Day 3 ~ National Cathedral and World War 2

Well, I'm going to plunge ahead with the vacation memories.  Day 3 was another full day of beautiful sights.  I really wanted to see the Washington National Cathedral.  And we decided that we may as well SEE it and attend a Sunday service.  The building is stunning.  The story behind the building is even more stunning.

The service itself was wonderful.  Very different from our normal, but so reverent and lovely.  Simplistic, worshipful, respectful.  We had a very traditional communion, and I forgot to warn the kids that it was real wine! :)

This advertisement for the cathedral asks for donations of $10 per brick.  This crazy blogger is insisting that I underline right now.  I'm not interested in figuring out why, so please ignore the underlining.

One very moving story was of several men who had no money to donate but wanted to be a part of it.  So they worked as laborers on the Cathedral, then donated their wages back.

This was such a labor of love, spanning 83 years.  The details, the craftsmanship, the amazing architecture are simply stunning.

1907, construction begins.

1990, the Cathedral is dedicated.

In August of 2011, an earthquake hit D.C, damaging parts of the Cathedral.  There is now a renewed effort to raise the funds to repair the damaged areas.

Once again, it's impossible to have my little pictures show the grandeur of what we saw with our eyes.  It is peaceful, beautiful, reverent...I know I've said all those things before, but apparently my little words cannot show what it was either.

This is what happens when you try to sneak in a smooch after you've let your daughter have the iPad to take pictures.  She suddenly has the grand idea that this is a picture to capture!

After touring all of the Cathedral, we decided to walk around the Mall and see a couple of the Smithsonians and some of the monuments in the evening.

This is the original "Smithsonian".  The tents you can see on the side were in the process of going up for a big festival that started the day we left.  I'm so curious how they stood up to the 90 mph winds that hit the next day!

We started off on the downtown adventure by riding the Metro:

What a fabulous, safe, clean way to get around! This first time I was a little uptight about it, but we figured it out pretty quickly and enjoyed zipping to and fro!

We spent over 2 hours in the Air and Space Museum, and this is the only picture we took!  It's from the Apollo 11 flight, worn by Neil Armstrong.

The rest of our time there was in flight simulators, meandering through the exhibits, and marveling over how far flight has come in a relatively short time!

After we left there, most everything was closing so we headed down to see the World War 2 Memorial.

On the way, we stopped to admire the Washington Monument up close.  Because of the earthquake, you can't go in it, and can't get as close as normal.  They are estimating it will be 2014 before it's reopened.  But, as you can see, that did not deter the beauty of seeing it!

Brenna jumping for joy!

Just for perspective, directly behind Beth is the World War 2 Memorial, and behind that is the Lincoln Memorial.  Directly in front of Beth is the Washington Monument.  They all line up in a nice orderly line!

And here is the view of the WW2 Memorial, with the Lincoln way off in the distance.

Zoomed in on the Lincoln.  This picture isn't showing well on here, but between the center pillars you can barely make out a glowing President Lincoln. (More on this beautiful memorial another day!)

I wasn't able to get this whole thing in one picture.  Every time you turn your eye, there is something else to capture you.  This is such a peaceful place.  The large pillar above says "Pacific", the pillar below says "Atlantic".  Then smaller pillars wrapping around the memorial represent each state.

A wall that tells a sombering story, for sure.  Each of these stars represents 100 Americans dead or missing in WW2.

Sweet picture of the kids, well-placed monument behind them and all, but what I truly love about this picture is the little duck just to the left of Brenna.  She was having so much fun splashing in the water and hanging out on the edge.

And then this sweet little family waddled itself across the length of the memorial to make their way to the Freedom pool.  I just thought that was very cute.  A little known fact about me is that I LOVE ducks.  Love them.

As the sun began to set, it was time to make our way back to the metro for the ride back to Deb's.  And guess what we saw!  Lightning bugs!!!!  (Or fire flies??)  They just started glowing all over the grass lawn on the Mall.  I have always wanted to see Lightning Bugs, and didn't even know that dream would come true on this trip!

We caught a few of them and took them back on the metro with us, only to release them the next morning after realizing nothing magical was going to happen in a zip-loc baggie.

