Tag - Washington DC

We took a somewhat impromptu trip to Mount Vernon on Thursday.  It was tentatively on the schedule, depending on what the weather did, then off again when the children misbehaved, then back on again when I decided to show them mercy because it was really my bad mood that caused me to cancel the trip.  Thursday morning dawned cool and clear, with chance of rain in the afternoon, and good moods and behavior all around, so we hit the road.

Here’s the children waiting with George and Martha. They are in their scout uniforms because I thought scouts are free during the school year.  Turns out that it was just in February.  They got a lot of attention wearing them.

On our way up to the mansion we met another homeschooling family that also uses Sonlight!  Phil was wearing our Sonlight backpack, so the other mom started talking to us.  They were visiting from Idaho. 

This is the mansion and the bowling green right in front.  Ol’ George sure knew how to live!   Below is his view of the Potomac from his back porch.  Very nice. 

Here are the children sitting on the back porch, enjoying the view.  They’re having a good time, really.

Washington added a cupola on the roof.  He would open the cupola’s windows in the summer to let the heat out.  I can’t imagine living here without air conditioning!  On top of the cupola is a weather vane made to look like a dove with a twig in it’s mouth.

To keep all the animals at Mount Vernon from getting too close to the mansion, Washington built a low wall into a hill.  It was better than a fence, because you couldn’t see it!  If you were playing on the lawn and didn’t know the wall was there, you might fall off of it and everyone would laugh.  This may be why these walls were called Ha-Ha walls.  Here are Pumpkin Girl and Boo about to fall off a Ha-Ha wall.

Here’s  Pumpkin Girl laying a flower on Washington’s grave.  She didn’t attract nearly as large of a crowd as President Bush did.

We stayed until lunch time and still didn’t get a chance to see everything.  We bought annual passes so we can go back as often as we like.

Living in Washington, DC has given us such wonderful opportunities for family adventures. We have tried to take advantage of Federal holidays by visiting some of the sites. Our original plan for President’s Day this year was to go to the National Gallery of Art to look at the Renoir paintings. We’ve been studying Renoir, especially his works that are at the National Gallery. However, we heard that Mount Vernon was having free admission today, so we headed there instead.

Our plan was to arrive at about the time they opened at 9 am. We were just a little behind schedule and arrived about 9:20. Already the parking lots were full and we were being directed to overflow parking half a mile down the road where we could board a shuttle. We could see that there was a long line to get in. We do not like crowds and the thought of standing in line all day just didn’t fit with our idea of fun. Plus, it was about 20 degrees and a good portion of Mount Vernon is outside. So we kept driving by the overflow lots and back to DC.

We decided to return to our original plan of visiting the National Gallery. We decided to take a risk and not stop at our house for our GPS or directions. We had a general idea of where we wanted to be so drove on. We found great parking right across the street from the Gallery. Even with that short walk we were practically frozen and very, very glad to have chosen an indoor activity for the day.

The National Gallery is a true gem and is very beautiful inside. Lots of fountains and gardens and places to sit and enjoy life. We were really happy to find these Renoirs, copies of which are hanging in our dining room.

I was also excited to get a preview of the Monets and Mary Cassatts and even a Raphael that we’ll be studying in upcoming months. I deliberately chose these artists and their works knowing we could see them in person at the National Gallery.

We had lunch at the Cascade Cafe, right there in the museum, with a view of their indoor waterfall. We’ve eaten there before, at Pumpkin Girl’s request. After lunch I had wanted to see an exhibit on Paris, but the museum had been overheated and stuffy and I was developing a migraine. I really wanted fresh air, so we left and went to look for the outdoor skating rink.

A part of the outdoor sculpture garden at the National Gallery is turned into skating rink during the winter. None of us skate, but the children enjoyed watching everyone skating.

We also enjoyed the sculptures.

This one, called “Typewriter Eraser” needed a bit of explanation that started with, “Back in Grandpa’s day…”

We arrived home to the dripping of the snow and ice melting. Bip had fallen asleep and my headache was terrible. He and I slept for 2 hours, then I slept another hour and by 5:30 my headache had subsided. I think it’s time that I go see a doctor for these headaches. I’m pretty sure they are migraines.

