Washington D.C. Trip!!

Jon and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Washington D.C.! Jon was in Baltimore for work and I flew in on Wednesday night. We drove to D.C. on Thursday and started the long, but exciting days of touring our nation's capital! The first day the weather was absolutely gorgeous! But, I have never walked so much in my life and I got to experience a subway for the first time! (Kind of scary!) But, it was definitely the easiest way to get around town! The first day we toured the Library of Congress. Our tour was scheduled for 1 :30, but when we got there we notice a lot of black sedans and SUVs and a lot of heavily armed guards! One of the guards told us to come back at 2pm because the King of Jordan was inside the library! When we came back he was just getting ready to leave, so they stopped all traffic (including pedestrian traffic) to allow the King and his entourage to leave! It was actually kind of neat to see! So, after he was gone we had our tour! This building was beautiful on the inside! The architecture and the art were amazing! It looked like something you would see in Europe! But, it was completely made by Americans! You wee not allowed to take pictures in the main reading room! But it was neat to see!
After the library we headed over to the memorials and the Mall! This was amazing! We didn't go inside the Washington Monument because it was really busy! The World War II Memorial touched me the most! I didn't expect to get teary-eyed, but I did! While we were there a choir was singing "The Star Spangled Banner" and it was so beautiful! I have always been fascinated by WW II history and knowing that both mine and Jon's grandpas fought in that war made it more real to me! Then we walked the long haul of the refection pool to the Lincoln Memorial! There are so many steps to get up there! But, it was so neat to see that part of history! On each side of where Lincoln is sitting they have engraved in the walls his 2nd Inaugural Address and his Gettysburg Address! After this we went to the Vietnam Memorial wall! I did not expect this to be so long! It was overwhelming how many names were engraved on this wall representing those that lost their lives in that war! By the time we were done with all of the memorials we were so tired and headed back to the hotel for a quick nap! That night we just walked around Dupont Circle where our hotel was and went to dinner at a really good Italian restaurant!
The next day was very cloudy when we woke up! We decided to go to Arlington National Cemetery before the rain came! I'm glad we did because I would not have wanted to miss this! It was incredible to see! This was Jon's favorite place that we went! We were able to see the grave of JFK! Beside it they have an Eternal Flame burning! Across from his grave they have some of his famous quotes, Jon's favorite being, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." We then walked over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where there is a guard standing watch all the time! We got there just in time for a changing of the guards! This was neat to see and to watch them salute the tomb! As we were walking in the cemetery every once in a while we heard a 3 gun salute and the sound of Taps being played!
After the cemetery we went over the the Smithsonian Museums and the National Archives where the Constitution, Bill of Rights and The Declaration of Independence are kept! They were very hard to read! I wasn't expecting them to be so faded! But, they are over 200 years old! :) The room where they are kept is very dark and they don't allow flash photography, so we did our best to get some pictures! By the time we walked out of the Archives it was pouring! We caught a taxi to the nearest place we could buy an umbrella! But, we got soaked waiting for a cab! All part of the experience!
We went to the Natural History Museum and saw the Hope Diamond! It is a 52 carat blue diamond! I told Jon I want it for our next Anniversary! :) We also went to the Air and Space Museum and Jon took a ton of pictures of planes! (I cut it down for the slide show!) He loved this! I was excited because they had a small exhibit from the American History Museum which was closed for remodeling! Here we saw a lot of really cool things from Dorthy's ruby slippers to Mr. Roger's sweater!
We also had a tour of the Capitol building! It was pre-arranged by one of the other managers that Jon works with! We met in the Senate building at Senator McCain's office! (He wasn't in...he's a little busy right now!) But, it was neat to see his office! We took a private subway that goes from the Senate building to the Capitol! The Capitol was impressive! Again, the artwork and detail was incredible! Going into the Rotunda where the past Presidents have lied in state was very neat...to be in a room where so much history has taken place! They also had a statue room, where each state is allowed 2 statues to represent themselves! Arizona's was someone by the name of Greenway, but we liked that there was a statue of Brigham Young in there for Utah!
That night we went to dinner with 3 of the other managers from Jon's work! We ate at a really nice restaurant in Georgetown! The food was pretty good, but the atmosphere was beautiful! It was right on the river and and had a amazing view! After dinner we went to see the White House! We never did see it during the day, but it was pretty at night! Jon liked looking for all the guards on the roof! :) It was not as big as I thought it would be! It just looks like a really big house, but I was expecting something huge!
The last day we were there we drove to Mt. Vernon! This is where George and Martha Washington lived! This was spectacular! It is set right on the Potomac River and has thousands of acres of land! We were not allowed to take pictures inside of the house, but it was very neat to see! There are 2 tombs on the property. One is where George and Martha laid for about 30 years until a new one was built according the the instructions he left in his will! The stables still smelled like stables but the area was just beautiful! We saw a cardinal in the gardens which was neat because it is the state bird of Virginia!
So much history here! We had a fantastic trip! I'm glad we got to experience all that we did! I would love to take to kids back when they are old enough to appreciate it! Enjoy the slide show! It's kind of long, but this is the condensed version! We ended up taking just over 200 photos in 3 days! When you are in a place like that, you can't help it!