Eisenhower Executive Office Building (Has a long history behind it but today it where the majority of the offices are for the white house staff).
Close-up of the daddy lion saying
Daddy Lion watching cubs play
Momma Lion
Momma Lion watching her cubs sleep
Names on the wall of 2 Officers that we know (Robert Targosz and Eric Shuhandler)
Police Memorial Pond
Old Post Office (Such pretty building and currently being used as federal offices and retail shops. I wish I would have taken a tour of the inside. I recently learned that this beautiful building will be turned into a hotel by the Trump Hotel Corporation).
Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers
Capital Building
Washington Monument (notice the difference in the color of the stones)
Protesters
Iwo Jima Memorial
This is the Rosslyn metro stop that was close to our hotel. I was told that this was one of the deepest stops. My first time seeing the escalator was around midnight. I held on tight the first few times. You can feel your body weight shift forward when you are riding the escalator.
I did it... I took a trip without the kids and Dan. I had the opportunity to go to Washington DC in April with my mom and Debbie. Debbie was teaching at a conference for a few days. I was able to stay with her in the hotel and I was offered a really inexpensive flight deal. We left on a Wednesday afternoon and did not get to the DC area until 11 at night. We actually stayed in Arlington. Our hotel was along the Potomac River and the view from our room was Georgetown University. When we got to our hotel room it was close to one in the morning and we were starving. Debbie used app on her phone to locate a few late night restaurants that delivered. We decided on a place called Manny and Olga's. We were a little fearful thinking what restaurant stays open to 3 am and delivers food. Turns out the food was really good. We finally went to bed around 4 am and I think I slept to about 10 (East coast time which was 7 am in Arizona). While Debbie was teaching and doing her Economic stuff or I should say hanging out at the Federal Reserve, my mom and I went exploring. We saw a few exhibits at the Smithsonian, The Washington Monument, The Capital, Supreme Court and Library of Congress and did some shopping at Georgetown. The next day we saw the White House, Police Memorial, Arlington Cemetery walked through the downtown area of DC and saw a LDS church located next door to a pub. On our last day we did a few quick trips including the Smithsonian, saw Ford's theater and we went back to Georgetown to DC Cupcakes and also Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. I loved DC Cupcakes. I can understand why they have their own show. I got a mix of flavors and brought them back home for the kids. There is one funny story. When I was at the Smithsonian of American History my mom and I were in the elevator and this chinese man got on the elevator with us. At the same time he and I reached to push the floor button and he lightly slapped my hand and told me "no". I just looked at him and kept thinking did this guy really just do that to me. I doubt he could barely speak english so me saying something would not have been worth it but seriously how rude!
Washington DC was great and I loved being on my own and having my own schedule. My mom and I did a lot of walking and by night time we were so tired that we would order food and have it delivered to the hotel. We would lay in bed for the night and watch TV, read books and snooze on and off. Every night we went to bed around 1 or 2am. We rode the metro most of the time and only took a taxi a few times. Being born and raised in Arizona this is new to me. It took me about a 1/2 day to figure the metro out and the maps. I found that people in DC were very friendly and when you are walking around holding a map people would ask if you needed help.
I was really impressed with Arlington Cemetery. It was extremely beautiful and the history that is associated with the Cemetery. I think I could have spent all day there. I was also impressed with the Capital. You see a picture of the Capital on TV all the time but I did not realize how big it was. I loved the buildings and how they looked. The one thing I learned is that everything has stairs. I really want to go back to the DC area and I want to take Dan. He is like me and we both love history. DC has always been one of his places that he wants to go and visit. This area of the United States played such and important role in the development of the country. When we were walking around you would see a motorcade or black vehicles drive by. I always wanted to know who was in the car. We also got to see a protest, I had no idea what they were protesting but it was still very interesting to see. Walking around DC and Virgina I tried to imagine what it was like during the Revolutionary war, the War of 1812, The Civil War and just other events when our country was being developed.
The police memorial was very peaceful. I had a hard time finding it at first and I thought it would be bigger. I was doing a rub of a few names when a lady came over and offered to help me At first I thought she was homeless. She had this cane with all sorts of stuff hanging from it. multiple lucky rabbit's feet, a tail of some animal (racoon, squirrel I have no idea) and just other odd stuff. Turns out she volunteer's at the memorial and she helps people with the rubbing and questions. She is a little cooky but very sweet and loves her job. I though the police memorial would have statues of officers and there are not any. Turns out they have lions and cubs. She said that there are so many different types of Police Officers in the United States with different uniforms and looks that it was hard to represent all of them. A male and female lion were choosen. The female lion is watching over her sleeping cubs. This represents the soft side of law enforcement (helping a person out, helping a child find their parents etc..) The male lion is watching over his cubs playing and this represents the harsher side of law enforcment (criminals, robbery, shootings).
When we were headed back to the airport we had to take a taxi because the metro line to the airport was closed for repair. We actually picked the taxi up in Georgetown and stopped by the hotel to get our luggage. I knew it would be an expensive trip and the fact that we had to hold the taxi I think was a 7 dollars charge. While were were driving to the airport we started talking with the taxi driver and he was 70 years old and lived in Virginia his entire life. He asked it we had extra time and we told him yes. He drove a different route and gave us a little tour of Virgina. He asked if we saw Iwo Jima. I told him no and he drive by Iwo Jima. We were in the taxi for about an hour. When we got to the airport he discounted our trip my half. I was very thankful for him. He was honest and took extra time to share what he knew.
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