But we had a great day overall. We have rain in the forecast which will hopefully get rid of this dangerous ice.

So what do you suppose is right in the center of one of the world’s most secure building?

A secret entrance to a tunnel? An ultra secure briefing facility? A fall out shelter? Jimmy Hoffa?

Would it surprise you to know that right in the center of the Pentagon, the worldwide command and control center for the United States Armed Forces is…a hot dog stand?

It’s true!

From a DefenseLink News Article:

“Rumor has it that
during the Cold War the Russians never had any less than two missiles
aimed at this hot dog stand,” Brett Eaton, an information and
communications officer for Washington Headquarters Services, said while
standing in front of the building. “They thought this was the
Pentagon’s most top secret meeting room, and the entire Pentagon was a
large fortress built around this hot dog stand.”

Reportedly, by using satellite imagery, the Soviets could see groups of
U.S. military officers entering and exiting the hot dog stand at about
the same time every day. They concluded that the stand was the entrance
to an underground bunker. “They (Soviets) thought the officers were
going to get their top secret briefings in a protected area, but really
they were just going to get lunch,” Eaton said with a chuckle.

Well, this hot dog stand has not been used for a few years and it’s days are numbered. It’s being replaced with a new eatery that will have indoor seating and restrooms and serve breakfast and lunch. It’s scheduled to open in September. (I’m hoping I can finally get my husband to give me a tour of the Pentagon and we can have lunch there.)

You’ll be happy to know that the owl that perches atop the hot dog stand to ward off birds will be placed on the new building.

If you are in the Washington, DC area, let me give 10 thumbs up to the Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park in Maryland.  For $5 a car, the entire family is treated to a wonderful display of holiday lights.  Everyone in our car enjoyed it, thus the 10 thumbs up, even Nicholas, who squealed in delight the whole time.  It took us about 30 minutes to drive through the whole thing and about another 30 minutes to get home, just inside the District.  The Festival goes through January 1st and is free on Christmas Day.  If you’re up for a drive, this is a don’t miss!  Looks like this is going to become an family tradion while we live here.

We were able to take advantage of Labor Day by going to visit the Museum of American History’s last day of being open. They are closing for 2 years to do some extensive renovation. We live about 15 minutes from the National Mall, and on government holidays, we can usually find parking right in front of the Smithsonian museum that we are visiting. We got there good and early, and were able to walk around the grounds a bit before the museum opened.

One of the first things that we saw was the flag that hung on the Pentagon after September 11.

Here it is at the museum: We also saw the flag that flew over Ft. McHenry, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the “Star Spangled Banner.” Pictures were not allowed in that exhibit. But this link has a picture, as well as being a really great site to learn more about the flag. You can hover over the flag and learn interesting facts about the flag and its history. There are links about the renovation of the American History Musuem and the new gallery they are building for this flag.

I was impressed at how large the flag was and was surprised to learn that the big hole in it was not from the battle. Apparently, the owners of the flag allowed people to cut pieces from it as souvenirs, including one of the stars.

The museum had a neat display of model ships and this fun masthead.

In the section about American Pop Culture, we saw some of the original Muppets and Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz.”

They aren’t as bright red as I’d imagined they’d be. The ruby slippers are moving to the National Air and Space museum, just across the Mall, for the duration of the renovation.

We saw these chairs from “All in the Family.”

I immediately got the theme song in my head, and I bet you do now, too…”Boy, the way Glen Miller played. Songs that made the Hit Parade. Guys like us, we had it made. Those were the days.”

Boo and Pumpkin Girl were completely unimpressed by the Bunkers’ chairs. I figured the other pop culture displays would be lost on them, too. They were getting hungry anyway, so we headed downstairs for lunch at the Subway sandwich place in the musuem. Next to Taco Bell, Subway is Boo’s absolute favorite place to eat. We haven’t found one close enough in a good neighborhood, so this was an extra special treat. The restaurant was decorated like a 1930’s era soda shop.

