changed forever.
13 years ago
Saturday, April 01, 2006
DC and Penn: Day Two
Day 2 started way too early in the morning with breakfast at 6:45. We were on the road by 7:30 and started our day by sitting in traffic. Traffic into DC from Maryland was not so fun, but I passed the time by sleeping. Thankfully, I didn't miss too much, as the scenery was not great. It was weird to see so many trees without their leaves. Where was spring? Lance took this beautiful picture of the Washington Memorial. We saw this memorial so many times during the trip, but oddly enough we didn't actually visit it. Oh, an interesting bit of information about the Washington Memorial: The Masons started building the Washington Memorial, but they ran out of money about a third of the way into it. The government took over and you can actually see the point on the memorial when the building of it changed hands.
Our day was really hectic. Once we got into the city, we picked up a local expert who gave us a tour. He was really good and was chock full of information. Huh, I guess if you're going to be a "local expert" then you gotta be stuffed to the brim with information. Anyway, one of our first stops of the day was to another memorial. This time it was the FDR Memorial and it was one of my favorites. Like many of the other memorials, they had engraved a bunch of quotes on the walls/floor. The FDR Memorial had a lot more than some of the other memorials, but then again, he was in office for a long time and therefore had tons of opportunities to say memorable things. Then again, he was also in office for a long time because he said memorable things. Anyway, I took a picture of one of my favorite FDR quotes:
Visiting all of these memorials that were dedicated to honoring the many great men of our history actually made me sad. We used to have so many great leaders leading our nation and now...well, now we have Bush. When I was in my last semester of my undergraduate studies, I was lucky enough to take a fabulous US History class with a fabulous teacher who really made me think. One day she asked the class if we thought that the government should be allowed to restrict the rights of thousands of people based on nothing more than their skin color (this was in 2001 when the government was pretending that the Bill of Rights did not apply to their citizens who were Middle Eastern...oh wait, that's still going on). Being opinionated, I raised my hand and said no and that our nation would be taking a step backward if we allowed the government to do so. Anyway, I saw this quote at the memorial (but for some reason, I don't have a picture of it):
"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all our citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."
I read this quote and I laughed out loud. We have taken so many steps backward as a nation under Bush. What would these great leaders of our nation think of us if they were still alive?
Visiting all of these memorials that were dedicated to honoring the many great men of our history actually made me sad. We used to have so many great leaders leading our nation and now...well, now we have Bush. When I was in my last semester of my undergraduate studies, I was lucky enough to take a fabulous US History class with a fabulous teacher who really made me think. One day she asked the class if we thought that the government should be allowed to restrict the rights of thousands of people based on nothing more than their skin color (this was in 2001 when the government was pretending that the Bill of Rights did not apply to their citizens who were Middle Eastern...oh wait, that's still going on). Being opinionated, I raised my hand and said no and that our nation would be taking a step backward if we allowed the government to do so. Anyway, I saw this quote at the memorial (but for some reason, I don't have a picture of it):
"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all our citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."
I read this quote and I laughed out loud. We have taken so many steps backward as a nation under Bush. What would these great leaders of our nation think of us if they were still alive?
After visiting the FDR Memorial, we headed to Arlington Cemetary. I'm not sure if I would be comfortable paying respects to my loved ones amongst tourists, but I guess if you're important enough to be buried at Arlington, then you're gonna be important enough to have a lot of visitors.
Arlington Cemetary was the home of one of Robert E. Lee's family members. The story is that the Union started using it to bury Civil War soldiers basically to piss him off. Apparently, he had met with President Lincoln before the Civil War (to possibly head up the army from the North) and agreed with the President on everything -- except for slavery. And as a result, he headed up the army from the South instead. The family member who had owned the property failed to pay taxes on it so ownership of the property went to the government. The Union, feeling slighted by Lee, decided to bury soldiers there.
Anyway, there was a lot of walking in the cold, but we got to see the sites of the Kennedy graves and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Changing of the Guard:
The guards are patrolling in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 24 hours a day, not out of fear that someone will vandalize the tomb, but out of respect for the soldiers who gave their lives. We got to see the Changing of the Guard and watched as a school group presented a wreath.
Arlington Cemetary was the home of one of Robert E. Lee's family members. The story is that the Union started using it to bury Civil War soldiers basically to piss him off. Apparently, he had met with President Lincoln before the Civil War (to possibly head up the army from the North) and agreed with the President on everything -- except for slavery. And as a result, he headed up the army from the South instead. The family member who had owned the property failed to pay taxes on it so ownership of the property went to the government. The Union, feeling slighted by Lee, decided to bury soldiers there.
Anyway, there was a lot of walking in the cold, but we got to see the sites of the Kennedy graves and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Changing of the Guard:
The guards are patrolling in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 24 hours a day, not out of fear that someone will vandalize the tomb, but out of respect for the soldiers who gave their lives. We got to see the Changing of the Guard and watched as a school group presented a wreath.
