Washington D. C. Part IV - The National Army Museum and Manassass National Battlefield

On the last day of our vacation to Washington D.C., we visited the National Museum of the United States Army.  We actually visited this awesome museum two different days. The first afternoon, the museum closed before we could get through it all, so we returned to see the rest of the exhibits the next day.  This museum is an great place for history lovers which Charly, Josh and I are.  There were life-size dioramas of major battles of all the wars the U.S. Army fought, using actual historic army equipment. Here are some of the cool things we saw there. 

We also went to Manassass National Battlefield.  It was another hot and humid day, but we enjoyed hearing the history of this site of the first battle of the American Civil War, from a young park historian.  Here are some pictures of Manassass National Battlefield, where the first battle of the Civil War was fought. 

This is our historian/tour guide explaining the details of the battle and where everything took place. 

This is known as Henry Hill, because it was the farm of the Henry Family.  It is also where much of the battle of First Manassass (Bull Run) was fought.  This is the battle that politicians took a picnic lunch to watch.  Many thought the war would be over that afternoon after a short skirmish.  The battle that took place here, with the resultant casualties, proved them very wrong. 

This is one of the original Union cannons. 

This is the Henry House, where the only civilian casualty of the battle of First Bull Run took place.  It was the elderly woman who lived in the house and refused to leave even though union and confederate forces surrounded the place. 

Canons from the battle. 

Memorial to the dead on Henry Hill.

This is a statue of confederate hero Stonewall Jackson. 

This is the Henry House and Farm. 

Another view of the Stonewall Jackson statue. 

This is a monument marking where Confederate General Bernard Bee fell mortally wounded on July 21, 1861.  Bee is the general, who, while trying to rally his troops, said "There stands Jackson like a stone wall."  It is from this quote that General Thomas Jonathan Jackson became known as Stonewall Jackson.  

This is view of the battlefield looking toward the Henry House. 

These are Crepe Myrtle blossoms on a tree near the visitors center for the battlefield.  I thought they were really pretty.  We don't have Crepe Myrtle trees around here, at least that I know of. 

With that, our vacation in Washington D.C. and Virginia came to an end.  We had a great time and hope to return again soon, maybe next summer, when we hope to visit more Civil War Battlefields.  

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

“Why should the peace of a true Christian be disturbed by anything which man can do unto him? 

Has not God promised to make all things work together for good to those who love him?”

~ General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson

Washington D.C. Part III - The White House and Smithsonian

The next morning, which was Thursday, we got up early and rode the Metro to the Metro Center stop which, in theory, is a short walk (several blocks but less than a mile) to the White House.  

I was fascinated by the long elevators that went from the underground Metro stop up to the street. 

It was a very hot and humid morning and we were relying on Siri for directions on how to get from the Metro station to the White House.  In the middle of our walk, at least a couple of members of our group (who will remain nameless 😉) needed to find a restroom.  We were successful in that quest, but I am pretty sure we walked several blocks out of our way.  Although there were fences all over, and no real signs or directions,  I believe this are is The Ellipse, which is infamous because it where Trump addressed his supporters before sending them to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.  I am also pretty sure that the evergreen tree on the left side of the picture is the National Christmas Tree. 

Eventually, we did find the back of the White House and this was as close as we could get.  After the U-Haul truck crashed into a barricade at the White House, a few months ago,  there are more fences, more police and Secret Service and hardly anywhere to get a good picture of the place.  

We had to walk several more blocks to get this close to the front of the White House and this was the best picture we could get of it, and you can barely recognize what it is.  

By this time, we were incredibly hot and tired and you can see that in our faces. 

This building is the Executive Office Building.  It was originally built back in the 1870s to house the State, War and Navy Departments - as those departments were then known.  The architect, Alfred B. Mullett tried for French Second Empire architectural style in the building which some felt clashed with the neoclassical style of other buildings in Washington D.C..  Due in part to criticism of the building and the financial ruin that brought with it, the architect committed suicide.  Very sad.  I know very little about architecture, but I have always though the Executive Office Building is one of the most beautiful old buildings in D.C..  Some others agree with me because it is now designated a historic landmark after almost being demolished in 1957.  

This is one of several statues of Revolutionary War heroes in Lafayette Square which is basically right across the street from the White House, although Pennsylvania Avenue is now closed off and inaccessible.  This statue is Major General Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben, who was a Prussian who volunteered for the Revolutionary War and wrote the Revolutionary War Drill Manual, which served as the standard U.S. military manual until 1812.  I am not sure why this is the only statue I got a picture of, but I think it had something to do with the fact that we were all very hot and tired and mainly just wanted to get to the nearest Metro station as soon as we could. 

We rode the Metro to the Smithsonian stop and got off and walked across the upper end of the National Mall.This is the view of the Capitol from where we were. 

We walked over to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  We had been here briefly last year, but it was super crowded and Charly wanted to get a better look at the Hope Diamond, so we came back. 