After lunch, we let the kids play at the hands-on science center, wandered around a bit more, then went to the gift shop. Boo bought a key chain for his collection and Pumpkin got George Washington and Abe Lincoln’s families as paper dolls. Paper dolls always frustrated me as a child, those tabs never kept the clothes on, so I turned her paper dolls into magnets. They live on her metal closet door.

Another good day and great fun was had by all.

An online friend gave me a call the other day. Her family was vacationing in Ocean City, MD and wanted to meet up with us for the day in Baltimore. I’ve already met her in real life more than once, so I already knew she was not some crazy stalker lady. Philip got the day off and we headed north for a 1 hour car trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. We got lost, of course, but by sheer luck and a good dose of my God-given natural sense of direction, we found the Inner Harbor quickly and without having to tell Boo to be quiet more than once.

We had both purchased tickets online for an entrance time of 11:00. It was a good thing too, because right after we arrived, they started giving out timed entrance tickets for same-day purchasers. The wait was only 15 minutes then, but it can actually be several hours on busy days.

We had a really great day. The kids’ favorite part was the dolphin show.

They also enjoyed the sharks, the big sea turtle and seeing all their friends from “Finding Nemo.” Here’s some of our favorite pictures:

Pumpkin Girl liked this little frog. She said, “It looks like sauce.” It’s actually called a tomato frog. I wish I could have gotten a better picture.

My Fourth of July was muted, but my family had a great time. A friend of Philip’s- from way back when we were stationed in Houston – was in town with his children. We invited them to our house for the Freedom Fest on base, BBQ and to see the fireworks. We can see the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and Capitol building from the base, so we have an excellent view of the fireworks.

All was set until I started feeling very tired and achy. I took a nap right after lunch and woke up feeling worse. I ended up sleeping through most of the afternoon. Philip, the children and our friends went to the Freedom Fest and a fun time until a pop-up thunderstorm soaked them to the skin and closed down the festival. You may have seen the people on the National Mall get caught in the storm with no where to go. Fortunately, they got home safely and we were able to provide clothes for our friends until theirs dried. The plan had been to walk down to the river for the fireworks, but the threat of a thunderstorm still loomed, so they drove instead. I had a perfect view from our house, so I didn’t miss out entirely.

Our friends had 4 extra tickets to the Washington Monument for today (Thursday) and they invited us along. We couldn’t pass that up!

The weather was wonderful! It was cool, almost cold when the wind blew and the skies threatened rain, but it never did. We rode the Metro there, which was a thrill for the children! Boo was very interested in learning to read the map and in tracking our progress. Once out of the Metro we had a bit of a walk to the Washington Monument, but it wasn’t too bad, even for Pumpkin Girl’s little legs.

We all really enjoyed looking out the windows at the top and finding all the local landmarks. We even picked out our base and the approximate location of our housing area.These pictures are all from the top of the Washington Monument:

Jefferson Memorial
the US Capitol

The Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pool and WW2 Memorial

The White House

After the Washington Monument we had lunch with our friends and then they left for their tour of the Capitol. We walked through the Mall, back towards the Metro stop. In front of the Smithsonian Castle is a carousel I’ve been wanting to take the kids to, so we stopped there. Much fun was had by all. Pumpkin and I practiced our princess waves, which we learned from “The Princess Diaries,” as we rode our royal horses.After the carousel, we popped in to the Smithsonian Castle, just to see what they had there. It’s mostly the information center for all the Smithsonian museums, but it’s a beautiful building, plus one wing was a sort of sampler of what the rest of the museums house. We even saw a pair of Kristi Yamaguchi’s skates. She has a very small foot. We were very surprised to find that this wing of the building resembles a gothic cathedral on the inside. Who knew?

And one last silly picture, just because.

So how old do you think America is? Well, if you are counting from the founding of the Jamestown settlement, America is celebrating her 400th Anniversary in 2007. To celebrate, the folks at Jamestown are celebrating in a big way, including a tour of a replica of the Godspeed, one of the three ships which carried the first settlers in Jamestwon. The Godspeed’s first stop is in Alexandria, VA and she is here until June 3rd. We can see her docked as we walk along the Potomac and decided to brave the Memorial Day crowds, heat and humidity to go for a tour.

