AND....while I haven't been particularly happy with some of the ongoing antics coming out of our politicians, I do love our country. I love my life (most days) and appreciate the day to day ease of living in my home. I think I (maybe a lot of us) take it all so much for granted because we are caught up in our everyday routines and don't think at great length about how blessed we are.
With that in mind, it is a real reaffirmation of the glory of living in America when you see these:
The US Capitol
The Capitol was started in 1793 and took 21 years to build. Thomas Jefferson wrote that "the first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people." It, however, was burned down in 1812 and had to be rebuilt.
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| We picked the weekend that the Dali Llama was making a speech at the Capitol. Here we are with a few thousand friends |
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| If you don't like crowds this wasn't the day to be at the Capitol. I, on the other hand, was having a GREAT time.  |
Lincoln Memorial
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| This is one of the Memorials that just take your breath away. The Memorial is 190 ft. wide which makes Lincoln's statue appear dwarfed but it is 19 ft. by 19 ft.  Arlington National Cemetery and Arlington House Arlington National Cemetery is on the site of the 1100 acre home of Robert E. Lee. Lee's wife, Mary had inherited the property from her father who was the grandson of Martha Washington and the step-grandson of George Washington.In 1861 the Lees vacated their home after having lived in their home for more than 30 years. This was due to the fact that Robert E. Lee had taken the side of the Confederacy and the Union took over the property. The Union turned it into a National Cemetery. Today there are more than 300,000 men and women interred there on 624 acres.  |
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| At the Tomb of the Unknowns a 24 hour a day sentinel watches over the tomb. This is a picture of the changing of the guards. During the day, this time of year the sentinels change every half hour with a very precise ceremony. |
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| Robert E. Lee's home, Arlington House still stands at the top of the hill overlooking the cemetery. |
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| 555 ft tall. Impressive |
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| Looking up again, with my mouth open again. WOW |
The Library of Congress
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| The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. |
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| There are 838 miles of bookshelves in the library. |
Hope you aren't bored with my vacation pics but that is what I am doing for the time being. As I haven't been reading the newspapers or watching TV, maybe important things are happening that I don't know about. We did see President Obama board his helicopter yesterday on the South Lawn. I hope he wasn't leaving town for anything that is worrisome.
So for today, I am going to go back out and see a few more sights around DC. I will show you some of the Smithsonian favorites, as well as the Korean and Viet Nam Memorials on my next couple of posts.
The Good for the Day...fun city to visit.
The Bad....The traffic here is like nothing I have ever seen. In today's Washington Post, it says that DC has surpassed LA for the worst traffic. That's a #1 that I wouldn't want to be part of.
The Weird for the Day....While Pierre L'Enfant is credited with designing Washington DC, he in fact was fired after he turned in his plans. (His original plans are housed in the Library of Congress) He initially wasn't paid for his work. He spent much of the remainder of his life trying to collect payment for his work. Later in his life was paid a small amount of money that went to his creditors. He died in poverty.
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