Trip to D.C.

This past week, Paul and I spontaneously decided to head down to D.C. for the day. One of the things I love about living in this part of Maryland is our proximity to so much of our nation's historical landmarks. Just 30 minutes south is D.C., 2 hours north is Philadelphia, and Williamsburg is about 2 hours south. So much history in so little square mileage. And guys, I love American History. Paul picks on me sometimes about how emotional I can get when it comes to the military or past wars or anything of that nature. But I can't help it. This blood runs red, white and blue (mostly blue as that is the Air Force color).

Anyway, although the day started out pretty darn cold, by mid afternoon it had warmed to a not-as-cold 55 degrees and it turned out to be a very nice day trip.



We began our day at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. This was my second time there and I really do enjoy it. I have to admit, I get a bit frusterated when walking through the dinosaur exhibit and having to read over and over again about how "billions, and millions and trillions of years ago" this crazy thing happened and BAM, out of the blue we have the perfect environment to sustain life. And as interesting as they are, it's a bit annoying to walk past the exhibits showing "early man" with their ape-like features and über-hairy bodies.

But, if you can put all of that aside, it's a really fun experience with some pretty cool exhibits.




And like any woman, this was one of my favorite ones. I'm not a big jewelry wearer by any means, but WOW. That is a big rock. I can almost hear Celine Dion singing "My Heart Will Go On" when I look at this picture.


Even Izzy thought so...


Once we'd seen all of the exhibits we could before we had a minor toddler meltdown, we left the museum and began the walk towards the National Monument. We didn't stop there, as both the girls were asleep in the stroller at this point, but we ooh'd and aaah'd and continued on our way toward the Lincoln Memorial.

I have to admit, I got a little emotional once we arrived there. I didn't expect to be so moved by this memorial, but once there, standing in front of this gigantic statue of a man so admired for his honesty and values, I was just overwhelmed. And then, I turned around and realized that I was standing just a few feet from where Martin Luther King gave his epic speech. A speech that ushered in a new era and has even led us to where we are today as a nation, with the man we call our president. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of Obama's politics, but it is neat to see how far we've come as a nation from the days when Lincoln spoke the words of Emancipation Proclamation which are etched on the walls of the memorial.

Another thing I found very interesting was the number of times God was mentioned in that foundational speech, how often scripture was quoted. Coming from the evolution, big-bang theory temple that is the Museum of Natural History, it was a head-scratcher. Somewhere in that 2 mile trek, there's been a disconnect. This nation was founded on principles that come straight from scripture. Even the simple belief that "all men are created equal" came from the idea that we were CREATED. Created with a purpose. Where did we lose that? I pondered that the whole way back to the parking garage.


And just in case you guys are out there thinking, "man, there's just not many pics of Paul on this blog," here's one for the books. Isn't he handsome?!? I couldn't get him to smile, but I promise he is a happy person. And he has a great smile...I"ll get a picture of it one of these days.

And here's the girls. They both slept quite a bit as we were walking, but Izzy woke up before Eva. As Eva was still sleeping, Izzy would periodically reach her hand over and pat Eva on the back while making some high pitched squeals, as if she was trying to wake her big sister up. It was pretty cute.

Oh, and we saw Barack Obama...twice! Well, we saw his motorcade. But Paul swears up and down that he got a picture of Obama in his limo.

You can decide that for yourself...


All in all, a very good trip. Next day trip...Philadelphia for sure!