Washington DC - Part 4

Tuesday, 11/17/15 - Today is unusual.  The news is uncomfortable.  It seems that there is a credible threat to Washington DC by ISIS and the city is on high alert.  Also, all four of us were so tired from all the walking on Monday that we decided to stay home.  Jeanette wanted to start getting their stuff together for the trip home and she wanted to just sit and visit.  I was glad that we didn't make another trip into town.  The plan was to go to the Air and Space Museum, but I know that it is a FULL day at least, and too much for all of us.  Tom and I have two more weeks here, and there will be plenty of time for us to go to the museum later.

Wednesday, 11/18/15 - We were lazy all morning, and spent time visiting.  We left for the airport around 1:00, and managed to find our way without getting lost.  I think David was nervous that we would not get them to the plane on time, so we left with plenty of time for them to get settled and wait for their plane.  Later that evening, Jeanette let me know that they got home safely, and had a great time.  I think she must have taken over 3000 pictures here.  Hope she finds a way to organize them when she gets home.

Thursday, 11/19/15 - Rained all day.  The weatherman says that we will have a couple of rainy days and then sunny, but the temperatures are going to drop.  Tom and I are staying in and resting.

Friday, 11/20/15 - We headed back into town to the National Archives.  I noticed lots of extra military everywhere - mostly Army.  The Archive building houses all of our country's documents, correspondence, pictures, etc.  I was mostly interested in the most important ones - The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  We were not allowed take any pictures, as the documents are very fragile, and held in special viewing areas.  We entered on Constitution Blvd. and went directly to the Rotunda.  The room was beautiful.  All of the cases along the wall (in a circle) first explained how the documents were drafted and who was largely responsible for their creation.  When I first saw the original Declaration of Independence, I was teary-eyed.  I didn't expect that it would affect me quite so much, but it did.  After seeing all of the battlefields and reading the accounts of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, all I could think of was what these men had given up for our freedom.  I also wonder if we as a nation will ever face such difficult decisions in the future.

Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were so faded, it was almost impossible to read them.  At one point they were placed opposite a window in the Patent Office for over 35 years. Around 1840, an engraver (I did not get his name) made copper plate copies of the documents.  He meticulously hand-engraved the documents in their entirety, including all of the signatures; and he had to engrave everything backwards!  It took him 4 years.  Now we have readable copies of the documents.  I brought 3 copies of them home - the two mentioned above, and the Bill of Rights (which cites the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution).

Also, in the Rotunda, were two murals by Barry Faulkner.  One of the murals showed the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the other showed the signers of the Constitution.  You can Google Barry Faulkner if you are interested in his other work.  The paintings are exceptional and were recently restored to their original beauty.  If you would like to see all of this, just go to this link: www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters.

We then went to the Public Vault.  The vault was full of all sorts of documents - patents (with drawings), letters to Presidents, correspondence, treaties, military records, etc.  Again, I was not allowed to take pictures, and there was so much, I was on overload.

We left the building, exited on Constitution and re-entered on Pennsylvania (opposite side) to the Research Division.  Here, the building is open to the public every day except Christmas, for research of anything on file, including Ancestry.com (which you can use free of charge).  There were computer stations where people were doing ancestry research, and other research for studies, and maybe even for movies.  What a wealth of treasured documents.  You could spend the entire week here every day, and just get a start.  We only had about 2 hours until they closed, so we left to come back another day when we would have more time.  All I could think was that my sister Karen would love this place.

Saturday, 11/21/15 - Back to town (we are getting real good on the Metro train) to visit the Newseum.  This is a private museum housing all of the news back to the 1400's.  I expected a two or three story building to take a couple of hours to get through - boy was I wrong!  It is 7 stories.  You could spend your whole day here and never get through the whole thing.  I guess they expect it, and so your ticket covers two days' entry.  Tom and I were there all day until closing at 5, and only got 2 1/2 floors done.  We had to go back the next day all day as well.

Coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall - 11/89

The Wall Tumbles

Hauling the wall in pieces to the Newseum

Checkpoint Charlie Tower

A large section (8 pieces) of the Berlin Wall
(Graffiti is only on the West side; The East side was painted white)

Here are some actual old newspapers:

Death of Lincoln-04/15/1865

Announcement of Emancipation-09/23/1862

We went out on the terrace and saw a beautiful view of Pennsylvania Avenue:

To the East - Canada's Embassy on left
and Capitol (under construction) in back

Directly across the street -
The National Gallery of Art

Across the street right - Fed Trade Comm. Bldg.
and National Museum of American History in back,
and a peek at the Washington Monument

Pennsylvania West

We headed home.  Here is the underground entrance to the Metro:

The Metro (subway)

Sunday, 11/22/15 - Our second day at the Newseum - we went directly to the 5th floor to see the news headlines.  There are thousands of headlines - all important in our history.  I took a lot of pictures of famous headlines.  Here are just a few of them.

The beginning of the Press - the Gutenberg Press

Japan Surrenders - 08/15/1945

Jackie Robinson gets signed - 04/12/1947

The First TV Guide-01/15/1953

And from San Francisco - 09/12/2001

Here is the biggest OOPS:

Dewey Defeats Truman - 1948

Monday, 11/23/15 - After two full days, we stayed back in the RV today and play catch up - laundry, blogs, bookkeeping.  The weather has gotten much colder now. I am glad we stayed back today.  It gets down to the mid 30's at night.

Tuesday, 11/24/15 - We stayed back as we are expecting an adjuster from the insurance company on our Jeep damage.  We also need to do some grocery shopping.  And, of course, I need to update my blog.  So this is my last entry for tonight.  Tomorrow we will be visiting the Air and Space Museum and I expect to get great pictures.  This is the museum we most want to see.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL ON THURSDAY!