We drove through the night last Friday, leaving right before 7 p.m. which was later than John really wanted to leave, but I HAD to finish "The Lost Symbol" before we went so that I could see all the Masonic symbols for myself. It was worth it in the end. As was driving for 12 hours during the kids' regular bedtime. We let them watch a movie with some popcorn, stopped right before we hit Indiana, and continued the next 10 hours in silence. Beautiful. We made it into DC just in time to find a McDonald's and change the kiddos out of their travel Jammies into something respectable to wear on the White House Tour. I have no photos of that...cameras, knitting needles, and martial arts weapons are apparently no no's.
Briefly, I'll take you on an out of order photo tour of Day one:
I call this "Flowers on The Wall". It's amazing how silent tourists are here.
This photo pretty much sums up Nate's face the entire trip, because DC is A LOT of walking. A LOT, which is fine, really, unless you're Nate and you'd rather be playing Wii. My mom was afraid we would lose him. That, I assure you was not possible because even though he was always about 8 steps behind us, you could hear his whiny monologue: "Awww, I HATE walking. I HATE memorials" and so on. At the American History Museum, he went so far as to give a thumbs down and blow raspberries at the reenactment of the 1960's civil rights counter eat in protests. Before you get all jumpy and think it's something racial, I assure you it was NOT. There were just a lot of people in his way. And the demonstration reenactment made it so Nate had to walk the long way around an exhibit. "Awwww, I HATE having to walk around people"........
This is pretty much the only photo of me on this trip. Oddly taken at the Vietnam Memorial. John tried to get one at the Washington Monument, but he is no Ansel Adams and so it didn't really turn out so well, but I wanted some sort of proof that I was there too.
The kids were dangerously close to the reflection water. Dangerously. They were probably trying to see all the kites...since our first day there happened to be the Kite Festival which was coinciding with the Cherry Blossom Festival. The Kites were amazing. Truly, truly amazing.
Jack for one, was happy at least.
I have lots of photos with Jack smiling, after saying, "Mom, take one of me doing this....Mom take one of me doing that". You'll see them, I promise.
This is me and the ghosts at the Korean War Memorial. This memorial was spooky, what with the etched marble reflecting the ghostly soldiers in the background. And yes, I know I'm in the photo. That was done on purpose. I call this one, "Me and the Ghosts"
Nate really got into 2 things in DC. One was this etched wall and the army guys in front of it. The other was the Astronaut Suit at Air and Space.
The Korean War Memorial is spooky. There's a handful of these white soldiers, marching through a 'field', and aesthetically, it's a bit disconcerting. Was the artist looking for the ghostly look on purpose because Korea is so easily forgotten? I'm not sure. In the shadows of other, more vastly grand memorials and monuments, this one stays with you, mostly I think because Korea was like a tomato in a WWII/Vietnam Sandwich. But it happened, boys died, and the Memorial is haunting, which is exactly why I liked it so much.
After our bit of sight seeing on day one, we headed back to our hotel, which rocked it. Every night from 5:30-7:30 there was a 'manager's reception' complete with drinks (literally, ANYTHING you wanted, top shelf and all that good stuff) and chips/dips/fries/veggie/snacky bar food. Totally what you needed at the end of a long weary walking day.
This is pretty much the only photo of me on this trip. Oddly taken at the Vietnam Memorial. John tried to get one at the Washington Monument, but he is no Ansel Adams and so it didn't really turn out so well, but I wanted some sort of proof that I was there too.
The kids were dangerously close to the reflection water. Dangerously. They were probably trying to see all the kites...since our first day there happened to be the Kite Festival which was coinciding with the Cherry Blossom Festival. The Kites were amazing. Truly, truly amazing.
Jack for one, was happy at least.
I have lots of photos with Jack smiling, after saying, "Mom, take one of me doing this....Mom take one of me doing that". You'll see them, I promise.
This is me and the ghosts at the Korean War Memorial. This memorial was spooky, what with the etched marble reflecting the ghostly soldiers in the background. And yes, I know I'm in the photo. That was done on purpose. I call this one, "Me and the Ghosts"
Nate really got into 2 things in DC. One was this etched wall and the army guys in front of it. The other was the Astronaut Suit at Air and Space.
The Korean War Memorial is spooky. There's a handful of these white soldiers, marching through a 'field', and aesthetically, it's a bit disconcerting. Was the artist looking for the ghostly look on purpose because Korea is so easily forgotten? I'm not sure. In the shadows of other, more vastly grand memorials and monuments, this one stays with you, mostly I think because Korea was like a tomato in a WWII/Vietnam Sandwich. But it happened, boys died, and the Memorial is haunting, which is exactly why I liked it so much.
After our bit of sight seeing on day one, we headed back to our hotel, which rocked it. Every night from 5:30-7:30 there was a 'manager's reception' complete with drinks (literally, ANYTHING you wanted, top shelf and all that good stuff) and chips/dips/fries/veggie/snacky bar food. Totally what you needed at the end of a long weary walking day.
Don't even get me started on breakfast: omelettes made to order, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, fruit, juice, cereal, bagels, pastries, donuts, and more. Totally worth it.
Totally.
1 comment:
You should see that Korean memorial at night! Spooky. What hotel did you stay at? Sounded reall great. Glad yu took all these pictures. Theyre really good! Sorry I've been SO offline. Work and baby just suck the life out of me.
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