4th of July on the National Mall

Everyone warned me not to go to the National Mall for Independence Day. The crowds will be overwhelming, they said. You won't get home until after midnight. That baby will hate it. This is where being stubborn really pays off because they were wrong on all accounts.

I wasn't about to miss my chance to see our capital celebrate its birthday. Alison and I arrived downtown at 11:30am, just in time to snag a sweet parade-watching spot from the National Museum of Art's Sculpture Garden lawn.

 7-4-11 - National Archives

OK, so we couldn't see everything from there, but the view of the balloons, floats, and tops of the bands' heads was worth it to have some space for Alison to run around, taste leaves, and meet some other babies.  There actually seemed to be just as many foreigners downtown as US citizens.  Probably because we throw a good party.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was underway, celebrating Colombia, Rhythm & Blues, and the Peace Corps this year.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but the festival turned out to be a real DC gem.  There were three stages with world music complete with dance floors (have I mentioned yet that Alison dances?), a bunch of tents describing worldwide culture, crafts, music, you name it, and also delicious foods.  We sat in the Home Cooking tent for a long time, hoping to get a taste of the fish stew a Malian was teaching us to make.  I had to leave right at the end because Alison got angry.  Maybe she doesn't like fish.

 7-4-11 - Kenyan women basket-weaving

At 6pm we were admitted to the NPS VIP fireworks area.  That's right, it appears we are now true Washington Insiders since only those on the list can watch the fireworks from within a special fenced area next to the Park Ranger National Mall Offices!  The view was great, actually, except that I didn't get my coveted shot of fireworks over the Lincoln Memorial.  Trees were blocking our view of the monuments.  We could have easily snagged a spot closer to the middle of the mall and next year, I think we will.  From where we were at, however, we could clearly hear the stage and the special announcement from "Park Ranger Nathan King", as he was introduced.  Nathan was the 4th of July Public Information Officer, so he got to address thousands in the crowd and MC a skit about American freedoms (or lack thereof) throughout our history.

 7-4-11 - National Mall not super-crowded.  I can still see grass.

The fireworks display was, well, worthy of a nation that can still (for a couple more years anyway) say it's the strongest nation in the world.  Nathan was told by the director of the National Mall fireworks display that the finale would include roughly 45 fireworks shot off every second.  Check it out:

 

People cleared out quickly.  We waited to leave until 10pm and were home by 11pm.  Alison stayed awake in awe through the fireworks, then fell asleep on the way home.  We're going back next year.  Would you like to come?

Surviving Snowmagedon

We did what we had to do.  I got into DC the second Reagan National Airport opened Thursday after a combined 32 inches of snow shut down government offices for four days and brought the amazing Metro Transit System to a halt.  Then, I talked my way onto an earlier flight for free Monday to avoid the delay on my regularly-scheduled take-off due to the next round of snow.  Excellent timing for an excellent weekend! 

Since it's been a few weeks since we returned, I'll just give you the facts and then a bunch of pictures.

1. We visited the Iwo Jima memorial at sunset and rewarded our tromp through the snow with an amazing middle eastern meal at Lebanese Taverna.
   
   
   
2. The Natural History & American History Museums graced our itinerary.  Seeing an encased Giant Squid, the flag that inspired the Star-Spangled Banner, and President Lincoln's actual hat (and facial molds) were amazing.  The biggest surprise was walking into just another room in the museum (ok, there was a guard in this room) and coming across The Hope Diamond on a twirling pedestal.  45.52 carats of deep blue glory, cut down from 112 original carats when it was hauled out of India.  I'm not a big fan of diamonds usually (you have to spend money to forever insure them), but that was cool.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Hope Diamond
3. We stopped back into the Museum of the American Indian for lunch and accidentally discovered an art form I'd never dreamed existed: Peruvian Scissor Dancers.
   
