Today we went drove to Washington DC for the afternoon. We parked at Union Station, which is cheaper than the metro, driving is faster than the metro, and I don't like being underground. But I do like Union Station. We were amazed by the 1905 architecture. My son asked if that was real gold in the ceiling. Yes, it's gold leaf!

The outdoors presented a gorgeous autumn day. 

This is the closest the kids ever got to the Capitol.

     Our objective was to see the Wright Flyer Exhibit at the Air and Space Museum. We only had an hour to see it last summer and today, we only had an hour before it closed. We read and learned a lot, but we are looking forward to coming back to see the rest.  I had a lot to say and post about this, but I will save it for when we get to complete it. 

     When my daughter saw my jacket that I brought for the day, she said she had never seen me wear it before. That is because San Antonio never had autumn weather. In fact, I am cold this autumn in Virginia! The extreme temperature ranges during the day and into the night led to my first cold, from which I am now recovering. I am feeling pretty good now, but have a bit of a sore throat and laryngitis, which might be due to allergies. I don't know how I'm going to endure the winter. I am certainly enjoying the change in color, although I cannot see it as crystal clear as I previously did. Friday I got my new contacts. Because of an astigmatism, I should wear torics, which would give me crystal clear vision. However they are historically extremely uncomfortable. Throughout college and into my kids' preschool years, I wore regular soft contacts without any problem. Then I got a new eye doctor who insisted on torics, which drove me to glasses, which have given me awful headaches for the last ten years.  Right now I am wearing regular soft contacts, which are extremely comfortable and no more headaches! This is much healthier for me than taking Excedrin everyday. However, the downside is exactly what the doctor told me it would be, my vision is not crystal clear. All day I've been switching between sunglasses and readers so I can read the map. In the museum, I had difficulty reading in the dark.  I am remembering why in my previous contact lens years, I gave up on reading and cross stitch. No, I do not need bifocals, the doctor said so. This issue is related to my astigmatism. Glasses brought new life to my reading books and doing fine stitching. I have to admit, the torics that I could not endure in 1999 did give me crystal clear vision. This doctor is willing to work with me and has ordered another set to try out next week.  I might break down to try the toric.  I would love to get past the discomfort of them if I need them.  When I came home with my new contacts Friday, I was a bit worried about what my husband would think. He now admits he likes me better without glasses and it's kind of fun seeing the look on his face now when he first sees me each day with my contacts. ;)  Being a bit "off" due to a missing balance nerve, a bit of hearing loss (resulting from the surgery of the balance nerve and a possible sinus infection) and my eyes not having crystal clear vision, I am completely uncertain of my surroundings and a bit dependent on those around me. My vision and hearing compensate me for my balance loss. My vision compensates for my hearing loss, as I read lips. This morning I had trouble reading someone's lips! This is definitely a transition time for me. For any of you who will be around me, if I seem a bit "off", this is the reason why.  

     I knew I'd be needing a new picture to get ready for "Secret Sister" time in a few weeks at my TOG history yahoo group.   I tried to talk my husband into a family picture. Instead he took a picture of me and the kids.  

Last Saturday we got to experience a delightful feast for the senses!  We attended the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. It was exceedingly windy, it was cold, it was crowded, but it was sunny, everyone was polite and it was beautiful!  We walked around the entire Tidal Basin, underneath cascading pink branches.  Petals shimmered down all around us.    

 As we left the Jefferson Memorial, my husband discovered the secluded George Mason Memorial! 

He wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was the forerunner of the Declaration of Independence. His memorial is patterned after the gardens at his home, Gunston Hall. Since we tried to purchase a house on Gunston Hall Dr., I had to see this!  I'm looking forward to actually visiting Gunston Hall. 

  Then we came to the FDR Memorial. We came in backwards, which we didn't realize until later. As we walked through, I wondered what the design meant. I know that the designs of the memorials in Washington DC have a purpose. Finally I discovered it and pulled the kids aside to think it out, which led to a review of WWII and an art lesson.

 FDR said...

 On this side the stones were in disarray and the waterfall was dry...

On the other side the stones were in order and the waterfalls worked.  

 After leaving the FDR Memorial and continuing around the Tidal Basin, we happened upon beds of tulips!

These were my favorites! 

