{"id":3022,"date":"2022-09-28T23:05:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T23:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wenomadwehappy.com\/?p=3022"},"modified":"2022-09-28T23:05:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T23:05:08","slug":"that-other-washington-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wenomadwehappy.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/28\/that-other-washington-place\/","title":{"rendered":"That Other Washington Place"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even though it has always annoyed me to have to clarify that I am from Washington state I have always wanted to go to WA DC. In addition to that, I have had to state to numerous people from other countries, nope, I have never been to Washington DC. That has now been corrected. I will even somewhat grudgingly admit that I really liked it. Of course, I’m not a resident of a place that has to pay federal taxes but has no elected representatives at the federal level – you know, that whole taxation without representation thing (this sentiment is stated quite clearly on their license plates no less!). I mean, tea got thrown in a bay over this whole idea. Not something I had ever contemplated. Which is exactly what travel is supposed to do for you; it makes you think and be aware of other people and places. Broadens the mind and all that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our main goal of our time in WA DC was to see as much of the various Smithsonian Institution museums as we possibly could. We did our best but didn’t even come close to seeing it all. We did go out to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Center at Dulles Airport though – that is a fair distance from WA DC in Chantilly, VA. Definitely worth the drive!! Many people don’t realize that there are two Smithsonian Air and Space Museums – the one at Dulles is where a lot of the large air\/space craft are. The other one has been closed for four years for renovations. When does it re-open you may ask? Just two weeks after we were leaving the area. Urgh. Oh well, I guess we won’t see the Wright Flyer. But we did see the space shuttle Discovery. I can live with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Long drive, but oh so worth it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Boeing 707 (first commercial jet) and an Air France Concorde<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Standing underneath the Concorde!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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Space shuttle Discovery. I love that they did not spiffy it up – you can see the scorch marks from reentering the Earth’s atmosphere<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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SR-71 Blackbird. My little AvGeek heart was all giddy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The restoration hanger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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This one really caused us to pause and think. This is the Enola Gay, B-29 Superfortress bomber, that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Awe and great sadness.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We did get to drive by the Pentagon on our way out to Dulles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We could not get tickets to the Smithsonian African American Museum, which made us sad. It is one of the few times I failed in planning ahead! Tickets are claimed months in advance. Like all of the Smithsonian Museums, it is free but you do you have to have reservations. And, note to others: do not go to the Natural History Museum on Labor Day weekend. We thought it might have a cool paleontology section, being the Smithsonian and all, but it does not. At this point the Field Museum in Chicago has the best display of dinosaurs and such that we have found. What it does have though is the Hope Diamond and I am terribly fond of sparkly things. This did not disappoint. However, it is not easy to get a good photo of it \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Smithsonian Institute African American Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we have set ideas of what we want to see and what is optional. For whatever reason we both felt the American History museum was optional. Go figure. One afternoon we had a couple of hours to kill and decided to go there. Yeah…took us two more trips to see everything AND the Popular Culture section wasn’t even open (this was a total bummer as we realized that we really wanted to see the items in there). When you hear such and such is in the the Smithsonian this is the place! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of George Washington’s uniforms and the portrait where he is wearing it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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The entrance to the area where the flag that flew over Fort McHenry is kept – the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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Julia Child’s kitchen. Yes, the entire kitchen, every pot, pan and knife that she used – dismantled from the house it was in and reconstructed in the Food section of the museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A few items that have been left along the Vietnam Memorial. Incredibly moving.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To keep us firmly grounded we made certain to tour the American Holocaust Museum and all of the various war memorials. I am ashamed to say that in all the times I have been to Berlin I have never gone to the Holocaust museum there. I will fix that on the next trip. The American museum does not hold anything back though, and it is very clear where the US could have stepped in and made a difference with regard to the many, many lives lost. I know hindsight is 20\/20 but it’s pretty obvious the US government had a pretty good idea what was going on and chose not to get involved. Rather sobering and not part of what I was taught in world history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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People were here because they wanted to learn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After going through all of the displays there is this space for you