Washington, D.C. Part II

On the next day in Washington my family and I visited many of the memorials and two museums. First we visited the magnificent Lincoln Memorial. It was very interesting, dramatic, and historic to walk up the steps and see the gigantic statue of Lincoln. When walking around the hall of the statue one could sense the history of what Lincoln as a man and as a president represented. Lincoln's decisions as a President paved the way to complete racial equality under the law when he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation to free all slaves during the Civil War. He also helped preserve the union of the United States of America, preventing the North, the South, and California, part of the Union side, from separating into two different countries, potentially The United States and The Confederate States of America. Fortunately the Union was preserved.

We also visited the Viet Nam War Memorial. In 1995, when I lived in Tallahassee, Florida as a student at Florida State University, I took a trip to Kennebunkport, Maine with my family. Driving north up Interstate 95, we stopped to visit Washington, D.C. During the trip we visited the Viet Nam War Memorial and looked up the row and number of a name of the brother of a friend of my Dad's on the memorial facade. We found his name. Thirteen years later, during the current trip to D.C., we looked up the same name, took a piece of paper, and scribbled over the name with a pencil, picking up the letters of his name within the gray scribbling on the paper.

We also walked along and briefly viewed the WWII and Korean War Memorials, eventually coming to the FDR Memorial. The FDR Memorial was one I did not know much about. Some of the statements on the statue about humanity were very interesting. It was also great to see the huge statue of FDR, where my wife, Julie and I had our pictures taken by my Mom and step-dad Chris.

During the afternoon we visited three museums, The Holocaust Museum, The Indian History Museum, and The White House Museum. At the Holocaust Museum we toured the exhibit about a boy and his family who lived in Germany during the time of the Holocaust. First we saw the room of the boy which was not entirely different from my brother Joe's bedroom and my bedroom as a kid. We saw storefronts in big German cities and towns nearby with signs discriminating against the Jewish people in Germany. The exhibit demonstrated how this Jewish family had a comfortable life in Germany until WWII when the Holocaust took place, killing thousands of Jewish people in Germany and throughout central and Eastern Europe. The Holocaust was a horrible crime against humanity. The boy featured in the exhibit thankfully survived the Holocaust.

Next we went to the Indian history museum. At the museum a tour guide talked about the history of the many Indian tribes in America, including tribes and sub tribes. The woman who gave the tour was a member of the Cherokee Tribe and was from Oklahoma, originally. The museum gave a fascinating look at the history of tribes and sub tribes throughout America and North and South America.

The White House Museum was also interesting to see. The museum displayed exhibits about how different Presidential administrations, such as the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, lived in the White House. In the exhibit on Johnson, there was a film about the wedding of his daughter in the White House. The museum also had displays on different articles in the White House, such as dresses First Ladies wore and dinnerware.

Washington DC Trip August 2008 - Part 1

Welcome to the first entry in our blog. I travelled to Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia with my family and we had a wonderful trip. My wife Julie, Mom and Step-Dad Chris drove to D.C. from Newport, Rhode Island, Julie and I having started from the Boston area in Medford, MA. Driving down Interstate 95 0ur first destination was Mount Vernon, home of the great George Washington, first President of the United States.



Mount Vernon was a wonderful site to visit. It is located about an hour south of Washington in Virginia. The mansion is a large, white Georgian, Southern plantation-style house overlooking the magnificent Potomac River. Mount Vernon is situated on rolling, green hillsides that constituted the property of George Washington which was a plantation farm. One got a good idea of Washington's many abilities, including statesman, leader, and being able to acquire much land and house items for Mount Vernon and the White House, giving both places a sophisticated look.





The site has many buildings to see. First of all, you can tour the mansion itself. There are also many slave quarters still standing. Third, one can visit the houses of the gardener and overseer. A house for a secretary who kept records for the President was also on the grounds. When at the site you will learn about when the Washingtons first lived at Mont Vernon. George Washington's great grandfather was given a land grant and emigrated from England to live on the land in the late 1600's. One can learn a little bit about Washington's genealogy there, viewing the names of his immediate American ancestors on a chart and in a pamphlet. I have learned before that Washington also had some Belgian ancestry and possibly French ancestry. These ancestors of George may have gone to England before America.