It was another terrific day with stunningly blue skies. We took the George Washington Memorial Parkwayin to Washington DC and found the free parking near the Jefferson Memorial.  Yea!  We walked all over this beautiful city.  I had hoped to have lunch at Lafayette Park, but that was behind the White House and with all the fencing up, and we were starving by the time we got there, we just found a nearby spot to eat.  Another place we did not have time to go to was  Rock Creek Park and the Chesepeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown.  After the American Revolution, George Washington gained support for a life long dream to improve access on the Potomac to open trade from the Ohio River Valley.  This eventually led to the Chesepeake and Ohio Canal.  We also ran out of time to see the National Portrait Gallery,  and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.   We were never able to get tickets for the Capitol and the White House.  I had hoped we'd have time to do a few extra things the day we arrived in Arlington, but we had had a few unforeseen adventures that day.  

So, what did we see?  Plenty!  We deliberated for months on what to prioritize, but we got to see the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument,  World War II Memorial,  Lincoln Memorial,  Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, White House, Charters of Freedom, Library of Congress, and the  Air and Space Museum.  Whew! 

The kids got to understand the lay of the city exceptionally well with all of the walking and the picture taking they did. It is extremely easy to get around because of the lay of the city.  The Washington Monument is in the center.  To the north is the White House, to the South is the Jefferson Memorial, to the West is the Lincoln Memorial and to the East is the US Capitol.  There is an e-mail running around saying that George Washington planned the city in the shape of a cross with the major monuments at the points, but that is not true.  For one thing, Abraham Lincoln wasn't even born yet!  George Washington worked with Pierre L'Enfant on the design, for the location of the Capitol and the White House and that was it.  Everything else came much later.  So if that e-mail comes around to your inbox, delete it and follow the links above, which are connected to the National Park Service.  The information will be far more accurate!  ;)

Our first stop was the Jefferson Memorial.  It was fun to watch the kids ooh and ahh over everything,  Then I told them to take a look at what Jefferson was looking at.  They looked and boy were they pleasantly surprised...the White House!  When we were at the Lincoln Memorial, they saw that Abraham Lincoln was looking at a reminder of his favorite president, the Washington Monument!

We were thrilled to find the statue of John Paul Jones.  He was one of many favorites we had studied him in school last year!  

One of our favorite stops was to see the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives building.  We had done quite a bit of study of the Magna Charta, Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights last year.  Now we got to see these original documents up close!  We were allowed to take pictures without flash, but it was so dark they did not come out. (The link above will show pictures of what we saw!) There were beautiful paintings and gorgeous architecture. But the lights had to be kept low in order to protect the documents.  The documents are kept in special cases filled with gases that preserve the documents.  Then at night the cases sink deep into the ground to protect the documents.  When I was at Montpelier the next day, I found a great book on the Bill of Rights.  It not only explained the Bill of Rights for kids, but also explained how the Charters of Freedom site was remodeled to house them.  In 1952, the documents were pulled out of storage.  Deep crease marks were embedded into the parchment.  The book explains not only how the documents were written and printed, but also how they were restored.  This book also tells about George Mason and the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was one of the models for the Bill of Rights.  This is mentioned a lot in Colonial Williamsburg, but not often elsewhere.   I bought a copy of the Virginia Declaration of Rights at the Colonial Williamsburg print shop store to use as a hands on in school.  

Another favorite stop was the Library of Congress.  There are busts of famous authors on the front of the building and we had fun trying to figure out who they were.  The inside was gorgeous!  It had been built in 1886 in Italian Renaissance style!  We had studied the Renaissance last year and it ws exciting to see the art form in person!  (And going to Italy was out of our budget!) I was excited to see this quote which matches my teaching philosophy! 

The Library of Congress was established in 1800 as a source of research for Congress.  But the British burned it down during the War of 1812.  Thomas Jefferson donated his personal collection of books.  For the previous 50 years he had been "putting by everything which related to America, and indeed whatever was rare and valuable in every science."  This collection can now be seen in the library.  We also got to see the Gutenberg Bible, which we had studied about last year!   

We finished the day with the Air and Space Museum.  The Wright Flyer  exhibit was incredible.  We got to see the actual plane and there were lots of interactives. 

The museum also had a lot of space stuff but we had been to the Johnson Space Center a few years ago, so that seemed like old hat compared to all the new stuff we wanted to see.  lol  We got see the Spirit of St. Louis, which Charles Lindberg flew over the Atlantic Ocean to Paris.  It was unbelievable how that little plane made the flight. 

