Margie's Memories: July 2008

Following three pleasant days with Dave, Marie, and Lauren Terry and I hopped aboard Amtrack. We arrived at Union Station, DC in the afternoon.

Our five night stay was at the Marriott Residence Inn, 333 E Street, SW. The comfortable suite was on the 13th Floor. BTW - That is our lucky number. Terry purposed almost 36 years ago on a Friday 13th. Our room included a full breakfast, as well as dinner.

We took a long walk to find the nearest grocery store. With groceries to carry back to our hotel we decided to give The Metro Subway a try. It had to be shorter walk, and it was.

Our first full day in DC was filled with seeing the Mall & most of the DC Monuments with the help of

Tourmobile
with a guide. We were glad that we bought 2-day passes because there was no way that we could see so much on foot. The bus allowed us could get off and back on another bus that made the route.

Mid-morning we rode to Arlington Cemetery where we went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, The Arlington House, where we ate our packed lunch. Later, we walked to my favorite place, The Iwo Jima Marine Monument.

That evening we took the Metro to Chinatown and ended up watching a upbeat musical performance by the Naval Academy at the beautiful fountain and amphitheater at the Naval Monument.

Our 2nd day we rode the bus to the Jefferson Monument, then enjoyed a leisurely walk around the tidal basin to see all of the other monuments and memorials. We saw The Korean War, Lincoln Memorial, F.D. Roosevelt Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, The Holocaust Museum, and The National Aquarium.

That evening we enjoyed dinner at Potbellies and saw Indiana Jones...at The Gallery Place.

Thursday was packed with seeing the Capital, going into both The Senate and House of Representatives Chambers. (Both were in session.) We took in the Nat. Botanical Gardens, The Air and Space Museum - saw The Surveyor - Grandpa Harmon had a hand in engineering several parts -it landed on the moon.

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum - Surveyor

In the evening we had another adventure as we took the Metro, a Metro Bus, and then a taxi to get to the DC Temple. We made it for the last session.

Our last full day, Friday, we got up early and went to get tickets to go up the Washington Monument. But decided instead to go into the National Archives . It was a reverent thrill to look at the actual documents that our blessed country was formed upon. I felt a love and gratitude rise in my heart for their special role establishing The United States of America.

I had a chance to shop at a H & M Clothing Store. Marie had told me how much she enjoyed shopping at the H & M in Virginia.

For Lunch we enjoyed wraps and a shake at the Old Post Office. After a rest we took off for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It was huge and full of fantastic exhibits.

We especially enjoyed the Geology, Gems, and Minerals area. We saw the blue 45.52-carat Hope Diamond.

We took a much- needed rest in the hotel's hot tub. A little later we ventured out on the Metro to find the Whole Foods Market. We were able to buy food that we could eat on our trip home.

The kind people we met just added to the enjoyable experience of each historical monument and museum. I think that our next big trip we have our eyes on is The Big Apple - New York.

Of course, I had to bring a little Smithsonian home with us. A Plasma Ball, a Gravitron - Space Gyro, and my favorite the blue and green droplet timer.