Washington DC Trip

For work I traveled to Washington DC the last week of May. The work-related activities ended up taking much more time than my co-worker and I had planned for, but thankfully we were still able to steal away for a few hours to do some sightseeing. My co-worker, Laura, had been to DC several times before and actually used to live there years ago, so she was an excellent tour guide to me (I had never been there before).

The first sightseeing place we visited was the Arlington Cemetery. To sum it up in one word: Beautiful. I have always thought cemeteries are beautiful places, and this one of course is the prettiest I had ever seen. I loved the rows and rows of the white headstones. It's a very solemn atmosphere out of respect to all the memories being honored, but I loved being able to see glimpses of so many people who have served our country over the years. There are a lot of memorial-type structures honoring different people, some more famous than others. JFK is perhaps the most famous buried there. We also got to watch the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier - very cool. Interesting side fact, my Meemaw visited DC several years ago with a church group and she fell and broke her wrist while visiting the Arlington Cemetery, but she refused to leave or allow anyone to take her to the hospital until she got to watch the changing of the guard. Gotta love her!

The next morning we visited several of the war memorials, Lincoln memorial, and the White House. I took a lot of pictures along our walk as we passed each one (to view them all, click on the picture at the bottom of this post). My favorite was the World War II Memorial. It has columns to represent each of the 50 states, so I took a picture in front of Texas' column. And there's a big water fountain in the center. The most somber memorial to visit was the Vietnam War Memorial. Michael and I recently watched We Were Soldiers, so I had a very brief understanding of how many casualties resulted from this war, but seeing the list of all the names in person is even more alarming. Especially when you consider how many panels there are, each is about 10 feet tall, and how many names are listed on each panel. Whenever I see a memorial like that recording the total number of lives lost to a war, I can't help but think how senseless war is. Like, surely there could be more peaceful ways to resolve disputes, but since we're in a fallen world, it's rare if not impossible that both parties will play nice and not seek blood of the other group. I'm so thankful for all those who serve and protect our country, I just wish there wasn't a need to do so. But I know that is purely wishful thinking until all believers in Christ are redeemed with Him in Heaven.

On the third day, we were only able to get a break over lunch for about 2 hours, so we had to go somewhere within walking distance from the building we were working out of. So Laura took me to the National Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian Institute. At this museum, they have a cafeteria that serves items from different American regions a la carte. I ordered a pulled buffalo sandwich (SO DELICIOUS! Did you know that buffalo meat is leaner than chicken?), snap peas (it was okay), and for dessert, a rhubarb cobbler (disgusting...the idea sound good, but it was not sweetened at all, so it was like a vegetable-bland-tasting-with-biscuits dish). After lunch, we briefly walked through one of the many art museums nearby that were also part of the Smithsonian Institute.

I would love to visit DC again when I could have more time, and also be there with my hubby. :)

Hope you enjoy the pictures! Click on the picture below to view the entire album.