Day 2 in DC

Day 2 started out with a rainy wait to get into the National Archives. Photography is not aloud in the archives so I have no pictures to show. It was so moving to see the documents that our country is founded on! It was also impressive to see all the things our ancestors kept. Letters, patents, presidential memos, letters to & from presidents, and on & on.

Next we braved the rain to visit the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History!

Bon Appetite! The kitchen of Julia Childs!

For all my coffee drinking friends, coffee lids through the years!

A whole exhibit on travel through the years in America!

Mile markers like this can be found along National Road (US40). We saw several along our route to DC!

A map of America's Railways in 1875!

The Henry Electromagnet.

Light bulbs invented throughout the years!

An Apple II computer! I used one of these in high school!

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers.

Archie Bunker's chair.

Miss Piggy!

I had a Sony Walkman just like this!

A map of the Revolutionary War.

A World War I exhibit. I missed a lot of these exhibits but Hubby & the kids enjoyed them.

On the "back porch" of the NMAH.

On the "back porch" of the NMAH.

We noticed some of the flowers are starting to bloom! It looks like spring is finally coming!

One last look at the National Mall before we headed back to the Metro station.

 

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Day 1 in DC

My girls on the Metro!

My guys on the Metro!

Walking to Ford's Theatre.

Ford's Theatre!

Waiting in line to tour Ford's Theatre Museum!

The museum covered Abraham Lincoln's life. This museum was built in the 1990s.

The kids with a life-size statue of President Lincoln.

It's amazing how many times Lincoln had to change commanders of the Union Army during the Civil War.

Part of an exhibit on the co-conspirators of John Wilkes Booth.

The gun that shot President Abraham Lincoln.

A timeline of President Lincoln's last day!

A timeline of John Wilkes Booth on the same day!

This hallway details the last hours leading up to the assassination. It was also the hallway between the theatre & a tavern next door where Booth had a drink while waiting to do his evil deed.

Ford's Theatre! It is a working theatre. The current play is "Spelling Bee". The Ranger did a great job describing the events of the night of April 14, 1865.

The box seats where President Lincoln was shot! It has been left exactly as it was that day (with some restoring done).

Next we crossed the street to the Peterson Boarding House. This is where President Lincoln was brought. Above is the parlor where Mrs. Lincoln waited.

This is the bed where President Lincoln died. It was so short they had to lay the President diagonal on the bed. They brought him here so he could die in private with dignity.

Attached to the Peterson House was another museum that detailed the aftermath of Lincoln's death. This is a display of books written about Lincoln!

Next we hopped the Metro to Arlington National Cemetery.

View of DC skyline from JFK's grave.

The Lincoln Memorial across the Memorial Bridge.

The Washington Monument.

The Capitol Building on the far left & Jefferson Memorial on far right.

Jamie & I praying our respects at the gravesites of President & Mrs Kennedy & 2 of their children.

David at the gravesite.

The simple grave of Robert F Kennedy.

The Lee House. It looks like limestone but is really brick covered with stucco to make it look more expensive than it is!

General Lee married a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington and inherited this plantation.

When the Union Army advanced on the Lee Estate, Mrs Lee left her household slave in charge of guarding all of the Washington family memorabilia that she had collected.

Just a small part of the 624 acres of Arlington National Cemetery!

Soldier on guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

Leaving the cemetery.

On the Memorial bridge. This bridge is symbolic of the bringing together of the country after the Civil War. It connects the Lee House at Arlington National Cemetery with the Lincoln Memorial.

Visiting Lincoln Memorial!

The Reflecting Pool & Washington Monument which is under construction for repair damage from the 2011 earthquake.

The Vietnam Memorial.

The Three Servicemen statue at the Vietnam Memorial.

A squirrel who posed for me!

The World War II Memorial!

Posing in front of White House!

Posing in front of the Washington Monument.

On the National Mall.

And just to prove that I was here too, here we are in front of Capitol Hill!

It was a long day of touring but we got to see a lot of things!

 

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Preparing for a road trip.

Since we do a lot of road trips, usually for 2-3 weeks at a time, I thought I would walk you through our process of getting ready.

Usually, I have at least a month's notice. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Our trips are tied to my Hubby's work schedule. We have to go where his assignments are. When I find out we are going & where, then my work begins.

First I google the city we are going to looking for fun & educational things to do. I make a list of places to go with their cost & hours of operation. I also make a list of places within a 2-3 hour drive that might make a nice weekend trip. For example, when we went to Wilmington, Delaware, I also researched Washington DC, Baltimore & Rehoboth Beach. I always look for National Park Service properties as many of these are free. I also check for things related to our current studies, like the Civil War. I also check for not to be missed attractions along the route to our destination. When we went to Clarksville, TN, we stopped at Mammoth Caves on our way.

The next thing I start doing is making a list of school items I need to pack. This includes curriculum, paper, pencils, creative art supplies, math videos & our printer. I find it's easier to take the printer than try to print things to hotel printer or to carry a lot of papers that I might not need. I also pack binders for each kid so they can make a trip notebook.

The next list I make is a clothes packing list. I make one for each kid so they can pack their own suitcases. That makes the week before we leave much easier on me. I also put meds & personal hygiene items on this list.

I also make a tech list. We are a very tech-savvy family. This list includes laptops, iPads, cameras, phones, iPods & headphones. I also make sure to put sync cables & battery chargers on this list. And I need to make sure we don't forget power cords for our printer & laptops.

I also make a list of things we need to do before we leave such as hold our mail, notify neighbors we will be gone, turn heat down/AC up & refill meds we will need.

About 2 weeks before our trip, Hubby & I go over my packing lists. Many times, he thinks of a few things to add. We also look over my places to go list. He helps narrow it down to what is feasible to do in the time we have & with the money we have.

Hubby works really hard to find us a hotel with a one bedroom suite so we have more room for our extended stay. We also try to get one with a pool (indoor if possible). We also try to get one with a frig, microwave & if possible a stovetop.

The week before our trip is very busy. We have to try to get school work done in between packing. A lot of times, we spend that week learning about the city & state we will be visiting. Laundry, packing, cleaning house & more packing must be done. My goal is always to have everything packed & ready to be loaded into our van the day before we leave. Then comes the fun part!

Loading the van is always like doing a 3-D jigsaw puzzle. I have to figure out how to get everything in! I try to accomplish this before bedtime. I tend to sleep better if it is all loaded up!

As you can see, preparing for a trip is a lot of work. And this post has been long & boring with no pictures! I will try to take pictures throughout the preparation process when we go on our next trip. We are also thinking about doing some recordings (audio & video) of our next trip. Then maybe we can revive our podcast.... Maybe....

 

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