
Somebody had left this here- boots with wood poles inside with dog tags hanging off. There was a letter saying how sorry he was for coming home without his buddies.
Korean War Memorial.
Other angle of Korean War Memorial- The wall in the back has images etched into the granite- made it look like there was more people- kinda played tricks with your eyes.
Korean War Memorial
View from the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial looking at the Washinton Monument. You almost didn't want to leave the view was so amazing!
Abraham Lincoln- what an amazing man!
Had to take one of my home state- UTAH!!
The famous "A date which will live in infamy" Pres. Roosevelt.
More of the WWII Monument. I couldn't get enough of this place.
The DC War Monument. I didn't really understand it but thought it was really pretty.
More of the Korean War- the granite wall with the etchings of images more in depth. I don't know why my pictures are so mixed up. Sorry.
My only picture of the Holocaust Museum. There really wasn't anywhere else they would let you take pictures. I took this while waiting to go into the permanent exhibit. When you show up they give you a ticket with a certain time on it. I got there at 12:15 and my ticket was for the 1:45 group.
My first time seeing the Washington Monument up close.
I walked around it to go see the other things instead of standing in line to go up it.Loving the double chin!!!
As you walk around the monument you can see off in the distance the White House. This is zoomed in all the way.
These were on the ground on both sides of the WWII Monument.
As you walk around the monument you can see off in the distance the White House. This is zoomed in all the way.
These were on the ground on both sides of the WWII Monument.
Today I took a while getting out of the hotel room- I was very tired!
I got on the city bus for 30 min. then got onto the Metro for another 25 min. then emerged from the underground world to the most amazing site- the buildings of the Department of Agriculture!! (that was kind of a joke- I didn't know what buildings they were but they were big and the architecture was really cool) when I realized what it was I felt kinda dumb but nonetheless it was just really amazing to see what I was seeing!
I immediately went to the Holocaust Museum and proceeded to spend almost 3 hours there. I started out going through "Remember the Children, Daniel's Story" it takes you through the Holocaust through a child's eye- what their home life was like and then what happened when things started changing because they were Jewish. It's a good way to teach children about the Holocaust in a non-scary way and they can relate to a lot of the displays there. I then went downstairs to walk through a display about the Nazi Olympics. I then walked through The Wexler Learning Center where you can learn more about Genocide and they had a room devoted to what's going on in Darfur- very eye opening for me. It made me want to learn more about what's going on over there and try to help with whatever I can because there is another Holocaust going on and no one is doing anything about it (except for Ben Affleck)
I then went to the Hall of Remembrance and it was so quiet- it's a circular room and in the middle there was a flame that sits on top of a black stage and the words that are on the front say something about there being dirt from every concentration camp and death camp underneath (they wouldn't let you take pictures in the room so i'm going off what I can remember) around the perimeter of the room were the names of all the camps and underneath are votive candles and you can go around the room and light candles for the people that died from the camps. I lit about 5 candles and tried to keep my emotions under the surface but man, it was hard in that sort of setting. There were also different scriptures around the room that were so perfect about what happened. I then had my ticket for the permanent exhibit so I walked through and some of the things they have on exhibit were amazing, the pile of shoes, the train they were piled in to, the wood bunks they squeezed into. What really made the biggest impact on me is when I rounded a corner there was an exhibit about the experiments the Nazi's did on different groups of people, one of them being the handicapped. As I came upon the exhibit there was a woman in a motorized wheelchair reading it and it really hit me that she would have been one of those people and probably would have died! It made me question almost out loud WHY?
I left the Museum feeling a little glum but then raised my head up to decide where to go to next and saw the Washington Monument! I decided not to go up in it but to continue walking around it- I had too much I wanted to see and only a couple of more hours to do it in. I took pictures of the monument and off in the distance to the right was the White House. I then came to the WWII Monument which I've been wanting to see for years! I walked around and video taped and took pictures, then kept walking down to the DC War Monument, the Korean War Monument and then finally--- the Lincoln Monument! I walked up the stairs and was amazed at how big the statue is of Lincoln. On the left side is the Gettysburg Address and on the right side is his Presidential Address when he was re-elected. Reading both made me realize how much of a spiritually-minded man he was! I strongly suggest each of you to find those 2 speeches online and read them.
I sat down for a while and took some pictures and called my sister to let her know I was hanging out with Honest Abe- she was jealous! I then walked over to the Vietnam Wall and took some pictures and then walked back to the Monument from the other side of the Reflecting pool- it was shady and lots of trees and chipmunks and ducks everywhere. I then got back on the Metro then to the city bus and back to the hotel. My feet hurt and I was stinky and hot!
Ben and I got some yummy sandwiches and ate on a pier in front of our hotel. He had to go back to the convention hall in the hotel to work so I stayed on the lawn and all of a sudden fireworks started on the other side of the lake- it was really pretty!! all of a sudden about 30 yards in back of me fireworks started at our hotel and scared everyone- It was scary but kinda funny to watch everyone's reactions to the fireworks. They didn't last very long but it was still really cool! I stayed there just relaxing until the fireworks stopped. I came inside and now i'm just winding down and figuring out what time I need to be in DC for the parade tomorrow- I just found out it doesn't even start until 11:45- now that's the perfect time for a parade.
