Memorial Day

On Sunday before Memorial Day we took the advice of many local residents from work and church and ventured to the west lawn of the Capitol for the National Memorial Day Concert. We are so glad we did! Not only was it a star-studded event with Broadway stars, a four star General, a piano prodigy, an opera diva, award winning actresses, and an American idol. It was a very touching reminder of what Memorial Day is all about and that our freedom has come at great cost.

We arrived two hours early and got a good spot on the lawn. Books, Uno, and snacks helped pass the time.

Just a little game of catch on the lawn of the US Capitol! (Until a security guard saw one of Jeffrey's wild throws and asked us to stop.)

There were about 300,000 people in attendance.

The man at the piano is Chinese superstar, Lang Lang. The entire program was outstanding, but the best part was near the end after the Chorus sang the Armed Forces medley and the veterans in the audience stood up. A soldier played "Taps" and Colm Wilkinson, aka Jean Valjean from Les Miserables, came out and sang "Bring Him Home." Wow. I don't think there was a dry eye.

Monday, Memorial Day, brought some excitement when the fire alarm went off in our building. Apparently it was a false alarm. It happened several more times that morning. We decided to get ourselves ready and get out because the alarm was rather unbearable.



We went to the Korean War memorial first. We missed this one the last time we were on this part of the Mall. It was very impressive.


Emily is carrying a small tribute to our Uncle Rey. We took it to the Vietnam Memorial to place by the panel with his name on it.

This was a touching moment for us. We haven't had the opportunity to honor a fallen war hero in our own family on Memorial Day before. And to be able to do it on the National Mall was just beyond words.

You can see the Wall behind us with all of the people. There were flowers and flags and mementos at all of the memorials, but this one had the most by far.

The World War II Memorial is massive. It is impossible to get it all in one photo. You really get a sense of the worldwide conflict with the pillars dedicated to the states and to both the Pacific and European theaters of war.

The day wouldn't have been complete without a look at Arlington National Cemetery. Freedom is not free.

Good Morning Baltimore!

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale. A tale of a fateful trip that started here in Baltimore,

. . . aboard this tiny ship.

The Mate was a mighty sailing man, the Skipper brave and sure.

Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour . . . . a six hour tour.

Sorry, I just couldn't help it! Our day in Baltimore was great, but it was also a test of endurance and patience in waiting for our water taxi. Neil had read the guidebook, so he was our guide.

He knew where to get the taxi, and where to get off. He also knew where to get delicious cinnamon rolls at the Blue Moon Cafe.

It's a good thing we ate those cinnamon rolls, because we made a fateful decision at the last second. You see, we left our lunch in the van thinking we would ride the taxi around the harbor and then go back to get our lunch before driving to Fort McHenry. But, two taxi's pulled up at the same time. Neil and I shrugged our shoulders and said, let's just go to the Fort on the water taxi!

We saw some amazing sites on the way. The ships in the harbor were enormous!

The fort was very interesting. It was the fort the British attacked during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key was being held on board a British ship and "by the dawn's early light" the sight of the American flag still flying above the bulwarks inspired his immortal lines, "Oh say, can you see? . . ."

The boys liked the big guns.

And the Star Spangled Banner yet waves! But we were getting hungry and tired and we really wished we had our lunch with us! We went back to the dock to get our water taxi, but there was a big crowd and no taxi in sight! Neil and I sat on the hot pavement to keep our place in line. The kids sought out the shade. Our provisions were low--a few cheese and peanut butter crackers and water.

"If only . . ." But the wait wasn't as long as we at first assumed. We made it back to the Baltimore harbor. Several taxi changes, and about an hour later, we were back at our parking spot. We didn't die of hunger and the kids were actually still in pretty good spirits! After replenishing ourselves we did one last drive around the city in search of crab cakes!

We found just the place! We bought one crab cake (very pricey!) and all shared. Three of the kids had instant gag reactions, but two of them tolerated it rather well, and Neil and I loved it. Then we drove through Little Italy and found a bakery recommended in the guidebook and bought cannollis for everyone. That helped make up for the crab cake. :)

The Great Falls of the Potomac River

We liked the Great Falls Park so much that we went to both the Virginia side and the Maryland side in the same week! (Well, the Maryland side was on the way home from the temple and the entrance pass was still good.)It is a lovely place. It is amazing that it is only 12 miles from downtown DC! It is just getting greener and greener here. When you are in the woods, even the air seems green!

