05/01/2023
Washington, D.C. Trip April 22nd - 25th 2023
The trip that culminated a lifelong love of American History. Blessed to walk on the very spots that men of fortitude did as they formed the nation that I love and call home. Our nations capitol, Washington, D. C. Is a wonderful experience for anyone that wants their history books, favorite movies, television shows and political figures to come to life before their very eyes.
Being an early riser and wanting to explore I was out on the road with my rental scooter. Taking in all the memorials and everything else that needed seen prior to the opening of the museums at 10 AM everyday. That list includes; The WWII Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, The Washington Monument and I rode by The Daughters of the Revolution, The Roosevelt Building with its amazing architecture, The White House while the Marine Corps Band was out front doing rehersals and The beautiful Union Station that is still a major hub for travel. In the evenings I had reservations that my wife had made for fancy resturants and rooftop bars. Maybea second Washington D. C. Write-up solely about the food and drink.
So the first day I had to explore was a busy one. My mother and I started off at the National Museum of Natural History. This was my decision, I've always enjoyed Natural History museums in other cities, so why not. It's a good one as well. As you enter the rotunda you're greeted by a massive elephant and decisions on where to begin your journey. So like any good tourist I grabbed a $1.00 map (great price) and we scurried off in some direction. Since I did so much I'm only going to hit the highlights. The T-Rex skeleton on display was pretty intense. The massive dead squid was just one more reason to stay out of the ocean if the 5 foot tall shark mouth full of teeth hadn't already convinced you 30 seconds earlier. From the African plains to the jungles then into the depths of the sea. It's all there to see with no cover charge! I do remember this being the first museum that I went to but from there you just get to hear about the other locations because I don't remember the order.
Museum of the Bible is the only one that we went to that you had to pay to enter. This relatively new and innovative experience was very rewarding to witness and worth the price of admission. If you love the Bible it's a must do on the list. The massive collection of extremely rare and ancient manuscripts that you get to see are amazing. There's a lot of things on display that are replicas but they're done in a way that it appears you're looking at the real thing, so much so that I thought I was for the majority of the time before my mother pointed out that they were replicas as I was geeking out over some Dead Sea Scroll fragments that I presummed were the real thing. I will say that not knowing added to my awesome experience so if you read this don't tell your friends if you go, see if they figure it our for themselves.
The United States Botanical Gardens were in my opinion a little lackluster. But here me out on this. As you walk the streets near the Capitol mall area the horticulture is incredible. So much in fact that a lot things that are planted are labeled because they are so unique, even at a casual glance. The Botanical Gardens are basically a condensed version of the diverse plant species of Washington D.C. Inside the actual gardens though, there are some different geographical atmospheric conditions that you probably don't want to miss. Plus some rare and endangered species that you can walk right up to and take a very close look at if you so choose. I do enjoy some awe inspiring walks through majestic gardens, I mean who doesn't. But, I would choose walking though the Capitols garden like areas in the brood daylight over being indoors.
The most surprisingly interesting, and the museum I almost skipped was the National Gallery of Art. Before you start with the shaming let me say that I do enjoy art just never enjoyed paintings or thought anything of them. Well that all changed as soon as I stepped right into my child hood art, history and social studies classes. The artwork and the artists that you hear about all throughout your basic education and into college, all right there, in Washington D.C! Free of charge and stay open to close to look around if you like. Artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Raphael di Giovanni Santi and the one that was mind blowing to see in person Leonardo Davinci. As I'm writing this I look back at the pictures that I took and I look at the paintings online and they don't do them any justice. I believe that's the reason I never really cared for that particular artform before, because I had never experienced it at its highest level. Now that I have it's become far more interesting to me and I will have a little knowledge for the next oportunity to check out an art museum.
There are some things out there that no one wants to talk about or have to witness second hand. That being said I believe everyone should be forced at some point in their education to visit a Holocaust Museum. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is a mixtue of emotions and the atmosphere that they have created is to give the attendees a first hand account of the rise of the regime that can't be named on social media, the beginings of the de humanizing of the Jews during this period in Germany, the creation of the ghettos for the Jews and the the Final Solution that the "political party that can't be named" brought to fruition during WWII. I wouldn't call myself a student of WWII but I feel like I've watched every documentary that you can about it and read quite a few books for personal reasons and forced education reasons as well. The amount of video footage that I've never seen, which was basically everthing they had there, was so vast that I would have to go through a couple more times to wrap my head around the depravity of man. Depravity that I thought I had already known until I witnessed barbaric actions on film in this museum. You also get to see the resiliancy of the Jewish people and the pride that they carry from their bloody history of survival. I know that I'm making this seem a little drastic but I promise you that I'm not. For anyone that thinks their children are to young to see some of those videos, you're correct and the museum believes that as well. For your convience they have the television screens behind thick concrete walls, tall enough that you have to walk right up to them and look all the way over the short wall at the tv facing the ceiling. A must see if you make the journey, be prepared to be in a long line of slow moving people. It's set up to have the feeling of moving towards a concentration camp from the loading up of the train car to the walk to the crematoriums.
If you're a history buff or just love all things America then go check out the National Museum of American History. Its pretty self explanitory. There's tons of displays, artifacts, signed letters of historys leading characters and sports things for those of you that are into the sports ball games. The history of the slave trade, suffrage and multiple other stories are highlighted currently.
The most patriotic thing that I was able to see with my very own eyes was the National Treasures, I mean the National Archives. All the Founding documents, The Declaration of Independance, The U. S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and one of the original copies of the Magna Carta. Due to the possibility of light damage no photograpghy is allowed inside the buiding and as you can imagine security is pretty tight so I didn't push the envelope on that one. Probably the only documents that I would ever be this happy to see in person.
There's plenty of places that I missed completly and are on the list for round two whenever that happens. Washington D.C. is a place with something for everyone. From great food trucks to 5 star dining, museums to outdoor parks with outdoor recreation happening constantly in the forms of bicycle riding, jogging and back packing. I personally walked over 40 miles in the 2 and a half days of exploration. The food is top notch from any discipline in the world so make sure to step off the beaten path and try some things that you've never heard of before and enjoy.
One Marine, One Army man and an Appalachian. It gets lit! check out the Podcast.