I think after the parade i'm going to try and conquer the Smithsonian, the International Spy Musuem, the National Archives and the Crime Musuem. I'm hoping Ben can get a taxi and come watch the fireworks with me- I would hate to watch them by myself!!
I'm sorry this is kinda long but I want you all to know everything i'm doing and feeling!!
Tune in tomorrow for my fabulous report from our Nation's Capitol on the 4th of July!!
Hope you all have a fun, safe holiday!!!
I got on the city bus for 30 min. then got onto the Metro for another 25 min. then emerged from the underground world to the most amazing site- the buildings of the Department of Agriculture!! (that was kind of a joke- I didn't know what buildings they were but they were big and the architecture was really cool) when I realized what it was I felt kinda dumb but nonetheless it was just really amazing to see what I was seeing!
I immediately went to the Holocaust Museum and proceeded to spend almost 3 hours there. I started out going through "Remember the Children, Daniel's Story" it takes you through the Holocaust through a child's eye- what their home life was like and then what happened when things started changing because they were Jewish. It's a good way to teach children about the Holocaust in a non-scary way and they can relate to a lot of the displays there. I then went downstairs to walk through a display about the Nazi Olympics. I then walked through The Wexler Learning Center where you can learn more about Genocide and they had a room devoted to what's going on in Darfur- very eye opening for me. It made me want to learn more about what's going on over there and try to help with whatever I can because there is another Holocaust going on and no one is doing anything about it (except for Ben Affleck)
I then went to the Hall of Remembrance and it was so quiet- it's a circular room and in the middle there was a flame that sits on top of a black stage and the words that are on the front say something about there being dirt from every concentration camp and death camp underneath (they wouldn't let you take pictures in the room so i'm going off what I can remember) around the perimeter of the room were the names of all the camps and underneath are votive candles and you can go around the room and light candles for the people that died from the camps. I lit about 5 candles and tried to keep my emotions under the surface but man, it was hard in that sort of setting. There were also different scriptures around the room that were so perfect about what happened. I then had my ticket for the permanent exhibit so I walked through and some of the things they have on exhibit were amazing, the pile of shoes, the train they were piled in to, the wood bunks they squeezed into. What really made the biggest impact on me is when I rounded a corner there was an exhibit about the experiments the Nazi's did on different groups of people, one of them being the handicapped. As I came upon the exhibit there was a woman in a motorized wheelchair reading it and it really hit me that she would have been one of those people and probably would have died! It made me question almost out loud WHY?
I left the Museum feeling a little glum but then raised my head up to decide where to go to next and saw the Washington Monument! I decided not to go up in it but to continue walking around it- I had too much I wanted to see and only a couple of more hours to do it in. I took pictures of the monument and off in the distance to the right was the White House. I then came to the WWII Monument which I've been wanting to see for years! I walked around and video taped and took pictures, then kept walking down to the DC War Monument, the Korean War Monument and then finally--- the Lincoln Monument! I walked up the stairs and was amazed at how big the statue is of Lincoln. On the left side is the Gettysburg Address and on the right side is his Presidential Address when he was re-elected. Reading both made me realize how much of a spiritually-minded man he was! I strongly suggest each of you to find those 2 speeches online and read them.
I sat down for a while and took some pictures and called my sister to let her know I was hanging out with Honest Abe- she was jealous! I then walked over to the Vietnam Wall and took some pictures and then walked back to the Monument from the other side of the Reflecting pool- it was shady and lots of trees and chipmunks and ducks everywhere. I then got back on the Metro then to the city bus and back to the hotel. My feet hurt and I was stinky and hot!
Ben and I got some yummy sandwiches and ate on a pier in front of our hotel. He had to go back to the convention hall in the hotel to work so I stayed on the lawn and all of a sudden fireworks started on the other side of the lake- it was really pretty!! all of a sudden about 30 yards in back of me fireworks started at our hotel and scared everyone- It was scary but kinda funny to watch everyone's reactions to the fireworks. They didn't last very long but it was still really cool! I stayed there just relaxing until the fireworks stopped. I came inside and now i'm just winding down and figuring out what time I need to be in DC for the parade tomorrow- I just found out it doesn't even start until 11:45- now that's the perfect time for a parade.
I think after the parade i'm going to try and conquer the Smithsonian, the International Spy Musuem, the National Archives and the Crime Musuem. I'm hoping Ben can get a taxi and come watch the fireworks with me- I would hate to watch them by myself!!
I'm sorry this is kinda long but I want you all to know everything i'm doing and feeling!!
Tune in tomorrow for my fabulous report from our Nation's Capitol on the 4th of July!!
Hope you all have a fun, safe holiday!!!
3 comments:
Too, too funny that it was the Department of Agriculture building, my agency. I laughed out loud.
Sounds like such a great trip! I am looking forawrd to the pictures!
Hey - where's the picture of the Department of Agriculture building?
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