Washington D.C. part 3

 {Click here for part one}

{Click here for part two} 

August 3rd, Day 4.

We spent the morning at Arlington Cemetery.

We got to ride one of the trolleys. YAY!!!  We remember when we came here in 2010 and we walked and walked and walked and walked.  That was really tiring!!   We would all hop on (as quickly as you can get 50 people to hop on) and it would take us to the highlights in the cemetery where we would get off, walk around, and hop back on. It sure beat walking!!! 🙂

 {The Kennedy Graves}

Mrs. Kennedy lit the eternal flame on November 25th, 1963 during Mr. Kennedy’s state funeral,  and it has been burning since.

They’ve reconstructed the area, and had to move the flame…but kept it burning.

 

{The Tomb of the Unknown Solider}

 

 There was some dirt on the ground, so they sent out two guys to clean it up.  That was the most ceremoniously sweeping I have ever seen!! 🙂

 {Changing of the Guards}

It was cool being able to watch the changing of the guards.  We didn’t get to see it when we came four years ago.

 After a quick stop at the gift/souvenir shop, we loaded back up on the bus and went to…

{Imo Jima}

 This thing is huge!!!!  I had no idea how huge until we were standing next to it.

The Monument weighs 100,000 tons and is made from bronze and volcanic rock.

 {The Capitol, Washington Monument, and a crane. Everywhere you look you see a crane}

After Arlington, we were dropped off downtown Washington DC to do what we pleased for 4 hours with strict instructions that if we weren’t at that specific spot at 4:30 sharp, then we would have to take a cab back to the hotel (costing one about $50-$60).  Lots of us made sure we were there in plenty of time not wanting to add that adventure to this day 🙂

We had lunch at the Stars and Stripes Cafe in the American History Museum.

After lunch we took a look at all the First Ladies’ Inaugural Ball Gowns (in the American History Museum). We also got to see the set of dishes each First Lady used in the White House 🙂

{Mary Lincoln}

A piece of charred wood from the White House when it was burnt by the British Troops in 1814.

{Dolly Madison}

{Laura Bush}

{Lucy Hayes}

{The entrance to the Star Spangled Banner Exhibit}

No pictures were allowed in there, sadly.  We saw the flag that flew on Fort McHenry  during the war of 1812.  This is the same flag that Francis Key Scott saw, and inspired him to write “Star Spangled Banner”.  Also in this exhibit, was his original manuscript of the song with scratch outs, scribbles, and such 🙂

 We then went to the National Archives Museum.

THIS, was one of my highlights!!!!!!   We “only” went to the Rotunda in here…had to go through security (like everywhere else), and stood in line to enter a cool and low-lit room that had

The Bill of Rights

The Declaration of Independence

The Constitution

 WOW!!!!  It was amazing to see the real thing!!!  The very papers that our Founding Fathers signed their names on!!

If you ever go to Washington DC, make sure you go here!!!!!

Yes, I am excited 😀 (sadly, but understandably, photography was not allowed inside.}

{selfie…with Margaret  and Barbara who we hung out with the entire afternoon}

When leaving the National Archives Museum, we were looking at a certain tree’s leaves that looked quite interesting.  There were several dead ones on the ground, so Cassia stuck a few inside her backpack as a joke souvenir for people at home.  They said, “bring me something from Washington DC!!!”….so that is what she was doing 🙂  So when we went through security at the Museum of Natural History/Nature, the guard unzipped her backpack and pulled a leaf out.  He flipped it back and forth several times, as if 1) trying to figure out why in the world would this person have dead leaves in her backpack, and 2) “Well, I’ve never seen that before!” 🙂   Cassia just stood there smiling. He finally looked up at her, kinda smiled, stuck it back in and waved her through.  We got a good laugh out of that 😀

{quite a few people asked if we were twins 😀 }

{Museum of Natural History/Nature}

This is the mouth of a Great White Shark…spanning 6 feet!!!!

There were many, many amazing exhibits in this museum that I would have LOVED to stay and look at (since I love that kind of stuff), but time was ticking, so we had to take a quick glance through on our way to our destination in the building……

….the Hope Diamond.

LOTS of people trying to see and get a picture of it…..

{Looking down from the second story}

{the entrance}

This was a fish tank that was full of fish (surprised? 😀 )….most of them looked like the same fish that are on the movie “Finding Nemo” 🙂

Back at the appointed spot with several minutes to spare……resting and waiting for the rest of the crew to show up.

{driving past the White House}

We had supper at Holiday Inn….they also had a jazz band there and dancing for entertainment.

{not our cup of tea… 🙂 }

{Supper.  As you can see “someone” dipped into her dessert before eating supper (and it wasn’t me!!!)  🙂 }

Cassia was all excited that our group got our very own sign saying “Private Function” 😀

We were back at Crowne Plaza Hotel by 8:30…and we were in dire need of some ice cream. So we walked over to Wendy’s and got us each a Frosty 🙂

{having fun with the mirror in the elevator 😀 }

Stay tuned for the 4th, and final post!!!! 🙂

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