Washington, D.C. - Home of the...

...oh never mind. We won't go there.

Monday was our last day in Washington, D.C. Below are pictures of some of the things we've seen and done since Friday.

We spent a few hours at Arlington Cemetery:

We went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the changing of the guard. What a moving, almost spiritual experience! Many spectators were wiping tears from their eyes.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Another view of the guard

Several veterans were there as well.

Some of the spectators stopped to shake the hands of the veterans who were present and to thank them for their service - another emotional moment.

Then we went to Robert E. Lee's house, which is on the grounds of Arlington Cemetery.

Side and back view of Robert E. Lee's house

Front view of Lee's house. 

This was the best picture we could get of the front of his house, because of a fence around the yard, but on the other side of the fence is this view of Washington, D.C. 

View of Washington, D.C., from Lee's front yard

No picture taking was allowed inside Lee's home.

The next stop was a tour of Ford Theater. While waiting in line, we saw these fine young men waiting to tour the Peterson house, the home in which President Lincoln died.

Balcony at Ford Theater where President Lincoln was shot

The gun that was used to kill Lincoln

The room in which Lincoln died

Then off to the Spy Museum...

Things that make you say Ewwww!

 ...and the Museum of American History.

Horse-drawn fire engine

We can't end today's post without mentioning the traffic in and around Washington, D.C. What a mess!! And then there's Sandy's Mormon profanity (her New Year's resolution this year was to not swear anymore) while driving through that mess; e.g. "What the heck, people? Just drive!!!" or "If you get in an accident in front of us with that crazy driving, I'll get out and personally kick your hiney!!" or "Oh great! We're entering this dark, narrow tunnel and we have some huge mother trucker right next to us." Patience is not a Sandy virtue.

And then on our last day in D.C., there was the drive from downtown Washington, D.C., back to our hotel in Virginia. A large dark cloud hung over the city, which is appropriate...oops, we forgot we aren't going to go there. Anyway, rain started pouring down in sheets while we were in line to get on one of the freeways back to the hotel and it was 5:00 in the afternoon, right during the rush hour traffic. The freeways are a mess on a clear, sunny day, so driving in the downpour made us extremely nervous. We both said a little prayer in our hearts asking Heavenly Father to protect us, and by the time we got to the freeway, the rain had slowed to a sprinkle and the sky above was clear. Even though the traffic was still bumper to bumper and we were going about 10 miles per hour, the rain wasn't an issue. But when we looked in the rear-view mirror, we could see the dark cloud still hanging over Washington.  Still not going there.

We left the Washington D.C., area Tuesday morning for new adventures, which we'll save for a future post.

Until then...

Two Days of Seeing the Sights

We've done quite a bit in the last few days. Thursday morning we headed to the Jefferson Memorial. We parked in a free parking area, and walked along the Potomac River to the Memorial. Evidently Washington, D.C., has had a lot of rain, because park benches along what used to be the banks of the river are now halfway covered with water.

Statue of Thomas Jefferson

This picture of the Washington Monument was taken from the top of the steps of the Jefferson Memorial.

 After the Jefferson Memorial, we drove to Mount Vernon to tour George Washington's beautiful home. The backyard faces the Potomac River, and the whole estate is about 500 acres.

Before the tour started, we watched a short movie about President Washington. What a remarkable, Divinely guided man he was! We've heard a story about an Indian Chief who fought against Washington in the French and Indian War. He said that the future president was protected by the Great Spirit, because his men couldn't kill him. The Indian Chief said he fired 17 bullets at Washington, and none of them touched him. Washington had two horses shot out from under him and four bullet holes in his coat, yet he himself was untouched by a bullet, bayonet, tomahawk, or arrow. Many victims had fallen beside him, yet he was unharmed.

After the movie, we walked to President Washington's home, which was gorgeous inside and most of it was original to the house. No pictures were allowed in the home, but below are some pictures taken from the grounds, which was a beautiful setting for such a majestic home. There were a couple of very old, very big trees, one that was from early 1800's and one from the 1700's, according to the plaques on the trees.

Front of Mount Vernon

View from the back porch

After that tour, we went to dinner at our new favorite restaurant in Virgina: Guapos. We both had steak nachos - so yummy!

