Day 4 in DC

June 15th, 2009

White House

Betcha can’t guess where we went first today. Okay, you guessed it. After we got off the Metro at McPherson Square, we walked through Lafayette Park toward the White House. We could not tour it because world events dictate the highest security for the President. In order to tour the White House nowadays, you must write your congressman for access and that can take a few months. It was odd that we could walk right up to the fence in front of the White House and take pictures, but when we walked around to the back, we had to go out to the middle of the ellipse to take a direct-on picture of the back because the Secret Service would not allow us to get any closer. My wife was not very impressed with it, though, she said it looks bigger on television.

From there, we walked across the Washington Monument, through the cherry trees, and

Jefferson Memorial

around the tidal basin to the Jefferson Memorial. She was much more impressed with that one. The central statue in the memorial is, of course, Thomas Jefferson in the middle of the rotunda. All around the rotunda are some famous words of Jefferson’s denouncing tyranny and wise words on changing with the times, however, not too often. It is very interesting and enlightening to read of the wisdom of the founders of this great nation. Looking out of the memorial to the north was a beautiful view of the Washington Monument glistening in the midday sun.

We decided to finish our tour of the American History Museum we started yesterday after a quick lunch in the Constitution Cafe downstairs. Of all the museums we have eaten lunch in, this one is the most expensive at $28.00 for a hamburger, chicken sandwich, 1 order of fries, a bag of chips, a banana, a Hershey bar w/almonds and drinks. It was refreshing, though, and soon we were off to continue where we left off – 1st floor, east wing: Transportation and Technology. We saw all sorts of interesting exhibits of rail and road transportation from 1876 – 1999. We saw scenes from Oklahoma’s section of Route 66, including cars with Oklahoma tags. A depression-era travel trailer was actually ahead of its time, which was good because many people who lost their homes during the depression were forced to live in them. Trailer parks got their start from this phenomenon.

Locomotive

Train travel and shipping was prominent as well as models of passenger trains showed dining cars, passenger cars, and Pullman sleeper cars. The role of the conductor was likened to the captain of a ship. The conductor was actually in charge of the train, when it could go and when it stopped even though the engineer was actually in charge of how it would stop and go. In an emergency, the conductor was in charge. Pullman porters, mostly ‘negro’ as the exhibit put it, took care of making the bed down in the evening and changing it to places to sit in the morning. They were to make it as though the traveler was in a luxury hotel. The job actually paid well and it was an important link for the black community. The porters would bring news of jobs and opportunity in the north to those living in the south.

The original flag which flew over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, and inspired the words to the Star Spangled Banner, was on display. This same flag, which used to hang at the Smithsonian, is in a special display after its latest restoration, to help preserve it further. It is so fragile now that it can never be hung again. We learned that the pieces missing from the flag were actually cut and given to guests as souvenirs by its custodian, Major Armistead.

The second floor east wing showed African American innovations. The focus of which was on a Washington area black photographer named Addison Scurlock and his family. He opened a studio on U Street and created what is called “the Scurlock Effect”. His innovations in Photography rival those of today’s famous portrait photographers. He seemed to capture the beauty and depth of his subjects. He captured life as it was and made it easy for the view to place themselves in that place and time. He was the first photographer to accurately meter his subjects so they would stand out from the background, which is sometimes difficult to do with dark-skinned subjects. However, he was able to do this successfully and the result was phenomenal.

We viewed photos from the 2009 inauguration also, our favorite is when the president and his wife are waiting on a freight elevator to go to yet another inaugural ball. They are looking into each others eyes and you can see, even feel the love between them. It was pretty awesome.

Second floor west showed us some gowns, possessions and accomplishments of first ladies – not all of them wives of the presidents. Some were daughters, nieces, and even daughters-in-law. Some on display were of Martha Washington, Dolley Madison, Sarah Polk, Mary Todd Lincoln, Laura Bush and more. We saw how communities changed by focusing on the industrial workers in Connecticut, Jewish immigrants in Cincinnati, and slaves and free African-Americans in South Carolina.

Moving onto the 3rd floor west wing, we saw Archie Bunker’s chair, Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Oscar the Grouch, and Kermit the Frog. We also saw this huge doll house, The Bradford Doll House, chock-full of miniatures. Faith Bradford spent more than 50 years collecting and building this miniature house. Authentic items from Lincoln’s life and times, including a campaign banner are on display.

We finished up on the 3rd floor east wing where we saw the history of the US military from the Colonial era to the present. We saw how our armed forces defined periods in our history. We saw actual revolutionary war uniforms, a restored Bell “Huey” helicopter, and General Colin Powell’s Desert Storm fatigues. We saw some of the hidden dangers our soldiers faced in Vietnam, with mines and punji sticks. We also took a tour through the American Presidency, which highlighted the role of the American President. Here we saw how presidency ages the holder of the highest office by watching Lincoln grow much older year-by-year. By the time he was assassinated, he looked much older than he actually was. We even saw a file cabinet that was broken into during the Watergate scandal.

Capitol Building

From there, we walked to the Capitol building where we took pictures from the pool in front. It was a beautiful day, so we were able to capture some great pics before heading back to the Metro. Earlier today, we met a family from South Carolina and taught them the intricacies of subway travel. It was surprising when they boarded the same train 2 stations later, what are the chances of that. The mom of the family is also a teacher, like my wife, so they had a lot in common. We decided to eat together, but had no idea where, until a local saw that we were obviously hot, tired, confused and hungry and stopped to tell us to walk on through Pentagon City Fashion Mall where there were some great restaurants. We settled on Chammp’s, a sports-themed restaurant and finished the evening.

Well, one more day in DC tomorrow and we are headed for home.