Day 2 ~ Annapolis

Only day #2 of touring! This day turned into such a fun day.  What started out as a quest to swim at a beach on Chesapeake Bay turned into just spending the day in Annapolis, Maryland.  What a beautiful, beautiful little town!  This wasn't even on our list of things to see, but I'm so glad we ended up there. 

This is looking down part of the main street, with lots of shops...a delight to my girls.

And this is a side street...look at those brick streets!  Can't you almost hear the clomping of horse hooves travelling down this street?

The state house, below, with the plaque above describing it.  Our nation's capitol for almost 9 months.  Also where George Washington resigned, treaty to end the Revolutionary War was signed...so many historical events happened within those walls.

Sometimes it's the little things that get me...and this gigantic tree was one of them.  A magnolia tree, in bloom, that was spectacular.  Smelled lovely, and she held herself high like she owned the place.  Majestic.

One of the things that surprised me everywhere we went was that the "backside" of building were so beautiful.  I often was duped (even at the White House!) thinking that the back was the front.  The picture above is the back, then we walked around to the front and saw this...

The kids standing on the top of the stairs help show how massive this grand building is!  Alex, on the right, is 6'2".

Once inside, and through yet another security screening, we saw all of this.

Notice the stars on the grand 'ole flag, still flying in the rotunda.  Again, my pictures don't do any of this justice, but the architecture and craftsmanship is stunning.  Built in 1772!

Unfortunately, in my jaw-dropped awe, I forgot to get a picture of this whole room.  It is still set up in the way it would have been when George Washington resigned, on this very spot.

I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, - a democracy in a republic, a sovereign nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable, established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its Flag; and to defend it against all enemies.

William Tyler Page wrote "The American's Creed" for a contest which offered a $1,000 prize.  He described it as a 100 word summation of America's political faith.

More views of the historical streets.  We kept wondering whose feet had walked those same brick roads we were walking.

Then, back to the rooftop pool to enjoy another spectacular D.C. sunset.

Day 3 was another day that blew us away...more soon.

Finishing Day 1

Okay, here's part 2 of day 1.  We jam-packed this day, and I loved every minute of it.  I don't know if I said this in the last post, but I'm really not a big history buff.  In fact, dare I admit, it usually bores me.  Not anymore.  I was so fascinated seeing these monuments, reading the quotes said so long ago.  And many of them are so moving in light of where we've come since the words were spoken.  Many of those words were in context of the time they were spoken, but the majority of them were timeless.  Somehow I found it comforting.  And I thought a lot about the foundational principles of our nation.  My, how we've strayed.  And the verse I thought of multiple times?  "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."  Our nation was "trained up" under God.  And we will return to that, one way or another.  Comfort.

Anyway, back to the sight-seeing!

After leaving Arlington, our next stop was the Roosevelt Memorial.

This memorial is set up in stages, with a series of waterfalls leading you through the stages of his presidency.  The waterfalls get more grand and louder as you progress through.  The roar of the waterfalls quiets everything in a beautiful way.  As you wander through, read his quotes, feel the spray of the water, it quiets you in a way that you really soak in the era and struggles of our nation under his presidency.

From there, we walked around a beautiful path to the Jefferson Memorial.

This is the view of the Jefferson Memorial from the Roosevelt Memorial, looking across the tidal basin fed by the Potomac River. 

This picture doesn't do justice to how huge this statue is.

Powerful words.

This is on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial, looking out to the Washington Monument.  Wherever you go, there it is!

Next up, and last on the first day, is the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Apparently there is some dissatisfaction with this memorial.  What I heard was that the King Family was not happy with how the facial features portrayed King, they thought it had too much harshness.

"...right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

"...only love can do that."

There's that Washington Monument, showing himself again.  So lovely.

This is just a random picture of a typical sight around the DC area.  The Potomac is so beautiful.  I guess I expected a lot more city chaotic feeling, and while there is that, there is much more of this tranquility.  A bit ironic perhaps.

This was the hottest day of our trip, and we crammed in so much, with miles and miles of walking!  Worth every step we took.  But after the King Memorial we headed our weary selves back to Deb's place to rest for the next day!

More to come...