After a month of boat work at the dock, a month off the boat, Eric working in CA and the rest of us in Buffalo, and more than two weeks of hard work on Makai in the shipyard, we’re finally off on an adventure.  The trip to Washington D.C. is nearly 100 miles up the Potomac River and we can only travel during the day light so it will take about two days.  Our first evening is in Quantico, VA.  This little town is bordered by the Marine Corps Base on three sides and the Potomac River on the fourth. Quantico Marine base is the largest in the world and includes DEA and FBI training as well as the Presidential helicopter squadron and the Naval Criminal Investigative service headquarters. This is a busy place, but from the river it is very quiet with a beautiful sky as the sun sets.

Everyone pretended to get along this morning. Snuggling and reading in bed.  It sure makes a mom happy to see a scene like this.

The second leg of our trip included a quick stop in front of Mount Vernon.  We visited George Washington’s home along the Potomac last fall so this stop was just to lower our antenna to prepare for a low bridge up ahead.

Here comes the bridge. Interstate 95 goes over the Woodrow Wilson bascule bridge so the operators are not inclined to open this 76 foot high bridge for us.  Our mast is 70 feet high and the antenna adds 8 feet  which is just a little too high.  Good thing Eric lowered the antenna, because here we come.

Whew, we made it! There were workers inspecting the underside of the bridge.  Since we all were watching the mast and the bridge, we noticed the guys and gave them big waves.

After the bridge is Alexandria, VA and Washington’s National Airport.  The river is on their flight path as they land so that was exciting for our mast as well.

We arrived at the anchorage in the Washington Channel.  This is a great location with the Potomac River off to the West and the Anacostia River off to the East.  The northern end of this channel almost touches the Tidal Basin which the Jefferson Memorial overlooks.  This is a prime location.  Two blocks in one direction is a grocery store and Metro (subway) station, 3/4 of a mile in the other direction is the Mall filled with museums and monuments.  The marina in front of us offers the use of their dinghy dock, laundry, showers and bathrooms for $10/day.  We have a nice view of the Washington Monument and are also on the flight path for giant helicopters that make Makai’s mast vibrate as they pass overhead.  We also have our pals from Dream Catcher anchored next to us as well as new friends on Take Two with three boys and two girls on a catamaran down the channel.

The only thing that could make this place better is if the construction at the waterfront were complete. Very recently all the buildings have been demolished and massive construction is underway.  Each day on the way to the Mall we walk past this piling driver that forces us to plug our ears because we can’t walk past the machine fast enough.  The National Mall is nearly 2.5 miles along Constitution Ave, Independence Ave or the walking paths from the US Capitol to the east to the Lincoln Memorial to the west. And 1.5 miles from the White House on the north side to the Jefferson Memorial on the south.  We will be getting plenty of exercise while we’re here.

The Smithsonian Museums are of the highest quality and FREE.  Thanks to its own endowment, contributions, government support and other revenues.

James Smithson was the illegitimate son of an English Earl.  He studied chemistry and mineralogy, traveled and published papers about his findings. He was wealthy from inheritance and never married or had children. He left his estate to his nephew but if his nephew died without heirs, then the estate was to be donated to Washington D.C. for the founding of an educational institution. In 1835, six years after his death, the United States Government  was informed of this gift.  It arrived as eleven boxes of gold sovereigns totaling about half of a million US dollars as well as some scientific notes, minerals and a library. Wow, someone made quite a few wise investments for half a million dollars to produce the Smithsonian Institution we have today.

For 70 years the United States consul in Genoa maintained Smithson’s grave in Italy until the grave site itself was to be relocated in 1905.  Alexander Graham Bell who was on the Smithsonian’s board of Regents orchestrated moving James Smithson’s remains to Washington D.C. where it was escorted by the U.S. Calvary.

The other side of the Castle faces the National Mall with a statue of Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, out front. Joseph Henry established the principle that James Smithson’s gift would be maintained as an endowment and focused the Smithsonian on research, publications and international exchanges.  He dedicated his life to support American science, housing young scientists in the Castle as well as traveling to promote science abroad.

In contrast to the 12th century European style architecture of the Castle, most of the Smithsonian museums around the mall are huge concrete and marble mammoths housing millions of artifacts.

