24 hours in Washington DC

Day 13 –

Wed, Sept. 4 – sight seeing in Washington DC

We left Mary’s at about 7am. We had a wonderful visit! 

Driving through Virginia

We drove straight to Washington DC. We got a really good deal at the Capitol Hilton, which was about a half a mile from the White House. We started off our sightseeing by walking a good distance to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

 This was our first time to this museum. It is very well done. I got a postal cancellation stamp there! There were many highlights, but one of my favorite was probably learning about the dog, Owney, the mascot of the Railway Mail Service in the 1890’s.  We had lunch in Union Station, next door. It is being renovated right now. The weather was beautiful! at 2:00 was 76 degrees.

This is our third time in DC. We saw some of the monuments and memorials that we have seen before and some new ones.

Our next stop was the National Law Enforcement Memorial. 

We walked around it and saw the name of a LAPD officer we knew, Clarence Wayne Dean, who died in the line of duty. We found out that there is going to be a Law Enforcement Museum completed in 2015. From there we walked to the National Portrait Gallery. There was a display of Time magazine cover drawings and a variety of portraits, which wasn't a surprise. The atrium in the middle was one of the best things to see. 

Now it was time for the outdoor memorials because the inside ones were closed.

The Capitol from a distance

The Castle - Smithsonian Institution Building

In Castle garden - We took a picture her of Corinna and
 Melissa when we were here 5 years ago.

WWII Memorial

We walked through the WWII memorial to the Vietnam Memorial. The whole area looks different then what I remembered. There are more trees and the memorials are spread out farther then I remembered. Both memorials are beautiful. 

The path to the Vietnam Memorial

From there we walk up to the very crowded Lincoln Memorial. There were many people sitting on the steps in front. We walked inside to see Lincoln and then walked all around the memorial. There were not many people in back and the view was nice. 

From there we walk to the Korean War Veterans Memorial. It is one of Joe’s favorites.

Then we walked over to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. It had its grand opening Oct. 2011. This is our first time seeing it. 

Walked around the tidal basin which is from the Potomac River.

Jefferson Memorial in the distance

Perfect!

We took lots of pictures and finally found Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

 We still hadn't had dinner, so as we were walking back to our hotel we were looking for a place to eat. Most places were closed. We turned a corner and there was a Five Guys hamburger place. Now, I am not a huge fan of Five Guys, but it sounded great to me and it was good. We also stopped off at liquor store across from the Capitol and bought some wine. We struck up a conversation with the clerk. He was quiet at first, but we started asking him questions and he was fun to talk with. He has been working at that store for 30 years! His wife died of cancer and his only daughter has one more year of medical school. She is the first one in his family that has graduated from college. He said that he has seen a lot of changes since he has been working there, but hasn't documented it. He said that he enjoyed our conversation, but I think I enjoyed it the most. It is fun to find out people’s stories.

Day 14 - 

Thursday, Sept 5 Day in DC and drive to Blandon, PA to visit with Angie and John Buchanan (Joe’s sister and bother-in-law)

We got up about 6 and walked to the National Mall so that I could run around it. Of course, we got Joe coffee first at Starbucks. 

Now he can start his day!

 There were so many people running in DC. 

It was a 3 mile run and a special thing to do.

Running the National Mall...so fun!

A very quiet morning by the Capitol.

 We walked back to our hotel and stopped off for a light breakfast at a corner café. We sat outside and split a Waldorf sandwich on a croissant. Yum.

Our beautiful hotel.

Our guide, along with my phone. 

We got ready and walked to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. It is a large museum with three floors of exhibits. We saw dinosaurs, mammals, gems (including the Hope diamond), insects, mummies and birds. We walked through quickly, but you spend a whole day there.

 We walked next store to the Smithsonian American History Museum. This is a great museum! One highlight here was seeing the “Star Spangled Banner” flag from the War of 1812.  It was Frances Scott Key’s inspiration for the National Anthem. He was on Fort McHenry and saw it flying. We went through the Wars exhibit, an exhibit on the evolution of the American diet, and saw Julia Child’s kitchen. 

We also went up the a glass elevator in the Old Post Office Tower that goes up to a tower with a great view of the city. 

The Old Post Office Tower

View from the tower

We walked past the front of the White House. In the past all we saw was the back, which is farther from a gate. Both sides are beautiful.

This is the front of the White House, the north lawn. We walked past it a few time

Then we drove to Alexandria, which is just on the other side of the Potomac River near DC. It has a nice old town area with restaurant and shops. We got a sandwich, a cup of coffee and ice cream cones.  They were really good!

Old Town Alexanderia

Inside the Starbucks

Time for Ice Cream!

We drove onto Angie (Joe’s sister) and John’s in Blandon, PA. Angie had to work late, but we visited with John. We had not been there home in five years. At that time Corinna and Melissa were with us and their daughters, Niccole and Kinsey were still living at home. Time flies. We used to spend time together before we had children when they lived in California. We are so thankful to God that our daughters and our marriages are doing well!