Let me just say that if you are a traveler and have never been to Washington D.C., make it a priority in the coming year. I honestly thought it would be kind of cool with a lot of interesting history and museums to see. I was right, but I did not realize how awesome it would be to see so much of what this country is based on. Seeing the real Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was nothing short of a touching experience. The amount of monuments, museums, and government buildings blew me away. Amy and I spent 3 days in D.C. and we did not see the half of it. Since we saw so much I am only going to outline some of the key places we saw.
Mt. Vernon
Home and final resting place of George Washington, the man who defined the presidency. At the close of the American Revolution General Washington was in a position, and even encouraged, to take a role of king/chancellor/emperor of the United States. Through wisdom and the grace of God, Washington relinquished the authority of the Continental army back to the Continental Congress and gracefully stepped away. At this time in history such an act had never been done. This was a defining moment for the course of American history.
It is no wonder why President Washington preferred to be at his estate on the Potomac as opposed to at the capitol, Mt. Vernon is a gorgeous place. From the rolling hills of forrest to the bank of the Potomac the scenery is candy for the eye and soothing to the day-to-day stress we all seem to find in our modern society. It was quite a treat to be able to tour the grounds and even the mansion. Although I did find many of the placards along the grounds comical as it seemed that the historical foundation seems to have a quite from Washington for every little inanimate object found on the property. What I find amusing is the lack of context to the quotes…spewing out a one-liner can mean a lot of different things depending on preceded it or came after. What if Washington followed the quote with an “LOL” of his time?
Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.)
All I am going to say here is Gilmore Girls.
Washington Monument
It is tall, seriously. Amy and I had tickets to go into the monument, but unfortunately due to the earthquake a week prior to our arrival they are not letting people into the monument on account of a crack that formed near the top. Due to the monument’s location and height you get a lot of great views of it from all around the National Mall.
World War 2 Memorial
The WW2 memorial is a rotunda that has an engraved pillar for the fallen from each of the fifty states. There is also two relief sculptures around the rotunda. Half of it is dedicated to the Atlantic campaign and the other half is dedicated to the Pacific campaign. There is also a memorial wall with stars signifying the soldiers who lost their lives in WW2. You would be hard pressed not to acknowledge high price of our freedom that we take for granted daily while glancing at the x number of stars that each represent 100 people that paid the price.
Holocaust Museum
The Holocaust museum opened my eyes to the fact that the world, yes even the U.S., ignored and blocked Jewish people from immigrating to escape persecution. I have watched and read a good deal about the Holocaust and it is amazing how this aspect is so rarely mentioned.
Archives of the United States
Visiting the Archives was nothing short of being worth the trip to D.C. on it’s own. Why? Because see the real Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was almost unreal. Seeing them in person made you think about what these documents meant in the day of their composition and what a monumental change for world history that they signify. It is incredible. When I heard the encasements cost $5 million dollars later on I did not even bat an eye for what those documents mean and stand for makes this a trivial cost in preserving these key pieces of history.
Fairly conclusive list of sites we saw
- Lincoln Memorial Pond
- Vietnam Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- MLK jr Monument
- Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) (depression, 1933) Monument
- Thomas Jefferson Monument
- Union Station
- National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden
- Smithsonian(forgot which one)
- White House
- Capitol building
- Library of Congress
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing
- Smithsonian Air and Space
Key Learnings
- Plan to spend 4 hours at each museum.
- Government buildings plan 2 hours.
- Monuments plan about an hour each with walking time included.
- You will not see or do the majority of D.C. in 3 days.
