Smithsonian

This is my final post from our trip to D.C. Both times I had been to Washington before, I had a taste of the Smithsonian, but only enough to whet my appetite. I really wanted to see more of it. This trip was more of a feast. Because there were just to two of us, and we are in better shape from running this year, we covered a lot of territory in one week. We did a run through of many of the museums we have been wanting to visit. I had favorites from each museum.

The holocaust museum didn't allow any photography, but it was the most emotional museum for me. There was a scale model of Auschwitz with that still haunts me. It makes me wonder if there was more our country could have done.

The Museum of American History had the hat the Abraham Lincoln was wearing the night he was shot. I was surprised by how small it was.

The Museum of Natural History was full of interesting things. I really liked the gem exhibit and I saw the Hope Diamond again with a new setting.

The National Archives wasn't nearly as accessible as it was pre-9/11. Still, it was good to see the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights.

The Air & Space Museum was impressive. I loved seeing the command module from Apollo 11. I was really wishing our boys were with us to see all the airplanes they love.

The Newseum was something new to me and ended up being one of my favorite museums. They had a powerful exhibit of all the headlines from September 11th. They also had a history of headlines.
The art museum was amazing as well. It was so impressive to see the brush strokes of Renoir, Monet, Picasso, Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh. I loved it.

We also got to see the second Air & Space Museum near the Dulles Airport. I will never to to the small one again. There was no comparison in the size and scope of the airplanes on exhibit.

My favorite part of the trip ended up being Mt. Vernon.

I loved it there, and we were there on a day with perfect weather. I looked in the same mirror that reflected our country's first president. I saw his home and was sobered to see his slave quarters and realize that as much as I honor him, he was still a product of his culture. He had an amazing view from his front door:

The scariest part of the trip was definitely the escalators coming up from the subway. It felt like we were coming out of the "belly of the beast."

I'm so grateful for our wonderful trip and that I was able to share it with my best friend and eternal companion. Happy 15 years!