We decided Friday morning to go visit the Smithsonians, and we also decided that we'd park in the same free parking area in which we parked the day before and walk. Did you know that the Smithsonians are quite a distance down Jefferson Drive from the Jefferson Memorial? It was humid and muggy, but we were convinced we could do it, so off we went.

Our first stop was the Holocaust Museum - very sobering, very sad, but a much needed reminder of what has happened in the past. 

Holocaust Museum. We didn't take pictures of the inside displays.

We stopped in at the Smithsonian Art Museum and then headed to the Smithsonian Castle. The Smithsonian Institution was established with funds from James Smithson, a British scientist who left his estate to the United States.

Ceiling inside the Smithsonian Castle

James Smithson's crypt where his ashes are kept

Then we headed farther up Jefferson Drive to the National Air and Space Museum. Below are pictures of a few of the displays.

The Spirit of St. Louis

The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age

By the time we finished this museum, we were tired and ready to head back to the hotel. We had already walked five or six miles in high humidity with our arthritic joints, but we had to get back to the car, so off we went. And then this life saver showed up:

We can't say that riding on a cart pulled by a bike was on our bucket list, but we went ahead and added it to our bucket list just so we could cross it off. He uses hand signals and a whistle to maneuver through traffic, and he's pretty fast as well as very nice! We sure meet interesting people when we travel!

That takes us up through yesterday. 

There's more to come...

A Day in Indianapolis

Monday morning we left our hotel on the northern side of Indianapolis and headed to the old historic part of downtown Indianapolis, so we could get our geek on again. We toured the home of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States.

Front of Benjamin Harrison's home

Side view

Front parlor used for entertaining guests, with a very cool piano in the corner.

Love the ceiling medallion! It's not original to the house, but was copied from one in the house that is original. We think the tour guide said that the chandelier has been in the house since it was built.

Very awesome square grand piano in the family room parlor.

This is a reginaphone music box. A large metal disc is placed inside and it plays music. We're hoping you'll be able to hear the music on the video below. We had to be very careful taking pictures, because we couldn't use flash. They keep the rooms a little dark, because light can ruin the old furniture, pictures, and decorations. 

Very cool kitchen!  The cupboard in the back is a Hoosier cupboard, which is a type of cupboard popular in the first decades of the 20th century. 

And the butler's pantry was awesome, too! We want one...and a butler to go with it.  Below are more pictures of the butler's pantry.

The house was three stories tall, not including that basement, but we didn't dare take any more pictures because we didn't know if the rooms would be dark enough to set off the automatic flashes on our cameras. But suffice it to say that it was a very cool house and a very good tour with lots of information about Benjamin Harrison and his family.

Then we drove by the Indianapolis Speedway just so we could say we saw it.

After that we drove by the new LDS temple in Carmel, Indiana. It isn't open yet - they're still planting and preparing the grounds. The open house is scheduled for July.

Carmel, Indiana, LDS Temple

We left Indianapolis Tuesday Morning and headed to Morgantown, West Virginia, where we stayed last night.

Thank heavens that wipe out on the asphalt at the convenience store/gas station where we stopped to get gas in Ohio only resulted in scraped and bruised knees and ego and not in any broken bones! I'm okay!

We're now in Arlington, Virginia. Tomorrow should be a fun/educational day for us as well.

Days 8 & 9

We love learning about United States history, so one of the things we enjoy doing while taking a road trip is visiting the libraries/museums of the Presidents of the United States. On Saturday we went through the Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Below are pictures from our visit.

Statue of President Ford

Brief history about President Ford's upbringing

The dress Betty Ford wore to Gerald Ford's inauguration.

The above 3 pictures are of Gerald Ford's oval office.

This is part of the White House switchboard during Gerald Ford's presidency.

This gun was used in an assassination attempt on Gerald Ford's life. The letter was written to President Ford by the woman who tried to kill him.

Gerald Ford's cabinet room.

The Grand River in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

President and Mrs. Ford are buried right next to the library. 

We are now in Indianapolis, Indiana. We'll share more about our day in Indianapolis in our next post.