After spending a lot of time in the cold, we headed back to the bus and went to the World War II Memorial. This was another impressive memorial and one of Lance's favorites. They had a wall with gold stars on it for every American gave their lives in World War II and they had a wreath/pillar for every state in the United States. We took a picture of Hawaii's, but some of Lance's students are in front of it. I'd prefer not to post pictures of students without their permission, so here's one of me and Lance (the one way on the other side says "Pacific"):
After the War World II Memorial, we said goodbye to our local expert and headed to lunch. We went to some kind of Naval military area that I can't remember the name of right now. They had this really yummy sandwich place. You had to order your sandwiches by filling out this form and they had tons of stuff to choose from. Ooh! And we even had pickles with it! I shared my love of pickles with some of Lance's colleagues. I guess they finally realized what a weird wife he has. The Navy place also had a ship that was also a Musuem, kind of like the ones they have in Hawaii. Lance really enjoyed looking around and playing captain. They also had their cannons all over the place. Heh, heh, heh...
After lunch we went to Mount Vernon. We had to pass through Alexandria to get there and about halfway through what looked like a main street of the town, I realized my big mistake. The street was lined with shops, shops that were potential yarn stores. Why didn't I realize this sooner? How many yarn stores were there in that first part of town that I had missed? I was quite disappointed with myself, but y'know, I was distracted. Distracted by what? By bagaong. Bagaong? Yes, bagaong. On our hour long trip to Mount Vernon, I realized that although I have grown as a person since my intermediate school days, a part of me really hasn't changed over the years -- 13 year old Me found obnoxious 13 year old boys annoying and 25 year old Me still finds obnoxious 13 year old boys annoying. One of my young companions on our trip discovered that the phrase, "Like bagaong?", resulted in laughter from the other teenagers. The best part was that this phrase, along with with the phrase, "Helloooo-ohhhh", was said over and over and over again for the entire hour or so it took us to get to Mount Vernon. The teenagers laughed again and again (I kid you not. They still found it funny after an hour of it). Even better, he was sitting right behind us. By the end of the trip, some of the younger boys (y'know, the dorky followers who were trying to be "cool" and impress the girls on the trip) started saying, "Like bagaong?", to themselves as they walked around.
Anyway, my torture finally ended and we arrived at Mount Vernon. The place was amazing and huge. Washington's home was kept in pristine condition, but we weren't allowed to take pictures to preserve the integrity of the house. We could, however, take pictures of the outside of the house. The main house was surrounded by a bunch of other buildings, including a spinning room! They had a special room to spin fleece in yarn! And guess what! There were sheep at the house! Sheep!
After Mount Vernon, we returned to Alexandria for dinner and for a ghost walk/tour. This time I made sure to keep my eyes peeled for a yarn store. Lo and behold, I found one! I excitedly started simultaneously pointing at/hitting, hitting Lance, and screeching, "Look! Yarn store!" I was shocked when I found out that our restaurant was within walking distance of the yarn store and I jokingly suggested to Lance that we skip dinner to go to the yarn store. Imagine my surprise when Lance actually went up to our tour guide and asked him if we could meet the group at dinner. We raced to the yarn store, bought some yarn, and raced back to the restaurant. We actually made it in time for dinner! I credit our speedy walking/running and my amazing display of restraint in the yarn store. It helped that the store was having what looked like a stitch 'n bitch and I didn't really feel comfortable in the store. I did, however, manage to get some pretty yarn that I'm planning to turn into a pair of socks.
After dinner, we went on a ghost walk/tour of Alexandria. It was super cold and Lance and I had already killed ourselves racing to the yarn store and back, so going on a ghost walk was perhaps the last thing that I wanted to do. It was cool walking around the town and seeing their homes and stuff, but the tour really wasn't worth the freezing. We finally got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. Thankfully the kids were tired and the bagaongs and the hello-ohs stopped for the day.
Anyway, my torture finally ended and we arrived at Mount Vernon. The place was amazing and huge. Washington's home was kept in pristine condition, but we weren't allowed to take pictures to preserve the integrity of the house. We could, however, take pictures of the outside of the house. The main house was surrounded by a bunch of other buildings, including a spinning room! They had a special room to spin fleece in yarn! And guess what! There were sheep at the house! Sheep!
After Mount Vernon, we returned to Alexandria for dinner and for a ghost walk/tour. This time I made sure to keep my eyes peeled for a yarn store. Lo and behold, I found one! I excitedly started simultaneously pointing at/hitting, hitting Lance, and screeching, "Look! Yarn store!" I was shocked when I found out that our restaurant was within walking distance of the yarn store and I jokingly suggested to Lance that we skip dinner to go to the yarn store. Imagine my surprise when Lance actually went up to our tour guide and asked him if we could meet the group at dinner. We raced to the yarn store, bought some yarn, and raced back to the restaurant. We actually made it in time for dinner! I credit our speedy walking/running and my amazing display of restraint in the yarn store. It helped that the store was having what looked like a stitch 'n bitch and I didn't really feel comfortable in the store. I did, however, manage to get some pretty yarn that I'm planning to turn into a pair of socks.
After dinner, we went on a ghost walk/tour of Alexandria. It was super cold and Lance and I had already killed ourselves racing to the yarn store and back, so going on a ghost walk was perhaps the last thing that I wanted to do. It was cool walking around the town and seeing their homes and stuff, but the tour really wasn't worth the freezing. We finally got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. Thankfully the kids were tired and the bagaongs and the hello-ohs stopped for the day.
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