Wednesday Nov 20 we decided to make a day trip to DC. Doing
Washington DC in a day is impossible and thankfully having already been there
before we didn’t have to try. Tim, Joel and Laura chose one thing each and
that’s what we started with. It was a chilly but clear day and after finally getting
through the traffic and to a park at Union Station we headed for Tim’s choice past the Capitol.
to the library of Congress...
Library of Congress (Tim)
I was very excited to go to Washington DC, as I have lots of great memories from the last time we went there. This time I made sure we would go to the Library of Congress, the biggest library in the world. They have some incredible side exhibits including the Gutenburg Bible, the Giant Bible of Mainz and this amazing Civil War exhibit that had the contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets the night he was assassinated. One thing that struck me as we were walking around both inside and out was the elaborate architecture. Outside there are columns and busts of Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers. Inside there is so much marble, it is everywhere! Gold leaf is on the ceiling along with mosaics, paintings and more columns. The Main Reading Room looked incredible! It is a massive circular domed room with books lining the walls and desks, and more desks, where you could study and read whatever you found. We were able to see it only from an enclosed balcony and when we asked the nice lady she said we needed a research permit, which you have to apply for in advance. Throughout the tour and walking around they kept saying it was the biggest most amazing library and it was for the dispersing of knowledge to the common people. Too bad you couldn't go in.
The Gutenburg Bible - seriously cool for us history buffs.
The main reading room
Time for a picnic lunch out in the cool fresh air, then we walked past The Capitol towards Joel's choice.
Looking from The Capitol towards the Washington Memorial. This shows how far we walked as that is only halfway to the Lincoln Memorial.
Air and Space Museum (Joel)
Mum let us pick one thing each to visit in Washington DC. I chose The National Air and Space Museum, part of the Smithsonian. We have been there once, ten years ago, but I don't remember much. This time I really enjoyed seeing all of the Apollo space equipment, like Buzz Aldrin's space suit with moon dust on his boots. I was amazed at how small the Apollo 11 command module was. (first moon landing) The astronauts must have felt very small out in space. But my favourite thing was a fighter jet simulator that Tim and I went on. It was a two person ride, he was the gunner and I was the pilot. The simulator could spin around and do barrel rolls. As you can probably guess we spent most of our time was spent upside down, chasing enemy jets of course. When we finally staggered out we agreed that when we are both rich and famous, (maybe just rich) we would buy our own simulator. Though it might not fit in our living room. : {
The Wright Flyer with new cloth - everything else is original.
Lincoln Memorial
I (Linda) had previously wanted to walk down to the Lincoln but the little ones were too tired by the end of the day on those visits so this time no excuses! The light was fading as we walked down the National Mall past the Washington Monument to the World War 2 memorial.
Looking back towards the Washington Monument.
There's Honest Abe looking down on us.
Spot the plane. We also saw a presidential looking helicopter - not sure if it was or not.
As we had already walked 4 miles (6.5 km) we decided to catch a taxi back to where our car was parked rather than walk another 4 miles in the freezing dark. He drove us past the White House (Laura's choice) so we ended up going past it 3 times during the day. Time for some dinner at the Station before heading for "home" - 2 hour drive back to Charlottesville. Tired but a great day.
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