   
   
4. One amazing dinner at a place called Founding Fathers.  Truly my kind of place, it proudly declared its use of tapwater and tries hard to purchase its food from family farms (many of them local).  I highly recommend the Straw and Hay pasta dish, which featured homemade noodles and a sauce I just couldn't figure out.
5. My favorite thing this time?  Would you believe the National Archives topped the chart?  Yes!  In the same room I got to see our copy of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, Consitution, and Bill of Rights!  It was the last week EVER you're allowed to take flash-free pictures, so you can see just how incredibly faded our Declaration really is.  Good for us, a lot of governments don't make it half as long as we have and yes, it made me proud to be an American.  I am not proud to announce, however, that the whole time I was in that room, I had the School House Rock Preamble song in my head courtesy of my 8th Grade History teacher, Mr. Madlung.
   
   
   
   
   
    
   Declaration of Independence
   
6. Hit the Botanical Gardens again for Orchid Week, rode the Metro, watched the Olympics and played Settlers of Catan in the hotel.  You can't beat DC.  I don't know what it is about that city, but I love it!
   
   
   

Gettysburg & DC

If Europe seems light years ahead of the U.S. in terms of interesting history and architecture, then the East Coast is to the Midwest what Europe is to the U.S. We spent the last few days visiting Gettysburg, PA and Washington DC. Amazing. Amazing.

Gettysburg

I was only half-excited to see the famous Gettysburg Battlefield, now I can't wait to go back and see what I missed. Now a National Military Park run by the National Park Service, we skipped the pricey museum, movie, and cyclorama, and headed for the field with the bookstore's audio tour in hand. This was a good way to do it since Nathan had already started demonstrating his encyclopedic knowledge of the event - it would have been a shame to pay to hear someone else tell me the same thing. It also allowed us to get out there and imagine what it must have been like to watch the Confederates peter out at the High Water Mark and try to hold both your left and right flanks on Little Round Top as the 20th Maine. (Yes, I learned something!) The battleground is FULL of great stone monuments to mark almost every round fired. There's so much to see and do, you could easily spend a weekend or more there, even if you deplore learning about people killing each other like I do, I truly found Gettysburg fascinating.

Monuments galore at Gettysburg

Gouverneur (his real first name!) Warren who scrambled up Little Round Top to discern where exactly the Confederates were in the treeline below.

Washington DC

DC just proved to me that you shouldn't knock a city 'til you've tried it. I used to have the impression that DC was a dirty, dangerous, terrorist-ridden, political dumping ground destined to spontaneously ignite in the flames of its own disgrace. The truth? I think I could live there.

I liked everything I saw of DC - the metro: why doesn't every city have one? the museums: second to none! the restaurants: lots of amazing things I can't get at home! famous sites: check! access to influential people: check check! It's just a neat place to be.

Luckily Nathan's brother, Justin, just moved there and was able to show us around on the inside track. I met a colleague from IBM at a restaurant called Central that had excellent (albeit expensive) burgers and desserts. Thanks, Bobbi! Saturday night, we also did a circuit tour of all of the monuments lit up beautifully.


Sunday we did a marathon of all things tourist. Starting out at the Museum of the American Indian, we sat next to the pipes our friend Travis from Pipestone National Monument crafted. They are some of the first things each visitor sees in the museum and Travis has a key role in the museum video also!

Museum of the American Indian

Travis' Pipes

We got side-tracked on our way to the Capital by the excellent Botanical Gardens:


The capital...


We doubled back to the Museum of the American Indian for lunch. They serve all manner of out-of-the-ordinary native dishes. I myself enjoyed the Crawfish Fritters, Three Sisters (corn, squash, and black beans), and Yucca Fries in green chili sauce (slightly more dense than potatoes and sweeter). Justin stole the last of the Rabbit Pot Pie which I have just now forgiven him for.


Most of the afternoon was spent at the Air & Space Museum, then we trucked it up and down the mall to visit the Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam, WWII, Korean, Jefferson, and FDR memorials/monuments.


We ended the night with a trip to Georgetown and an Ethiopian Restaurant called Zed's. It might just be the fact that I'm about to move to a small Kansas town whose Sonic is 1/6 of the restaurant options, but I just loved the variety of everything you can get in DC. You want it? They've got it! I will be back.