Washington D.C.

Here it goes. I've got lots and lots to talk about.

We went to D.C. for memorial day this year. It was a lot of fun. We flew in on Friday and got there around 5 pm and headed right over to Arlington to see grandpa. The airport was like a 5 minute drive away and it was on the way to the hotel. It was really pretty.


After that we headed to the hotel to check in and eat dinner. Which by the way was over priced and not very good. We'll remember that next year. After eating and checking in we and spent the remainder of the evening walking around the mall. Mainly, we stayed near Lincoln. We did take a stroll to the Korean memorial but by the time we had walked around Lincoln and the Korean the sun had gone down and Audrey was getting angry so we went back to the hotel to go to bed.

On Saturday we had tickets to the Ford Theater for 10 o'clock. It was nice and cool inside and Audrey fell asleep on my lap.

I guess she was not too interested in hearing about how Lincoln died. It was really cool. I suggest everyone take time to go and see that. But it did feel a little weird taking a tour of where he was shot and where he died. It's a little hard to explain. It was just odd. But really really cool. After ford we walked down to the national archives and spent about 2 hours in line. By the time we actually got to get near the constitution, bill of rights, and the Declaration of Independence, Audrey was way too upset about being in line for so long. so i ran around to room took about 10 seconds to look at the 3 documents and then ran out. We then waited for everyone in the gift shop and Audrey picked out two books. One about Lincoln and another about the 4th of July. When mom came out she said that Patrick and Katherine were still looking. So the two of us walked back to the car. (that was parked next to the ford theater) and then drove back down to pick the two of them up. It was actually perfect timing. As the two of us approached the car the two of them were done. They just needed to wait 5 minutes and we were there. Not bad.

The rest of the day was spent at Mount Vernon. This is another place that everyone needs to go to. It really is a beautiful house.Washington did pick a beautiful place.

There was a class from a local high school who were dressed up. They did a really great job. they walked around acting as though there were some of washingtons guests. They would square dance and teach the visitors how to. they even had a monk battle in the middle of the big grassy area. it was awesome and some of the kids got very dramatic about dying. It was really cool to watch while we were in line.

The plantation only has dirt roads so you can imagine how hard it was to push the wheelchair. Grandma ended up making us leave her in the shade of a big tree. Trust me we protested a lot about this. It was not an easy thing to do, but she was insistent.

To see the house we had to wait in another line and Audrey was just amazing. She understood what we were doing she didn't try and get in front of others she just was perfect.

After Vernon we met up with J.R. and Arlene and went to dinner. After dinner we went over to the Iwo Jima memorial. But poor little Audrey was at the end of her rope and was not a happy camper about being there. She had done so well all day. You really couldn't ask for more from her.

On Sunday we started the day out at the Pentagon Memorial. This was a really interesting memorial. It's really hard to explain so wiki will do it for me.

To honor the 184 victims, 184 illuminated benches, have been arranged according to the victim's ages, from 3 to 71, in a landscaped 1.93-acre plot. Each bench is engraved with the name of a victim. The benches representing the victims that were inside the Pentagon are arranged so those reading the names will face the Pentagon's south facade, where the plane hit; benches dedicated to victims aboard the plane are arranged so that those reading the engraved name will be facing skyward along the path the plane traveled.



After the Pentagon we drove over to the Air Force Memorial. I think this is my favorite memorial. Not because it's the air force but because it really is just so pretty. I really enjoyed my time there. Audrey and I made sure we touched every spire thingy.

Here is the view of it from grandpa's grave

this is the explanation of the memorial from it's website.

The Air Force Memorial is rooted in the necessary symbolic transition of making the medium of the Air Force visible. The Air Force has the medium of air, which is very difficult to show.

The Memorial itself is 270 feet high and appears to be soaring; its array of arcs against the sky evokes a modern image of flight by jet and space vehicles. At the same time, it enshrines the past in permanent remembrance of the pioneers of flight who came before, and pays homage to those of the future.

Once the decision was made to have vertical elements, the number three became important, three being resonant with significant associations for the Air Force, including the three core values of today: Integrity first, Service before self, and Excellence in all we do. It is also the smallest number of elements needed to define and enclose a space. The spires are asymmetrical, dynamic, each a different height so that the view of the Memorial changes from every angle.

The memorial is truly breath taking.

After that we stared heading back in to D.C. (the memorial is out in Arlington...between the pentagon and the cemetery) But because Rolling Thunder


(too hard to explain check out their site here....http://www.rollingthunder1.com/) was having a parade across the Arlington memorial bridge. Everything....and i mean everything was backed up. It took us about 2 hours to get back into the city. And then forever to find a place to park (even with the handicapped parking pass) because there were so many people wanting to see rolling thunder. Finally we found a spot about a half mile away from the mall (where we were to re-meet with J.R. and Arlene) when we get a call from J.R. and Arlene telling us that they are getting on the metro to go to Union Station to eat. I decided...i was a brat about this...that it would not be a good idea to go to Union Station. So we walked another mile to the Old Post Office to eat while mom walked back to the car to drive it over there to meet us. But in hind sight we should have gone to the Station because the post office did not have A.C. and it was incredibly hot and stuffy.


After lunch we drove over to the Capitol to meet up with them again. But found out that the Memorial Day Concert was going on that Night. Everyone thought that i would be a great idea to attend. I however...being a brat again...did not think it would be a good thing for audrey. It was 4:30 the concert didn't start until 8 and then it would go for several hours. It was not going to be fun for Patrick and I. While J.R., Arlene, and Grandma saved seats for Katherine and Mom. Mom and Katherine took the three of us back to the Hotel.

We ate at the resturant in the Hotel, watched Tinkerbell (audrey fell asleep in the bed with us watching it was soo cute and we didn't have the heart to move her...lucky little girl....unlucky parents.) and Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel and then went to sleep.

The next day, Monday, was memorial day. And the city is just jam packed with things going on. there are wreath lay ceremonies at every memorial. We went to the ceremony at the Air Force Memorial.

Audrey of course did not want to sit and watch so the two of us wandered around near the bathrooms so that we would not disturb the ceremony. By the way those bathrooms at the Air Force memorial are amazing. The walls, floor and ceiling were black granite. And it was Air Conditioned. I didn't want to leave and go back out into the murky heat.

After the ceremony we headed back to Arlington to pay our respects to grandpa.

Obama's carpool drove right by us. That was pretty cool. (man this post is long...I'll try and finish it up)

I seriously can't remember what we did for the rest of the day. I know that grandma saw the parade. We walked around the mall for a little while. We made our way to the Smithsonian. Katherine got to see an art museum and Audrey got to run wild in the Natural History Museum.

You can look at more pictures in the album on the right.

We left that day...but I done with this post so I'll tell you what happened tomorrow.

Sorry this was so long.

Loves,
Elizabeth, Patrick and Audrey