First, we got a brief tour of Old Town Alexandria on our way there. I have only seen parts of it before, but I really want to get back again. We’ll have to find a way to leave the older children behind. I don’t think they will be happy with just walking and looking. Well, we found parking nearby and then walked to the river. One of the first things we saw was the paddle wheel boat, the Cherry Blossom, which we often see sailing by our house or as we walk along the Potomac. Pumpkin Girl thinks it looks like a big birthday cake

Then we worked our way to the Godspeed. We had planned to arrive around 10:30, which we did, and it was 10:45 when we found the Godspeed. The tours were scheduled to begin at 11:00, and the line was already huge! The wait was 1 1/2 hours from where we were. Yikes. Fortunately we were all covered up in sunscreen and we had water and sunglasses. There were also some activities set up and Phil and I took turns taking the children to see the exhibits. Once the tours started, the line moved right along and we were in the shade most of the time. While we waited, I gave the children a quick, impromptu lesson in American History.

Can you imagine crossing the Atlantic in such a small ship, in the middle of the winter? The trip took around 160 days.
The Godspeed and the other two ships that made the trip are shown on the Virginia State Quarter.

After a tour of the ship and some of the interactive displays on land, we headed off to lunch. We all perked up a bit in the air conditioning and treated ourselves to some ice cream and frozen yogurt. I let Bip taste my frozen yogurt, which he really enjoyed. He was so sweet, opening his mouth like a little bird for his next bite.The Godspeed will be stopping along the Atlantic coast for the next couple of months. If you get a chance to see her, you should. The price is right – free! If you go, here’s some things to know:

Go early and get in line right away. Find a volunteer with an event map and a schedule of events. There is a lot of entertainment, so you can go check them out while someone in your party waits in line.

Bring 2 cell phones or 2-way radios in case you get separated. Don’t ask how I know this.

There is no way for a stroller or wheelchair to get on board. The steps onto the ship and on board are steep. You will have to leave the stroller on shore. I have no idea how they accomodate wheelchairs.

Have a quick American History lesson before you go. Just reading about Jamestown will be enough, or even just watching “Pochantas” if you have younger children, will help set the stage.

Have I mentioned how much I really enjoy living in Washington, DC?

Last Thursday Philip and I had the chance to join a tour of the US Capitol led by a Congressional staffer.  I found a very nice babysitter up the street – she and her sister are homeschooled, too.  I’m glad to have found them.  We took the baby with us, since he is so portable and mellow, we figured he wouldn’t be any trouble at all.  It took us about an hour from the time we left our house to get to the Capitol, riding Metro.  That included trying to figure out how to pay for parking because the meter wouldn’t accept the smart pass we had, waiting for the first train for nearly 10 minutes and walking 2 blocks.  We packed Nicholas in his super duper lightweight stroller. I had treated myself to this stroller that I have wanted ever since Boo was a baby.  We knew we’d be on the Metro a lot and needed something lightweight and small and we also needed to replace the umbrella stroller that was on it’s last legs after 3 children.  Anyway…

We arrived and linked up with our group in front of one of the office buildings outside the Capitol.  I thought we’d be walking outside, but there are tunnels linking this building to the Capitol itself and that’s how we went.  Security was tight!!  Of course we knew it would be, but it was REALLY tight.  Traveling around the Capitol and the tunnels is pretty cool.  They have many corridors roped off so that the tour groups pass along the sides, moving slowly, taking pictures, while the staffers can walk quickly down the center. 

The Capitol is beautifully decorated.  I tried to take some pictures, but really, the camera doesn’t  capture it.  We didn’t get a chance to stop at the gift shop for postcards, but we’ve promised the older children we would take them back, so we’ll get some souvenirs then. 

The rotunda was just awsome.  Here’s a picture.

(see the rainbow?)

