The Brown Family: Washington D.C.

This has been a very fun week…

Sunday May 24th:

(I think that after reading this post you will think it deserves to be a post in its self……)

We woke up early, dressed had a quick breakfast of oatmeal then headed out the door. We were prepared for the day with a stroller, two big bags of stuff, an umbrella and other important things.

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We walked to the bus stop, boarded, rode 6 miles in 30 minutes then went to the Metrorail boarded the Greenline Metrorail then after 4 stops transferred to the Redline Metrorail for Union station once we arrived we went through the mall to a church that met in a theater. The message was really good but was short, about an hour long. Afterwards we had a lunch of chicken wraps that was really good then headed home. Back to Union station to the redline, to the greenline, to the bus stop (which we missed so we took a cab!) then home, phew! our treck that day took 4 1/2 hours!

Monday (Memorial Day) the 25th:

Mom, I and the little ones stayed at the RV while Dad and Joseph went to the Arlington Memorial. Then later we just enjoyed and rode bikes.

Tuesday May 26th:

Today we have a lot to do on our list; the Library of Congress, the Capitol, Chet Edwards office and last (but not least) the Smithsonian National Museum of Air and Space.

Back to the bus from our RV, train, transfer to another train then arrive! They would not let us take ANY pictures in most buildings and no flash in others so there are not very many pictures of the insides of the buildings. The buildings in D.C. are huge and amazing! We took a tour of the Library of Congress and learned that they have a copy of every book ever copyrighted in America, that's a LOT of books. The Capitol Dome weighs 9 million pounds and is actually iron painted to look like marble. The Smithsonian has the Sprit of St. Louis, Skylab, and some of the first rockets. It is amazing all that goes on in D.C.! It is such a busy place!

All of our tickets and maps!

Wednesday May 27th:

We all went to the White House today! And saw the Presidential helicopter! The decorations were amazing and the rooms were so big! after the White House we went to the International Spy Museum! It was way cool! They showed all the things that a spy might use and about secret codes, special forces, history about wars and how spies aided in them and about the spies that were not loyal to the United States.

George Washington’s Plantation

Thursday May 28th:

We now will head to Mt. Vernon, George Washington's plantation. It is the huge plantation where National Treasure was filmed. Its an amazing place. We were amazed by George and Martha Washington’s service to our country and also their lifestyle of hospitality. Back in their day, people would stop by unannounced. Often the people were strangers. No matter who stopped, the Washington’s took them in and served them. Afterwards we went to the Holocaust museum. I have read the Hiding Place and other books and have learned in my school about it but actually going there and seeing it was really, really sad. God help us to never let that happen again.

Friday May 29th:

After all of the busyness just Dad Joseph and I went back into D.C. to see the monuments we saw the Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, National Archives, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the Vietnam Memorial. All were fantastic! Afterwards we headed for the Shenandoah Valley Campground. I made a grave error in directions and sent us right through D.C. rush-hour traffic so that only delayed us about 2 1/2 hours……

Saturday May 30th:

We arrived! (a little sleep deprived though) and had a nice relaxing day with nothing on the list to do. Joseph and I rode bikes and then later dad and Joseph went fishing.

Sunday May 31st:

Had a bible study and watched some of the teaching form ATI. Then Dad and Joseph and I went fishing again.