With nearly a dozen museums in front of us we attacked them in the usual Jackie style, haphazard and chaotic. Each day we did a floor or a room from a couple different museums, plus a tour, a lunch or a stroll through others.  There are just too many exhibits to thoroughly cover each building, plus the kids and I lose interest after awhile.  When the complaining and suggestions for other activities start to overtake the enjoyment of the museum, the kids and I would bail and find some friends to play with while Eric went back to read more signs. The following photos are just a few highlights.

The Natural History museum has impressive display of fish bones.  Roy was drawn to this display and the beautiful skeletons of fish he loves to see on the other end of his line. On the right side of the display is his favorite Mahi Mahi.  When our friends on Dream Catcher saw this display, the texted a picture of it to Roy.

We spent quite a bit of time in the gems and minerals section. Oooh, shiny, that always draws my attention. Here the Hope Diamond is on display. The Hope Diamond at 45 carats doesn’t even come close to making the top ten, which range from the Golden Jubilee diamond at 545 carats, to the Millenium Star diamond at 203 carats.  The Hope diamond isn’t the most beautiful, or the most rare, but does have a great story.  The Hope diamond came from a mine in India and was brought to France and crudely cut into a 115 carat triangle. From there is passed through Kings in France and England, diamond dealers and jewelers, worn by wives and mistresses, and passed through the Hope family in the 1800s giving it the name we refer to it now. In 1910 a salesman presented the diamond with a fantastic aura mystery to Edward and Evalyn McLean.  The young couple tried to back out of the deal for fear of the gems past, but a the editor of The Jewelers’ Circular-Weekly published an article stating that there is no evidence of ill luck to the owners throughout history. In 1949 a diamond merchant, Harry Winston, purchased Mrs. McLean’s entire jewelry collection which was sold to settle debts.  Mr. Winston was persuaded to donate the diamond to the Smithsonian for a proposed  national gem collection and in 1958 it arrived via registered mail in a brown paper wrapping.  The post office charged $145.20 for $1 million insurance coverage plus postage. Today the jewel is priceless but insured for $250 million.

Yes the Hope diamond has changed hands many times and many of the people who came into contact with it have died unfortunate deaths, but we were attracted to the exhibit because it is, SHINY!

Entering the American History Museum you are greeted with the Star Spangled Banner.  When I came here as a kid and even when Eric and I came here in 1993ish it always hung from the wall in the main foyer.  From 1999 to 2008 the flag was restored and now the exhibit has its own room with a proper environment. The original 15 stripe and 15 star flag from the War of 1812 was 30 X 42 feet.  After the battle, the Armistead family, George Armistead was the commander of Fort McHenry, possessed the flag and occasionally gave away pieces for souvenirs. Eight feet have been cut off the end and it is also missing a star.  In 2011 a snippet of white and red cloth was sold at auction in Texas for $38,837 and was presumed to be a piece of the flag.  This piece joins the rest of the flag that flew over Fort McHenry inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner in 1814.

Ho Hum, no pictures. The National Archives had the same rules.

Another great exhibit is the First Ladies’ dresses. It first opened in 1914 and contains 26 gowns as well as china and furniture. The exhibit addresses the changing role of the First Lady through the years. We enjoyed seeing how fashion has changed over the years. Our concern about the first woman president is if her husband’s outfit will be entered into the gallery?

If you have something cool or old or unusual, you can consider donating it to the Smithsonian. Faith Bradford donated this Dollhouse in 1951. It was a beloved part of her childhood.

There was a 1964 Worlds Fair exhibit that was of interest to our family.  First of all, that’s the year Eric was born.  This spring we were in New York and Eric was planning a trip to the site of the fair, but our plans were changed and we had to leave before he could get there. It is also interesting because Walt Disney unveiled It’s a Small World here and used the project to perfect his system of Audio-Animatronics. Other Disney attractions like Carousel of Progress and the PeopleMover, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and animatronic dinosaurs were also developed for this World Fair.

 

The floor around the exhibits in this area displayed headlines from 1964.

And of course memorabilia. The Smithsonian is often referred to as America’s attic and you can find common items that most of us have owned or cleaned out of a garage or famous items like Mohammad Ali’s boxing gloves, Dorthy’s slippers and Google’s first computer.

Moving on to MONEY!  After a few attempts to arrive between the designated tour hours we finally made it to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This is where our paper money is made.  Before 1861 each state made it’s own money, but the federal government started printing paper notes which were essentially IOUs to fund the Civil War.