This is a ruin of a lock. In the early 1800's the C & O Canal Company built canals and locks on both sides of the river for a length of over 200 miles! It was a way for boats to get around the falls.

Jeffrey, the intrepid Junior Ranger. He was very serious about earning his badge and keeping all of the rules (Which is unlike Jeffrey! I loved it!)

This is a functioning lock in the Maryland side. For a fee you can ride in a boat pulled by mules and led by guides dressed in 1800's canal workers style. We just watched this time. This lock was based on a design by Leonardo DaVinci. It was built in such a way that it could easily be opened and closed by one person.

Emily was our photographer this time. She had the only functioning camera in the family. Good job Emily!

Coolest Museum Ever!

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center just about takes your breath away! It is a sister to the Air and Space museum and is part of the Smithsonian Institution. It is enormous. It has to be. There is Space Shuttle in there! Along with hundreds of other flying ships of all shape and size!There is an observation tower where you can watch planes land at nearby Dulles International Airport.

This is a stealthy Blackbird. It was in service for 24 years during the Cold War and the Gulf War. On it's last flight it flew from LA to DC in just over an hour!

The Space Shuttle seriously gave us chills. It is so large! This was the shuttle that they used for testing. It actually hasn't been in space. It was impressive nonetheless.

Yes, this the actual plane that dropped atomic bombs on Japan in World War II. One the more memorable things for the kids was watching a display film of veterans who had won the Medal of Honor talk about the events that earned them the medal. They were harrowing tales of bravery that I can hardly imagine. Yet the men who told their stories were extremely humble.

Watching the planes land.

An ice cream cone does wonders to lift the spirits of museum weary kids! Even in the coolest museum ever, we still get hungry and tired.

May 13-16

This is a "catch-up" post because I have gotten behind! I recently started writing all of our outings on a calendar so I can remember. It is all becoming a blur! The week of May 11 we started off with a "school" day. Tuesday we re-visited Mount Vernon as Emily's blog post describes. Then Wednesday we went to the Ballston Common Mall. Now, you must realize that a shopping mall is really low on my list of places I want to visit, but I was a good mom and took Hayley and Emily to meet a church friend there.

We actually had a fun time. There are some amazing shopping malls here. My favorite is the National Mall, of course--I'm really not a good shopper.

Thursday I got a surprise message from my brother Dan. He was in DC and was done with his meetings for the day. We spontaneously made plans to meet him at the Museum of the American Indian because we hadn't been there yet and neither had he. The neatest thing about this museum is the building itself. It is all curves and open spaces. The outside has areas symbolic of nature and the Native American way of living with the land.

This is a statue of George Washington and some leaders of the tribes that he originally made treaties with.

South American gold working. Sadly the Spaniards melted most of the gold artistic treasures they took from the Natives and turned it into coins. They had very different ways of seeing the "value" of gold.

Brother Dan and me! After the museum we walked through some of the Smithsonian gardens and then went back to our apartment for dinner. The most fun of the evening was Dan treating us to ice cream. We bought ice cream, cones, and a scoop from the local grocery store (after seeing how much the ice cream shop charged for a single cone!) and ate ice cream cones outside. We got Dan safely off before a tremendous thunderstorm blew through!

Friday we made our first visit to the National Arboretum. We heard that the azaleas were amazing. They truly were--even after the thunderstorm!

Isn't this a great picture? Emily took it. Our favorite part of this place was a small pond that we discovered--full of frogs!

Saturday I had a real treat. Neil dropped me off at the Library of Congress all by myself! He took the kids to the Eastern Market where they enjoyed all of the sights and smells of a busy open marketplace. I enjoyed the leisure I had to explore the Library at my own pace. It has been over a month since I've gone anywhere by myself!

That evening we went to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to watch a free concert on the Millenial Stage. It was a jazz pianist/vocalist who was playing the music of Mary Lou Williams. Neil and I loved it--the kids gave mixed reviews. It was William's sacred or gospel jazz music. She wrote an entire jazz Mass which we heard a small portion of! I loved the Lord's Prayer too. It was very soulful and heartfelt.

This is the stage. There are free one hour concerts every night at 6pm. We will have to go back again!

On the way home from the concert we pulled over when we unexpectedly saw the Navy Memorial with the famous "Iwo Jima" statue. I love that you can see the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol dome on the left.