For Fall break this year we took the kids back to Washington D.C. We had the opportunity and thought the kids were a good age and we just thought it was something worth seeing. My Aunt, Uncle and cousins live back there so we had a built in Hotel and tour guides. It was a wonderful trip.
This is us in front of the Black Hawk, which is an early version of the Stealth Bomber at the Air and Space Museum. The space shuttle Discovery, Enola Gay, and all types of aircraft were also there. It made us realize there are a lot of 1/2 crazy people out there willing to try new things for the advancement of technology. I don't know how they had the guts to be the first ones to fly, go to space, etc. But we are grateful for them.
Mt. Vernon (George's House) This was my favorite part of the trip which surprised me. I had actually been there before, but I don't know that I appreciated it as I do now. Amazing what the founding fathers went through during the Revolutionary war. These were very nice living conditions for the time. They still had to have the kitchen outside in the hot and cold temperatures because they cooked with fire and they didn't want to burn the house down. The bathroom was also outside. Can't imagine going out there on a cold night. Our tour guide told us a story about how after one battle the British marched by and saluted this house because they respected George Washington so much. So much amazing history here. Before we left on our trip, my cousin Amy, told us we should have the kids watch the National Treasure movies, so they could relate to the history better, etc. Great suggestion because they #1-loved the movies, then #2 they loved seeing everything come to life once we were there. While we were at Mt Vernon we took the extended "National Treasure" tour. They told us about the movie being filmed there etc. While watching the movie I just assumed a lot of it was made up just to make a good story. Not so much. Hollywood did make a good story, but there were actually a lot of truths in it. During the tour, we got to go to George Washington's Basement ( It really exists). This was a big storyline in National Treasure 2. Because it is so old and they want to preserve it we could not touch or take pictures of anything. We go down and it looks exactly like the movie. There were these little side rooms in the basement that she said George & Martha Washington used as food storage during the winter (no fridge or freezer to preserve food). They even ate rotten meat to survive towards the end of the winter-BLAAK!
This is a picture of the map used in the movie of national Treasure. (The original map prop was lost, so in the middle of the night during filming, they had to call local cartographers to recreate the map and this is what they used for filming) In the bottom right corner, there is a picture of a Freemason symbol with LW. The main storyline revolves about finding these Freemason symbols as clues to the treasure. While we were in the basement the tour guide told us to look down.... and oh my gosh ...
Capitol Building. I always think this building is AMAZING. It is huge, and I am always amazed how slaves built this beautiful building with hand tools, and not big heavy equipment like we use now. Amy hooked us up with a VIP tour with her friend who works for Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. The Capital tour was Dax and Curtis' favorite part. These capital tours have so much information and tidbits of history. I was surprised the kids liked it. We even went to a congressional hearing. It lasted about 30 seconds. They called everyone to order to let them know there was no business to discuss at that time. It seemed a bit of a joke, but they were serious.
This is a painting on the ceiling of the capital. It is George Washington after he has died and gone to heaven. He is in the center-right of the picture sitting at a pinkish table. I liked this picture
Fords Theater. I like this place too. I think it is surreal to be at this place where Lincoln was shot.
We took a quick trip to Philidelphia, This is Independence Hall where the Constitution was signed. Then...Onto New York.
We arrived in New York, then took the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan. I liked going in this way because the Statue of Liberty welcomes you as you head into Manhattan.
Trinity Church at Broadway & Wall St. Another Landmark from National Treasure.
Unfortunately "Occupy Wallstreet" protestors were about a month into their protest and going strong. They were right in the way we had to take different routes to get around them. Because of them, we couldn't get to ground zero. Such a waste. Why can't they be part of the solution instead of creating another problem? When I heard how much money was spent to pay for extra Law Enforcement etc. It was sickening about $17 million.
Central Park. New York was a whirlwind. We were only there for about 24 hours and we ran the kids ragged. They did have a fun time running around Central Park.
This is a picture of the map used in the movie of national Treasure. (The original map prop was lost, so in the middle of the night during filming, they had to call local cartographers to recreate the map and this is what they used for filming) In the bottom right corner, there is a picture of a Freemason symbol with LW. The main storyline revolves about finding these Freemason symbols as clues to the treasure. While we were in the basement the tour guide told us to look down.... and oh my gosh ...
(This picture is taken from the movie, because we couldn't take actual pictures )
There was the Freemason symbol just like in the movie. It really exists, however, it didn't open up to a secret passageway like in the movie. I just thought that was way cool. LW is Lawrence Washington, George's half-brother who lived in and built part of the house before him. If you want to see the basement go watch the movie.
Capitol Building. I always think this building is AMAZING. It is huge, and I am always amazed how slaves built this beautiful building with hand tools, and not big heavy equipment like we use now. Amy hooked us up with a VIP tour with her friend who works for Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. The Capital tour was Dax and Curtis' favorite part. These capital tours have so much information and tidbits of history. I was surprised the kids liked it. We even went to a congressional hearing. It lasted about 30 seconds. They called everyone to order to let them know there was no business to discuss at that time. It seemed a bit of a joke, but they were serious.
This is a painting on the ceiling of the capital. It is George Washington after he has died and gone to heaven. He is in the center-right of the picture sitting at a pinkish table. I liked this picture
Fords Theater. I like this place too. I think it is surreal to be at this place where Lincoln was shot.
We took a quick trip to Philidelphia, This is Independence Hall where the Constitution was signed. Then...Onto New York.
We arrived in New York, then took the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan. I liked going in this way because the Statue of Liberty welcomes you as you head into Manhattan.
Trinity Church at Broadway & Wall St. Another Landmark from National Treasure.
Unfortunately "Occupy Wallstreet" protestors were about a month into their protest and going strong. They were right in the way we had to take different routes to get around them. Because of them, we couldn't get to ground zero. Such a waste. Why can't they be part of the solution instead of creating another problem? When I heard how much money was spent to pay for extra Law Enforcement etc. It was sickening about $17 million.
Central Park. New York was a whirlwind. We were only there for about 24 hours and we ran the kids ragged. They did have a fun time running around Central Park.These rocks are the same rocks in the movie "ELF" where he has the snowball fight. I didn't know it at the time. I recognized the rocks when we watched the movie again.
Bethesda Fountain. For some reason, this fountain is famous in Central Park. I like it.
Statue of Liberty behind us.
There is so much to see and do in these areas. Our other stops were the Library of Congress (National Treasure Hot Spot) National Archives, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Smithsonian, The Metro (Derek's Favorite), Annapolis, Time Square, and Rockefeller Center.
Our Hotel in New York was a little too authentic. It was an apartment on the upper East side that had been converted into a vacation home. It was tiny. Closets were used as rooms, and you could barely move in the kitchen. There was no place to sit and eat in the kitchen just a bar stool against a ledge. Makes us appreciate the wide open spaces out west.
We had a great time. I just wish we had more time, there is so much to see there.