Today they produce over 6 billion notes a year at an average cost of 10 cents a note.  There is a whole team of designers creating notes that prevent counterfeiting. Besides a small visitor’s center you can take a 40 minute tour that walks visitors through the production process.  The notes go through printers several times adding colors, emblems and serial numbers.  Inspectors both human and scanners check the product periodically. This was a fascinating tour as everyone here is interested in the good old American green back.  Which is actually green on the back

The National Air and Space Museum is loaded with planes showing America’s progress from the Wright Brother’s first flight in 1903 to Neil Armstrong landing on the moon sixty six years later in 1969 as well military planes, space shuttle exhibits and private enterprise looking toward space.

Spaceship One, the white plane on the right blasted off in the Mojave Desert in 2004 and we were there!  It exited Earth’s atmosphere and just touched space before returning.  This is historical because its the first manned private space flight.

“The Eagle has landed”, Neil Armstrong announced when he landed on the moon in 1969.  If you weren’t there when it happened, you can come to the Smithsonian and watch the video on the monitor in front of the Eagle.  Eric tells the story of how his parents sat him in front of the TV and says “WATCH THIS”.  He still remembers it.

Eric was in awe of the planes on display.  If he were writing this post, you would have plenty more photos and descriptions. Last year we visited Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brother’s made their first flight.  This museum has a great exhibit about the events over the years that led up to them lifting off the ground.

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We visited the National Archives one day simply because we noticed it hiding behind the Sculpture park.  No photos were allowed anywhere in here.  The archives house thousands of documents, videos and audio recordings.  All the signed correspondence with the federal government. From national leaders who scribbled their name on a menu, to Charles Ingalls’ request for a homestead, bills signed into law, a request by George Washington for advise on how he should resign from the army, and military service records to name just a few. In the Rotunda, the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are displayed for us all to see the documents of our freedom.

I got up bright and early one morning and marched over to the Washington Monument to pick up free tickets reserving a time for us to visit the inside of the monument.  An elevator took us up to the top floor just shy of the full height of 555 feet.

We had great view to the North, South, East and West.  To the east is the Capitol.

And 2.5 miles to the west of the Capitol is the Lincoln Memorial.

The window facing the south has a great view of the Jefferson Memorial which overlooks the Tidal Basin.  The Potomac River is off in the distance and on the left is the Washington Channel, Makai is anchored right behind the cranes in the channel.

We still need to dedicate more time to the American Indian Museum. But that’s the way we’ve been visiting the museums, a little at a time.

The Cafe came highly recommended so that was our main attraction on this visit.

When everyone’s feet hurt and we can’t manage to look at one more exhibit, the mom’s text each other and set up a rendezvous point for playing.  The kids come rushing out of the museums to play frisbee, baseball, climb trees and play tag.

Roy and Marie toss a giant coin they got from the gift shop at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

We can only handle a few days of touring before all the kids need a break.  Roy has three boys to play with.  This has been very rare for Roy as most of the boats we meet up with are full of girls.  Take Two not only has boys but they also have a sister that our girls have been having fun with and a toddler girl too.

In the evening when our sore feet are resting and we’re getting ready for bed, the Washington Monument is in full view, lit up in the night sky.

Now that we’re satisfied with our accomplishments touring around the mall, we feel we can branch out and take the metro somewhere a little farther.

Last fall we took a short trip on the Metro and I was shocked that it cost $30 for our family to travel round trip.  At that time we had the van and could have driven, but now our only choice is the Metro.  After a little research I found that the paper ticket you purchase in the Metro station requires the user to pay an additional $1 fee on top of the $2 fare, but if I buy a plastic rechargeable Smart Card for $2 the fee is waved for all trips.  Armed with our smart cards we headed to Federal Triangle’s Metro Station.

Looking around at these impressive Roman buildings made out of Concrete and Marble adorned with columns and a frieze along the top depicting some sort of government related scene prompted a short discussion about how low the buildings in DC are compared to places like NYC.  I just learned the reason is not a law that states the buildings can’t be higher that the 555 foot Washington Monument. In 1899 the law stated a building can’t be higher than the 28 story Capitol, but the current 1910 law is an amendment that states a building can’t be higher than the width of the street in front of it plus 20 feet.  There are a few exceptions that increase the 20 feet to accommodate buildings up to 160 feet tall.

