Washington, DC- Saturday, May 16, 2015

    Twenty-five years ago, Julie and Scott came down to Washington packed in a car with Billy Fleck, Randy & Nancy, and Nancy's friend (we've forgotten her name, but she talked a lot, and was filled with Cliff Clavin-esque facts).  It was the 125th Anniversary of the Grand Review, the last big event of the Civil War.  Scott's great-great grandfather was there, and wrote in a letter about the women coming up to the soldiers and giving them flowers.  Scott really wanted to be here to march in the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, even though it meant missing his college graduation that same weekend.  He decided to up the ante for the weekend,   and took the opportunity to ask Julie to marry him.

     Twenty-five years later, it's going to be the 150th Anniversary of the Grand Review, and Scott really wants to be here again.  This time, we're in a bigger car and have Anna and Emma along,, and Anna is missing the interrogation from the church elders for her confirmation, but pastor excused her from it to be able to come. The the silver anniversary of our engagement seems to demand that our family be here.

     We left after school on Friday afternoon, and got to our hotel near Dulles after midnight.  We were so tired, we deliberately slept in this morning.  It will be our only chance to do so this weekend.   We had a late breakfast at Panera, and then made our way into Washington DC, and final found parking at L'Enfant Plaza, where we've parked before.

     Today was just for a little sightseeing and family time.  We spent some time at places that we had seen much before.  Our first stop was the Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Scott had been there before on the East Middle trips, but Julie had always wanted to see it.   We went to see "Daniel's Story," which is a children's exhibit.  It takes you through the home and neighborhood of a Jewish boy named Daniel, and follows their story as they are taken first to a ghetto and then to a concentration camp.  Emma was fascinated reading the pages of Daniel's diary, which explained what each part of the exhibit was shoiwng and what Daniel had experienced.  (They are written in child friendly language, but we did wonder how many school children actually have trouble reading them because they are written in cursive.)  We also sat through one of the movies that they showed.  It was a 40 minute presentation on the rise of Hitler and how it came to the "Final Solution."  The narrator's voice was a little too soothing sounding, and she almost lulled a couple of us to sleep.  To see the permanent exhibition, you need timed tickets.   We got some, but decided not to stay.

      It was well past noon, and we knew we had to get to a place for lunch.  We waited in the heat to get through security and into the Air & Space Museum, just because we knew that the McDonald's/pizza would be a quick cheap place to eat without being out in the sun.   We didn't stay here to see any exhibits, though, because we've all been here recently.

    Emma had picked the National Museum of the American Indian as a Smithsonian she wanted to visit.  We've been there before, but not recently, so we went in.  They were having a Hawaiian cultural festival, and we heard several musicians and saw dancers perform.  Anna and Emma made bracelets from tei leaves.  The leaves look like large palm leaves, and both girls said they were very oily.  They had fun, but washed their hands after.  We sat under the Great Tree of Peace in a large bronze sculpture, and since it is from the Iroquois, Scott was able to explain a lot of the symbolism that is in the many details.  Julie was puzzled about a large rock up in the branches.  We saw an exhibit called "Nation to Nation" about the history of treaties the U.S. has made with Native Tribes, and Scott was most interested in the parts about the Iroquois.   Like the Holocaust Museum we didn't try to see everything, but reached a point where we were ready for the next stop.

     When we visited last December, Julie said she wanted to go to the National Botanic Garden, and that was our next stop.  It's near the Capitol, so we had Anna take a selfie of the family there with her selfie stick.  Then we walked through the gardens themselves.  Though it was hot out, we enjoyed the outdoor portion of the gardens as a bit of peace and quiet, relative to the bustle we'd seen.  The indoor portion was beautiful too.  Julie noted that it had cost us nearly $40 to visit the one on South Park in Buffalo, but this one was free.  There was an exhibit on roots, and several large "environments."  We went through the Primeval plants, the Jungle, the Desert, the Orchid room, and several others.

     It was now after 4:00, and we decided we were all hot and tired.  We made our way back to the hotel where we ordered pizza and the girls are going swimming.  Scott has some polishing to do before the parade tomorrow.