We also went in to the old House of Representatives room.  There are bronze plates on the floor marking the places where Congressmen who later became President sat.  Here’s Abraham Lincoln’s:

This room has an interesting acoustical feature.  If you stand where John Adams sat and whisper something, someone else standing across the room can hear you.  It can be difficult to get this to work because of the noise of the crowd.  But while we were standing there, a guy whispered, "If you can hear me, raise your hand."  He really did whisper, we were standing right next to him.  And lo and behold! The group across the room raised their hands!  Very cool.

We also got the chance to sit in the Gallery of the House of Representatives.  It was amazing.  It looks so much better in person than it does on C-Span.  We got a chance to listen to a congressman from Wisconsin engage in a friendly, and at times, amusing debate with a congressman from Alaska over global warming.  I just sat there, looking all around, just taking it all in.  We couldn’t bring cameras, bags, or any electronic devices into the gallery.  We were not supposed to talk, either.  And can you believe that Nicholas was quiet the whole time! 

Here are a couple of cool pictures I did get.  The first is Phil and Nicholas on the star that marks the center of Washington, DC.

(see how it’s roped off for people to pass through)

This one is of a gorgeous stained glass window in the ceiling just outside of the House Gallery.  I wanted a better picture, but it was right in front of the desk where you turn in your camera and stuff, so I thought I’d get what I could.  Our staffer told me not to take any more pictures.  I blamed Phil.

Our trip home took about 40 minutes because rush hour had started and the trains ran more frequently.   The babysitter gave the children good reviews and they said they had a good time. 

If you ever visit Washington, DC, make sure you check with your congressman’s constituent services office.  They have all sorts of "congressional tours" that are free.  All you have to do is ask.

Philip’s parents went home several days early and Phil had already taken the time off work so we’ve been enjoying the time with him.  Yesterday we rested and took care of a few items off the honey do list.  Today we decided to have an adventure to Rock Creek Park.  We started at the Nature Center where they had lots of hands-on activities for the children.  We learned about water tables, the kinds of animals that live in Rock Creek Park and what they do during each season.  They have a working beehive on display, which has a clear pipe leading outside so the bees can come and go.  We found a sand table with plaster casts of animal tracks for you to make your own tracks with.

We took a short nature walk around one of the park’s meadows.  I learned that a "meadow" is not necessarily a large open patch of greass. We discovered that a "paw paw" is a tree and found a patch of them on the edge of the meadow.  We didn’t pick any up and put them in our pockets.

After our walk, we had lunch at the picnic tables.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Just sitting there in the heart of DC, completely away from the sounds of the city, shaded by trees and listening to woodpeckers (we learned to identify their sound at one of the exhibits) – it almost made me want to go camping.  I got over it when a bird pooped on my shoulder.  Thankfully, I had packed handi-wipes.

We learned that there was a Civil War site there in the park and another one just down the road.  The Park Ranger recommended we go to Fort Stevens because there were cannons there.  So off we went.

Fort Stevens is right there in the middle of DC. Here’s an old picture of it:

Here’s a picture of us there today:

Philip and the children pretending to fire the cannon at the houses across the street.  Boo is the spotter, telling them when to fire, Phil was signalling Pumpkin Girl to light the cannon.

Phil says we still store ammunition like this, in a bunker with little chimney for ventilation.

When we were finished defending the fort from the rebels, we headed down to Georgetown to see the Old Stone House.  It is the oldest house in DC, pre-dating the Revolutionary War.

It sits there on one of the busiest streets in Georgetown, right across from a Barnes and Noble and down the street from a Sephora and Ben & Jerry’s.  We drove right by it at first and so ended up parking and searching for it on foot.  By doing that we got a chance to admire some of the cool houses in the area. 

I found this lantern hanging on the wall of the Old Stone House:

I have an almost identical lantern, but red, in my dining room window.

We had such a good time today, tracking down American History.  I think Boo is turning into a history buff.  He kept wanting to know what part the Old Stone House played during the "Silver" War.  I’m looking forward to Philip’s next day off when we can head out for yet another adventure.