The Metro is certainly a swift and efficient way to travel.  Jump on and the train shoots through tunnels, over rivers and delivers passengers without waiting for pedestrians, traffic lights or traffic jams up on the street.

We set out in the middle of the day, without rush hour traffic and for $2 each, we were delivered a few miles away to Arlington Cemetery.

I brought the kids here on a quick American History tour about 4 years ago.  We enjoyed a brief visit to the museums and playing around on the green on the way to the monuments, but I knew we could never obey the ‘silence and respect’ necessary at Arlington.  This time with my fingers crossed, we entered the hallowed grounds where our military and influential Americans were buried without incident.  Two thumbs up, we spent the whole day there with good behavior.

The National Cemetery is over 612 acres of rolling hills overlooking Washington and contains graves of more than 240,000 service members and their families. There are also Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, Explorers, and 3,800 slaves.  There are also numerous monuments and memorials.

One of the highlights is the Kennedy grave site where John F. Kennedy, his wife Jackie and two of their premature babies are marked with an Eternal Flame.  John Jr. died in a plane crash in 1999 off of Martha’s Vineyard.  His remains were recovered and subsequently scattered returning them to the sea.  Caroline Kennedy continues to serve the United States as the Ambassador to Japan.

Currently there are roughly 8,000 burials a year here.  There is a long list of eligibility requirements to be buried in the ground but there is also a columbarium for the ashes of any person who has had an honorable discharge.

Audie Murphy was the most decorated combat soldier of WWII.  He received every decoration for valor this country had to offer plus five from France and Belgium.  After the war he went on to make 44 movies but died in a plane crash just before his 46th birthday.

There were also group burials for people who died together in ship wrecks and other such disasters. The mast in the background of the photo below is part of the Memorial for the wreck of the USS Maine where 163 Sailors and Marines are buried.  In the foreground are monuments for the two space shuttle explosions, the Columbia and the Challenger.

I remember watching the Challenger.  I was in ASW training school in the Norfolk, VA, together with a room full of fellow Seamen watching the launch.  Eric was working part time at the Naval Ocean Systems Center.

We also watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  The unknowns were each selected from four possibilities by a decorated soldier from that war.  He was given four identical caskets to choose from.  The WWI soldier was selected in 1921, the WWII/Korean War soldier in 1958 and the Vietnam Soldier in 1984.  In 1989 the Vietnam Unknown was exhumed and new DNA testing identified him as 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie.  His crypt remains vacant with an inscription “Honoring and Keeping Faith with America’s Missing Servicemen, 1958-1975.”

So where did Arlington Cemetery come from?  The last stop on the tour was Arlington house.  After their father’s death, George and Nelly Parke Custis lived with their Grandmother and her husband George Washington.  George Washington adopted them and raised them as his own children.  After Martha Washington’s death, her grandson inherited the family fortune including the land in Arlington overlooking the Potomac and Washington D.C.  Here he built an estate he called Mount Washington to honor his grandfather George Washington but eventually became know as Arlington house after the family’s homestead on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

In 1831 Mr. Custis’ daugher Mary married Robert E. Lee who served 32 years in the U.S. Army. For thirty years Arlington House was their home where six of their seven children were born.  When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in 1861 Lee rejected President Lincoln’s offer to head the Union Army and followed Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

With Arlington House on high ground and Robert E Lee off to join the Confederacy, the Union took the opportunity to acquire this property.  The law stated that property tax must be paid in person and with Mary Lee behind Confederate lines and Robert E. Lee off fighting battles against the Union, Union troops moved in.  By 1864 surrounding cemeteries were filling up and the Union began burying their dead on Arlington property.

Wow, there is quite a bit of content in this post.  As with most posts, I researched the places, things we’ve seen and heard, collecting all kinds of knowledge along the way.  In some cases, like with the Hope Diamond, I read articles from Wikipedia, the Smithsonian, online news articles, and other blogs and posts.  After swamping my mind with facts I cut out half of what I originally typed and try to condense it.  Sorry I didn’t include many links to support my comments, but I used my phone for most of the research as our wifi connection for the computer wasn’t very strong.

We still have many more places to visit.  The three branches of the government have visitor centers and tours, there are still many more museums and monuments, and another week of touring.