Then my daughter pointed us in the direction of the very first hot air balloon!  We had studied about that last spring!  Benjamin Franklin saw this balloon make the first ever flight of a balloon in France.   Seeing this was probably the biggest thrill in the museum!

After a full day, we drove to the new Air Force Memorial.  With 24 years in the USAF, my husband felt this was the perfect ending to our exciting day! 

I'll never forget the first time I went to Arlington National Cemetery in 1989.  We got there first thing in the morning with all of the crowds in July.  As we walked among all the graves, I saw high on a hill a mansion and Southern Belles walking around...Arlington House!   

 I couldn't imagine how this house managed to get in the middle of a national cemetery.  The history was fascinating.  I couldn't wait to show this place to my kids.  Since we had gotten lost and we ended up taking busy hwy 1 into Arlington after all, it was 330pm by the time we arrived at the cemetery.  We weren't sure how to get to the top of the hill to Arlington House.  By the time we did, it was 4pm and we just missed the last tour.  We were allowed to do a self tour.  The house is being renovated and this time there were no Southern Belles.  (I thought it would have been fun for my kids to see those dresses and hoop skirts!)  Since it's being renovated, there wasn't much on the inside to see.  The furniture was gone and the walls were being repaired. 

After walking through the house we sat on a bench and reviewed the history.  This lovely home was built by George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington and her first husband, Daniel Custis!  George Washington Parke Custis grew up at Mount Vernon with his sister when his father died.  He adored his adoptive grandfather, President George Washington so much, that he filled this house with Washington treasures and heirlooms as a tribute.  In 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Custis while he was on his grand tour of America.  (Everywhere we went on our vacation, the Marquis was there!  The kids had so much finding him everywhere!)  While the Marquis stood in the Center Hall of the mansion and looked at the view of Washington DC across the Potomac River he said that it was the "finest view in the world."  Today one can see all of the memorials (in this particular picture you can see the Washington Monument, Capitol and Jefferson Memorial).... 

...and the Pentagon.

Arlington House was an 1100 acre plantation.  The daughter of George Washington Parke Custis married Robert E. Lee.  Arlington House later became their home.  When Lee made the fateful decision to join the Confederacy, they had to flee.  During the Civil War, the land was used to bury dead soldiers.  Eventually it became a national cemetery.  

Last time I was here, due to all of the crowds, I was barely able to see changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  This time without the crowds, we were able to easily watch this honored occasion.  DS was impressed with the precision.  I highly recommend going in the afternoon.  It is especially calm and beautiful with the sun setting.   Without the crowds, it was easy to listen to the solitude and feel the solemnity. 

I meticulously planned this vacation to avoid as many humoungous bridges as possible.  The East Coast is frighteningly plentiful with them.  On the way, we did have to cross the Mississippi River, so while we drove over it I held my breath (and anxiously enjoyed the view). But that was it. No more big bridges!  While vacation planning I did consider wavering my staunch resistance to crossing the formidable terrors as I considered working in Chincoteague and Virginia Beach into our travel plans.  As a family we made a priority list of where we wanted to spend our time.  Whew!  Due to lack of time we couldn't fit in Chincoteague or Virginia Beach so that meant NO big bridges. (I really, really do want to visit Chincoteague and Virginia Beach someday.  It's just a shame that a bridge/tunnel has to come between us!) After all to get to Virginia Beach we would need to take one fearsome bridge and tunnel.  To get to Chincoteague we'd to first cross the previous bridge and tunnel and then the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. This is the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world.  That's a record setting bridge I have no problem bypassing!  I mean, how can anyone in their right mind take a bridge that suddenly disappears into the depths of the water?  Logically, I know that is the tunnel portion, but it has a way of doing a number on my mind.   Nevertheless, I did want to see the ocean in the worst way!  I decided that the night we arrived in Williamsburg, we'd check into our motel, get our tickets at Colonial Williamsburg, and then go find dinner on the water at Hampton Roads, where the York River, James River, Chesepeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean all converge.  Surely there would be a lovely seafood restaurant overlooking all of this water.  I could only imagine how wonderful the seafood would taste and how beautiful the view would be!  I did a lot of research on line, but didn't come up with too many leads.  Some friends assured me of a few good places, but encouraged me to go for the bridge/tunnel to Virginia Beach.  As long as we didn't drive through during rush hour, I should be fine emotionally.  It didn't help my nerves when she told me that rush hour is so slow that the locals joke that the tourists are checking for leaks!  Ahem. 

