Sorry I haven't blogged this summer, it's just been a crazy summer. I can't believe school starts next week! Anyhow, I wanted to blog about our trip to D.C. this past week. It was an awesome trip that I highly recommend.
We took the Amtrak train which was an adventure but I can't say that I would recommend it. We left Greenville after midnight, thinking we would sleep on the way. Didn't happen... the train was very noisy, people boarding at 3 a.m. oblivious to that fact that everyone on the train was trying to sleep and it was freezing. I'm as hot natured at they come and I was cold! We arrived in Alexandria at 9 a.m. looking so forward to crashing for a while in our condo. Our reservations had us arriving the night before and I had called ahead to let them know we wanted to check in that morning. They said our rooms wouldn't be ready until 2:00. I did the chain of command routine and got nowhere. Shelby was so tired she was almost in tears. Now there happened to be a victorian parlor in the lobby entrance, you know the type... beautiful chairs and such that aren't meant to be sat on or used. I put a child on each George Washington era sofa with pillow and blanket (I did have them remove their shoes). I got out the Martha Washington tea cart and sat out my Mt. Dew, Cheez-Its and various fruits. Brian napped in a wingback but refused to snore for me. I hid our luggage behind the fireplace to enhance the homeless shelter look (if only I could have snagged a shopping cart from the street). After appalling looks from arriving guests (most of them from New York) and the stink eye from management... we were in our condo in 20 minutes. God works in mysterious ways and I just like to help out when I can.
We attended church at the National Cathedral Sunday morning. It was breathtaking in beauty, but I felt very lacking in God's presence. It was too much pomp and circumstance for me. A very unhappy looking bishop passed us during the service. I whispered to Shelby how unhappy he looked and she non-whispered back "of course he's unhappy, they make him wear a dress".
We were able to tour the White House. The first thing Shelby said about the White House is that it sure needs some shutters for color. I strongly agree! I spent more time filling out security information in order to get a tour than the actual tour itself. You see about 4 rooms that 50 people are trying to view at once through a small doorway. As disappointing as the White House was, the Capitol tour made up for it. I had no idea the Capitol was so beautiful. We had an escorted tour with a staff member of Senator DeMint's office. We able to ride the underground tram to the Capitol and view hallways and areas not available to the public. Every inch of these hallways were painted with nature scenes some Italian guy did. He painted all over the Capitol for 50 years! Caleb got to give a speech in the Senate Room (pic) the senators are all at their beach houses this week.
We loved getting around D.C. The metro was right outside our condo and is a great way to get around (pic) People were very friendly in giving directions. Brian won't ask (man thang) but it doesn't bother me. If they came to my house and they needed to bushhog a field or gather eggs... I bet they would need directions.
We walked so much in 7 days that I wore out a pair of tennis shoes. Mount Vernon was one of the best days. They had games for the kids (pic) and we could have stayed there for a week. The guy shown in period costume asked Shelby "If you could talk to anyone in history.. dead or alive... who would it be?" Shelby replied "I'd chose the live person". He laughed all day.
We saw lots of artwork in D.C. (pic) at least they call it artwork. I wanted to stand up and scream The Emporor Has No Clothes. We did see the original Kermit that Jim Henson made from his mother's coat. The historical paintings were awesome, the modern structures and such were just a bunch of crap... our tax dollars at work.
Of all the museums we toured, Caleb loved the Spy Museum. Shelby loved all the escalators and the metro. It was an awesome family trip with something for everyone. I looked forward to the Museum of Natural History, but it was mostly about evolution. We don't even get to claim we are from apes anymore. We all came from a rat named Maggie according to the Museum.(pic) More crap, but I did see the Hope Diamond.
There are a lot of homeless people in D.C. which is sad. It really bothers Shelby, she would have given all her money to homeless guys if I let her. Overall though, it is a clean city and we felt very safe even at night walking around. I had heard people were very rude, but didn't seem to find that to be the case. Caleb and I did our "Philly experiment" that we do in all large cities. We made eye contact and smiled, most smiled back and spoke. We only had once back experience. A guy carrying soft drinks to a "Haje Hut"(there are NO Caucasians in food service) spoke some rather harsh language to Caleb. We ignored him, but it bothered me. We later found ourselves at the same corner and saw him sitting outside the vendor trailer. I walked up to Osama and put a $100 bill on the counter and said I needed all the ice creams bars it would buy. He seemed excited and started getting them out. I then asked if the man worked for him ,pointing to the earlier offender. He said yes and I said nevermind, taking back my money. I told him that his guy needed to watch his language around children and that he wouldn't get any of my money. I know it did no good whatsoever, but I felt better.
We thought we were well prepared for the train ride home. We purchased blankets, sweatshirts, and ear plugs. It was like a sauna on the return trip. Oh well, it was still a great trip.
