The past weekend my DH and I headed south to our Nation’s Capital. It was a fun-filled and inspiring trip.
Our first stop was at one of the two National Air and Space Museums. Dulles A & S is in Chantilly, VA. It’s truly a remarkable collection of air and space crafts. While my DH was totally engrossed with the planes that flew in the skies during the wars of the twentieth century, I was amazed at the enormous size of the challenger. 
I really didn’t think it was as big as a 2000 sq. ft. Ranch home. I can’t imagine the lift-power generated to launch it into space. I was also surprised at the compact size of satellites. I envisioned them to be much larger. The museum is filled with stories of brave men and women who risked their lives to better mankind. You really need to visit. Parking was $15.00 but entrance is free. So load up the car and go.
Our next stop was Arlington Cemetery where we spent hours viewing and paying tribute to those who served our country. I especially prayed for the man, and his family, who died on his twenty-eighth birthday. It’s a very humbling and proud experience
to watch the Honor Guards stand watch over the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is the one of the highest honors to watch over this monument. The men who do are the best of the best and very disciplined. They’re tour of duty is for one year, but it can be longer. To learn more about the Honor Guard visit http://www.tombguard.org/ If ever get a chance to visit Arlington, please don’t pass it by. 
Saturday ended with a drive up Embassy Row, pass the Vice-President’s Home and the
National Cathedral which was beautiful. Here is a picture of it from our room. We spent the evening enjoying a dinner and the sights of the Georgetown area.Sunday morning we started off early. The Intentional Spy museum was on my must see list this trip and our first stop. Awesome. Love it. The museum was filled with biographies of spies as far back as the seventeen hundreds and the items used in espionage dated centuries before. I took notes as plots were coming at me like flying baseballs. My souvenir this trip is a mug from ISPY. GRIN.
After my husband literally drug me out of the ISPY, we headed to the Ford Theater. We met a very nice lady from Anchorage, Alaska while standing in line and had a great conversation about our states and our experiences in D.C. Inside the theater I got the goose-bumps knowing I was in the same room where one of our greatest leaders had been and where history was changed. A spokesperson shared details of President Lincoln’s final days in the White House, which ironically was his happiest because the Civil War was ending and his son was home safe. She also retold his final day’s activities and the final words he shared with his wife, Mary (Todd).
We also learned facts about John Wilkes Booth and his death that we didn’t know, such as, he had had plans to kidnap the President in order to hold him for ransom, hoping to gain freedom of one-hundred thousand confederate soldiers, but several days before April 14 General Lee had surrendered to General Grant thus ending the war. On April 14, that morning, Wilk was told a rumor concerning the President granting voting privileges to freed slaves which outraged him thus cementing his plan to exterminate President Lincoln. Ford’s Theater is a must see.The rest of the afternoon we spent visiting the National Museum of Natural History (Both the dinosaur exhibit and the Hope Diamond were on my list to see, and both were awesome. Which would you rather stare at?)
and the original Air and Space Museum which houses another awesome collection from aviation history.Our final stop was at the footsteps of the Capital Building. We marveled at its beauty and while looking at buildings of this magnitude, which were erected centuries ago, wondered how its construction occurred without large equipment and modern technology. The manpower it had to take. WOW!
While this was our second visit to D.C., my DH and I decided it will not be our last. The residents are friendly. The food is wonderful and there is still so much for us to see. Plus there are monuments we truly would like to visit again.
I hope you enjoyed my little recap.
Oh, a note for writers. I noted while riding the metro there were more people reading e-readers than paperbacks. Hmmm.
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