to contemplate what you have seen and learned<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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This says it all<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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Shoes from the Madjanek concentration camp in Poland. Baby shoes, ladies heels, men’s boots. It’s overwhelming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each of the war memorials is very different and evoke very different feelings. Strangely, the World War II memorial has a sense of peace and serenity, whereas the Korean War memorials evokes confusion and fear. The Vietnam Memorial is probably the best known and is dramatic in its simplicity. The World War I memorial is still being built – huh? Seriously? Even the tiniest village in western Europe has a memorial to the Great War, with a list of who died, but the US is just now building one. Sometimes I shake my head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Korean War memorial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The faces etched into the wall are those of actual people who served in the war.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It is said that after the peace treaties were signed signaling the end of WWII people ran through water: ponds, fountains, anywhere with water people ran through it. The memorial in WA DC encourages you to sit for a while, with your feet in the water, and think about things. It is beautiful, peaceful and invokes a sense of thanks. Kudos to the designers of this one.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of my absolute musts was to visit the White House. To visit here is a bit more complicated than in the past – if you are planning to go definitely look at the requirements early on! Three months prior to our trip (but no more than three months) we had to apply to tour through one of our elected state officials in Washington DC (their website usually has a form). After the application has been accepted then you get a questionnaire from the White House. I know that foreign nationals are allowed in, I’m just not certain who you apply through. Maybe your embassy? Once you have submitted all your details you get to wait until it’s two weeks (or so) before your requested date to tour to find out if you have been assigned a tour date\/time! And when it is your date and time you get to discover just how thorough the Secret Service is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the White House itself – we loved it! Getting to see things and rooms that we have only seen in photos was quite fun. Needless to say, I don’t think the staff of the White House has EVER gotten rid of anything. The memorabilia was quite astonishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We took this photo the day after we arrived in WA DC – two short weeks later we were standing under that portico!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Some views you only get when you are inside the gates \ud83d\ude42<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Even their own traffic cones!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

One of my other must dos was to go to the National Archives. You know when you see the Declaration of Independence in movies and you can see what it says? Yeah, that’s not real. The real one is so faded you can barely see the writing. John Hancock’s signature is so faint I had to really look for it. It was still amazing to see it and the Constitution (which is far more legible)! The security is rather impressive too I might add – Nicholas Cage was not going to get his hands on any of those documents!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The side of the US Capitol that faces the Mall was under construction. Of course it was…it is a rule of travel that you will go to see something that you have waited your whole life to see and it will be covered in scaffolding. One day we finally trekked up to the building and looked at the other side. It needs a bath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The side of the Capitol not covered in scaffolding. It is possible that you are still allowed in the Rotunda (I’m not sure), but it was not possible on the day we were there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We did take a quick walk through the Library of Congress since it is right across the street from the Capitol. Gorgeous building! We honestly did not spend much time in there – a quick look at the Gutenberg Bible that the library has and we enjoyed looking at maps from the Lewis and Clark expedition was all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Library of Congress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Atrium inside the Library of Congress – Gorgeous!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On our last day to do any walking around we decided to go to the National Zoo. It’s another Smithsonian Institute location, so it’s free. Is it the biggest zoo we’ve been to? No. But it is a very manageable size. The animals have very nice habitats and seem fairly relaxed which was nice to see. I love the big cats, so that is where we headed first. The lions were lounging quite happily with their heads down – fine – but that is not going to let me look at them! So I did the same thing I do with any cat – I made a quiet kissy sound – and it worked!!!!! One sat up and looked around! Good kitty boy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Who made that kissy sound?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Giant Panda being its usual energetic self<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All in all I would deem this to have been a very worthwhile stop. We are going to try to add in a few of the American (and Canadian!) cities we have wanted to explore – I think New York should be next. I have almost completed my Museums of the World list!! The Met is on there and the Husband needs to go to the Natural History museum. During the day, not at night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though it has always annoyed me to have to clarify that I am from Washington state I have always wanted to go to WA DC. In addition to that, I have had to state to numerous people from other countries, nope, I have never been to Washington DC. That has now been corrected. I … <\/p>\n

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