Again, the Natural History Museum was super crowded with lots of little ones. Seems that a lot of summer camps and day care were having field trips here.  We did get a better look at the Hope Diamond however, and this is it.  It is big and bring and personally, I wasn't that impressed, but the museum is pretty cool and has lots of neat exhibits, including dinosaur bones. That area was even more crowded because kids like to see dinosaur bones and the place was packed. 

After seeing the Hope Diamond, I was tired and sat down for a while as Charly and Josh wandered around.  Eventually, we made our way to the museum gift shop and found some cute dinosaur earrings for our granddaughter's birthday gift.  After that, it was lunch time and we decided to back to the air conditioned condo, eat lunch and take a break. 

After lunch, we got in our rental car and drove about 15 miles outside of the D.C. area to the National Museum of the United States Army in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.  Josh really wanted to visit that museum and it did not disappoint.  In fact, we went there two days in a row because there were so many neat things to see. I will post more about that in my final installment in our trip to Washington D.C. and Virginia. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Washington represented something immensely precious. Freedom, hope, strength."

~Erik Larson

Washington D.C. Part II - The Capitol, Library of Congress and Supreme Court

Our second full day in D.C., we had a tour of the U.S. Capitol Building scheduled for just after 9 a.m..  We got up early to get on the Metro train, but miscalculated how long the train ride would be and we ended up being about a half-hour late for our tour.  The people at the Capitol were very understanding however, and slipped us right into the next tour.  Charly and I had gone on a tour of the Capitol last year and we were unimpressed,  The guide we got last year put a "woke" spin over everything and seemed to have a political view she wanted to share with everyone on the tour.   This year, however, our tour guide was an older African American man,  who was knowledgeable, and who obviously loved this country and the Capitol building and all it stands for, and we had a completely different experience.  Here are some of the things we saw in the Capitol Rotunda and Statuary Hall.  The paintings, artwork and statues were all beautiful and worthy of being in this important building, which was described as a "temple of our democracy."  That is certainly the way I feel about it.  I would give more information and details about the artwork pictured below, but I am sure that I would get something incorrect.  

I know for sure that this is Abraham Lincoln.  

Harry Truman from Missouri.  We were told that his statue is one of the newer ones and replaced another statue from his state. 

Ronald Reagan from California, of course.  Our tour guide told us that Reagan's statue is the only one who is smiling. 

This is Brigham Young, one of Utah's two statues. The other statue is of Martha Hughes Cannon, who was the very first female state senator in the entire country back in the 1800s.  Our guide told us that she actually ran against her husband for her seat in the the Utah State Senate, and of course she won.  I think she was also a doctor, and a pretty impressive representative of my home state.  

After our tour of the Capitol, we walked through the underground tunnel from the Capitol to the Library of Congress which is just across the street.  We had never gone through the tunnel before so it was a new experience to see how easy it is for representatives and their aides to access the information in the Library of Congress.  

The Library of Congress building is truly one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in.  

It is a masterpiece of art and architecture.  The day we went, the main reading room had been opened for a short time for a limited number of visitors and we were just in time to be one of the last of the group allowed in.  I had never been in the main reading room.  It is usually closed to the general public and can been accessed only by researchers with special permission.  Usually, it can be viewed only through windows that look down on it, but I was excited to be able to walk through and see it in person.  Here are some pictures of it. 

It was pretty cool to be in this reading room with all of these books.  Here are some more pictures of this beautiful building.  

This is the room where Thomas Jefferson's book collection is kept.  I am always in awe of Jefferson's books.  

Josh really loved the fountain outside of the Library of Congress, which he said reminded him of some of the fountains he saw in Europe when he went there last summer. 

Our next stop was the Supreme Court building, which is right next to the Library of Congress.  This building was completed in 1935, and up until that time, the Supreme Court actually met in the Capitol Building in a room aptly named The Old Supreme Court Chamber. 

I had seen the Supreme Court building before, but just from the outside. Last year, when Charly and I went to D.C., the decision overturning Roe v. Wade was new, so there were quite a few people protesting and the Supreme Court building was completely fenced off. This year, not only was the fence gone, the building was open to tourists.  This was the first time I had been inside the Supreme Court building, and the place I most wanted to see was the courtroom where the nine justices actually hear cases that determine the law of our land.  

There was a lecture taking place in the chamber, so I could only look from the door, but I still thought it was pretty cool to see this room where so much important history is made. 

I'm glad that Charly, Josh and I could see all of these historic places. 

It was a hot and humid morning, so after walking around the buildings on Capitol Hill, we took the train back to the condo and had lunch and rested a bit.  I love how close the Wyndham Timeshare Condo where we stayed was to the Metro Old Town Alexandria Train Station.  The Wyndham was literally on the other side of the building with the American Flags as seen from the platform of the Metro station in this picture.  It was a five minute walk from our room to the train.  

In the afternoon, we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  It is an important place that everyone should visit, but it is also a sad and tragic place.  I realized when we got home, that I only took this one picture of the outside.  

This was about the halfway point of our stay in Washington D.C. so I will post more pictures from our trip  soon. 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"Presidents come and go,

but the Supreme Court goes on forever."

~William Howard Taft