With great anticipation we arrived in Williamsburg, checked-in, then drove to Hampton Roads.  We drove by Langley AFB.  Hmmmmm, job possibilities for dh????   I kept warning dh not to drive too fast or he'd miss the last exit to Hampton Roads.  (He has a way of missing exits.)  He kept teasing me as the signs warned us that the bridge/tunnel was coming up by pretending to gun the accelerator.  Thankfully we made it to Hampton and not the bridge/tunnel (although we couldn't find any waterfront dining). =(

Why this fear of bridges?  I used to love them as a kid.  Actually, I have taken many of those bridges back in 1989 while driving from Washington DC to upstate New York via New York City.  The high bridges were scary!  However the tunnels didn't bother me too much becuase I couldn't see much when the tunnels came up and didn't have time to think about it....until afterwards.  And then I watched Indiana Jones movies with my dh.  Well, I can only imagine what could happen, so now my safetynet doesn't feel secure.  

My preference is for the more sedate and low to the ground bridge.  If there's a problem, I can jump off and not drown!  Now, doesn't this rustic bridge in Colonial Williamsburg look like fun? I would love to have a backyard like this!   

With the bridge fears behind me, we prepared to leave Williamsburg, when ds realized his bag of souvenirs was gone!  It was in a Colonial Williamsburg gift bag from the print shop in CW.  He had used money from his grandparents to buy a quill pen, ink well, ink, paper, sealing wax and a stamp with his initial.  He also had a watercolor painting he did at the Geddy house and a few other things.  Gone!  We looked high and low and my goodness, the only explanation we could come up with was that the maid threw it away by mistake.  I went to the management and they felt awful but they never recovered it. They did give my son a little portion of cash to help replace the loss.  We drove back to Colonial Williamsburg to the print shop for ds to replace his lost items.  We paid the balance of the bill from what the motel management gave to him.  

Afterwards we drove to a hotel 3 miles from Mount Vernon.  We were all very sad that we were leaving Colonial Williamsburg.  Mentally it was difficult for us to leave the 4mph society and re-enter the 21st century.  Our motel had been very close to CW so we had not dealt too much with the current times for a few days.  (Now that's a vacation!)

In a few hours we got to our hotel.  It was about 2pm.  We had time to find the George Washington Memorial Parkway and drive to Arlington National Cemetary.  We had discovered this beautiful roadway in 2004 by accident.  It hugs the coastline of the Potomac into Washington DC.  That was how I wanted us to drive in, to avoid the traffic of Alexandria on hectic hwy 1 (where our hotel was located).  We drove by Mount Vernon but we couldn't find the GWMP!  The road we were on finally brought us back to hwy 1.  The kids and I could see the water and I knew we needed to be near the water so we told him to make a right turn.  Do you realize what happens when you do that?????  You end up on the Woodrow Wilson Drawbridge  that crosses the Potomac River from Virginia into Maryland!!!!!  Eeek!!!  The link shows a photo of the drawbridge up.  Looking at that picture makes me very nervous. (I can ride in a car at the top of the Colorado Rockies at 14,000+ feet but these bridges are not fun!) The kids were delighted.  As I desperately prayed that we wouldn't get stuck on the bridge (there was a lot of traffic), we could see thunderstorms building (See the anvil shaped t-head in the photo?) , and hopefully the drawbridge would not be needed (thankfully it wasn't).  I did have enough presence of mind to take this picture.  Can you see the Washington Monument (left) and Capitol (far right behind other white buildings but you can see the dome)? 

Well, so much for meticulous planning. After more twists and turns, we finally found the GWMP.  And it does cut off a lot of traffic and time in travel between Mount Vernon and Washington DC. The drive is beautiful and there are roadside parks to pull in to. You just have to be able to find it! You'd think that something we found by accident four years ago would be easy to find again on purpose!  (Pssst, drive INTO the road with the Mount Vernon entrance sign, you'll go around a circle and come out into the GWMP.  I may need to refer back to this blog entry someday for directions if we get to go back!