D.C. Day Two - Frozen Human Popscicle

I think I died as a frozen human popscicle.... and I went to heaven.... and Abraham Lincoln is sitting on the White Throne of Judgement....no wait....that must be a hallucination...because your feet don't hurt in heaven! Ha!

(I wore the "new fangled" cold weather pants (aka fancy long johns) underneath jeans, a turtleneck, a long sleeve polyester t-shirt, a heavy duty sweater, an outer coat with hood, ear muffs, scarf and 2 pair of gloves. I carried a bag so we could layer down in the "sweltering" museum :) :)...but quickly bundled back up to step outside and face the wind. It's supposed to be colder tomorrow, I will add one more layer and also have hand warmers.

We had a really good lunch in the basement of the Smithsonian American History museum. I had North Carolina pulled pork bbQ sandwich (spicy! mmmmm) with really good potato salad. An australian girl asked what "pulled" pork meant???? She thought they "pulled it off the pig????" I told her it meant "shredded" to spare the poor girl her imagination (even though it does mean they "pull it off the bone for you". She loved my accent and I loved her's.

Sis. Tammi...the Wind just about took us OFF the Washington Monument hill. That would have been called "gail force" in Alabama!






We had a wonderful day.....an emotional day....and are very tired.

I am now sitting in one of those hotels in downtown D.C. where you pay for people to look down their nose at you. ;) We were able to park on the street all day, right below the Washington Monument.

If you double click on the pix, it will take you to the album and you can see all our Washington pictures so far.

From Washington D.C.

As you can see, we saw the White House from afar.



Eisenhower Executive Offices next door to White House:


And....The museum of American History, which made me cry several times.
1. I loved the Abraham Lincoln room. Did you know that Abe (if he were bald) looks just like my grandaddy Dykes? They had a cast of Lincoln's face....Yep, that's my grandaddy. Even to his hands. They took casts of Abe's gnarly, knotted, bony hands. They were behind glass, but let you touch a replica. Yep...it was like holding my grandaddy's hands again.

They also had in the Lincoln room had the cup Abe drank out of the morning before he died (he left it on a windowsill) and the hat he wore...which he had taken off right before the gunshot...and the white dress cuff (which were removeable back then) of the actress who ran up and helped the doctor look after Pres. Linc. after he was fatally wouded. Some of his blood was on it. They have pix of President Lincoln during a 6-7 year time period. He seemed to age 20 years in 4 years.


2. When walking through the war(s) area...I and others cried when we saw the twisted steel supports of floor 17 of the Trade Towers from 911. So shocking.

3. I cried seeing the Star Spangled Banner Flag and reading the song while looking at the flag. So HUGE!

I enjoyed seeing the Berlin Wall. Did you know I have two pieces of this wall at home? And I enjoyed seeing the First Ladies dresses...even though it was a smaller temporary exhibit.
Mary Lincoln - skiiiinny dress

Laura Bush Inaugaral Dress:


I forget who...


Mary Lincoln


I probably wasn't supposed to take pix in there....but...oh well.


Ha!

As you can see...we saw the OUTSIDE of the Washington Monument up close.













The WW2 Mem....








The Lincoln Memorial.....




Yep, that would be ice he's walking on.



















As I climbed the Lincoln Memorial...I just thought that we live in the most glorious country in the world! (I wish and hope it could stay that way.) And to the crazy southerners who think the Civil War was about "state's rights". Well, then you have never visited the Lincoln room and the Civil War room at the Smithsonian or the Linc. Memorial with it's museum underneath. The south may have fought to keep it's "rights" to do whatever they wanted to do (including slavery), but President Lincoln fought that war to end slavery. Corrupt Wash. politicians may have fought for other reasons...but President Lincoln's.... If I could go back in time to meet one President....it would be Lincoln. His b-day of course is Feb. 12...mine is Feb. 13. :)

And the Vietnam Mem (which made me cry quite a bit). Mike's cousin was killed in "friendly fire" and we found his name in a book, which directed us to the wall and line. We had a docent make an etching. So many names....so many names. Finding one name we knew was related to us (even though I had never actually met him in person) threw me over the edge. Such an overwhelming memorial. Fortunately, by the Grace of God, Mike's middle brother came come from that war.





Jimmie B. Denney



















Did you know that 600,000 people died in the Civil War.
400,000 died in WW2 and about 56,000 (I think) died in Vietnam? (i'll have to get that number again.)

I wonder if the politicians in this town actually tour the monuments? Do they read the words? Do they see the names? Do they ACTUALLY read the Constitution, The Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Indpendence? If not...it should be a "required course" every year...to tour everything...just like a tourist.

....the Korean Memorial (such an eerie memorial. I want to see it at night too.)




















Mike freezing cold and holding my bag. :)

District of Columbia War Mem. that needed a good cleaning and was tucked under some trees....


Jefferson and Capitol from Afar:




FDR at Night Mem. Too cold at night. Too tired to see it all. The men standing in line was a replica of a "bread line". Too close to modern times...maybe.