Washington DC Weekend

We went to Washington DC to see all the historical sites. On Friday afternoon after class we went to Arlington Cemetery. We decided to do this on Friday because it is a little out of the way and we were able to drive right there. It was really cool. We went to see the Kennedy’s Gravesite then to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was pretty cool. We saw the changing of the guard. They are very professional and serious when they do it. After the ceremony somebody touched or knocked over the chain surrounding the tomb and the solider stopped marching and began to yell at him. It was interesting because the only thing they do is march and to see this guy yell was totally out of the ordinary. I was glad we went and saw this on Friday because Saturday was such a long day of walking and we were so tired.

Saturday we jumped on the Metro (DC’s subway system) and went to the National Archives. We saw the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. In the building you can’t use your flash on the camera so all of the pictures were so dark. This was about a 20 minute wait to get in but it was totally worth it because you don’t get to see all that stuff in real life (just copies).

Next we went to the Museum of Natural History. This is where we saw all the dinosaur skeletons, the big elephant and lots of other prehistoric skeletons. It was really neat but we were just really rushed and that place was packed with people. It was cool though.

Next we ate lunch in the Ronald Reagan building. It is a joke to get into any Federal Building because the security is so crazy. It is like going through the airport to get into any of the buildings. Anyway to each lunch we had to go through security and show our IDs.

We then walked to the White House. It really wasn’t too intriguing since it looks like a mansion with a big fence around it. However, there was a tour guide there giving a brief speech and there is a woman that live across the street from the White House. She lives under a tarp and has been there since 1982. She is protesting Nuclear stuff. So if she ever leaves to go to the bathroom or something like that she has to get somebody to take her post or it will become illegal to protest in front of the White House.

Finally toward the end of the day we went and walked to the Lincoln Memorial. On the way we caught the Washington Monument and the WWII memorial. Afterwards we saw the Vietnam Wall. There was an excellent speech from a forest serviceman that explained all of the significance. It was super informative and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We rested on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial then walked, what seemed like 1000 miles to the train station. We made it back to the Metro Station then we were off to Baltimore to see my cousin Michelle and her family.