2015 Washington, D.C. Vacation

Saturday October 10, 2015
Got up at around 4 AM, drove to Washington, D.C. with my mom and two grandparents. Granddad drove. Ate at a Hardee's for breakfast. Had a chicken biscuit. Watched Seven Samurai and listened to podcasts to entertain myself. After 8-10 hours, made it to D.C. Visited Arlington National Cemetary. Saw the grave of John F. Kennedy, the Robert E. Lee house, and the Iwo Jima Memorial. Went to the hotel, had orange chicken from Panda Express for supper.

Sunday October 11, 2015
Took the Metro into D.C. Went from the Franconia–Springfield Station to the Smithsonian Station. Went to four museums: Newseum, National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of American History, and Hirshhorn Museum. Walked from Smithsonian Station to the Newseum. There was a massive food festival taking up the street. Had to take the long way. Took a photo of the FTC building. Got to the Newseum. Saw the Berlin Wall Gallery (a pen used by Mikhail Gorbachev, a beheaded statue of Vladimir Lenin from the USSR, sections of the Berlin Wall, a watchtower from near Checkpoint Charlie, and a Czech Hedgehog from the Death Strip), a news broadcasting truck, a costume worn by Jimi Hendrix, Journalism in Vietnam Gallery (Walter Cronkite's I.D. card), the News History Gallery (New York Times Volume 1 Number 1, the J'accuse edition of L'Aurore, "Dewey Defeats Truman" edition of the Chicago Daily Times, a full set of the Pentagon Papers, a chest owned by Thomas Paine, a door damaged during the Watergate Break-Ins, a suit worn by O.J. Simpson during his trial, Tom Howard's Ankle Camera, an inkwell and tobacco pipe owned by Mark Twain, and rubble from the USS Maine), the car Don Bolles was killed in, the 9/11 Gallery (the TV anttenna from the North Tower of the World Trade Center, a piece of stone from the side of the Pentagon hit on 9/11, Bill Biggart's damaged camera, and a piece of United Airlines Flight 93), the First Admendment Gallery (Mary Beth Tinker's black armband, Joseph Frederick's banner), Freedom of the Press Gallery (a journalist's truck shot at in Yugoslavia and a map of the world showing how free the press is), the Fallen Journalist Memorial, and the Radio, TV, and Internet Gallery (a cell phone used to film the Virgina Tech Shooting, TV News Equipment damaged during Hurrican Katrina, and a notepad from a journalist used in Ferguson during the protests in 2014). I bought a shirt saying "Trust Me, I'm a Reporter". Walked to the National Air and Space Museum. Saw Tom's by Alexander Calder and the Canadian Embassy on the way. Walked across the National Mall. Got to the Air and Space Museum. Saw SpaceShipOne, a replica of Voyager 1, Spirit of St. Louis, Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1, a model of the Hindenburg, a model of the Spruce Goose, pieces of wood from the Spruce Goose, Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega 5B, and the Wright Flyer. Had a burger from the McDonald's at Air a d Space. Walked across the National Mall again to the National Museum of American History. Saw Graft by Roxy Paine on the way. Got to the NMAH. Saw the lunch counter from the Greensboro Sit-Ins, Benjamin Franklin's Walking Stick, a fragment of Plymouth Rock, Joseph Priestly's Chemical Flask, a piece of the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable, a pike from John Brown's Raid, the Naudet Brothers's Camera, gold spike from the first transcontinental railroad, sample of penicillin mold from Alexander Fleming, Archie and Edith's chairs from All in the Family, sample of plutonium from Glenn T. Seaborg, boxing gloves used by Muhammad Ali, a Kermit the Frog puppet made by Jim Henson, Alice Paul's charm bracelet, Adlai Stevenson II's briefcase, the base of James Watson and Francis Crick's model of DNA, Tony Hawk's first skateboard, a pair of ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Julia Child's kitchen, Julia Child's diploma from Le Cordon Bleu, Julia Child's Emmy, a section of Route 66, a Route 66 sign from Oklahoma, Horatio Nelson Jackson's 1908 Winton Touring Car, a first edition of the Femine Mystique by Betty Fredian, a 1940s subway car from the Chicago L Train, Theodore Roosevelt's pants, Franklin D. Roosevelt's microphone, Thomas Jefferson's portable desk, Dwight D. Eisenhower's military uniform, file cabinet damaged during the Watergate Break-Ins, the top hat worn by Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated, Bill Clinton's saxophone, Harry S Truman's shirt, and the gunboat USS Philadelphia. Left the museum. My mom and I walked to the Hirshhorn Museum while my grandparents sat on a bench near the Smithsonian Station. Took a photo infront of the Smithsonian Castle. Saw a mobile by Alexander Calder, Marilyn Monroe's Lips by Andy Warhol, and Sky TV for Washington by Yoko Ono. Left the Hirshhorn, regrouped with my grandparents, and took the metro back to the hotel. Had boneless BBQ buffalo wings for supper.

Monday October 12, 2015
Took the Metro back to Arlington National Cemetary. Saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a wreath ceremony, the Challenger Memorial, the Columbia memorial, the memorial to the Iran Hostage Crisis, the mast and anchor of the USS Maine, and the graves of Audie Murphy, Harvey Washington Wiley, and Thurgood Marshall. Walked all the way from the visitor center of Arlington National Cemetary, across Arlington Memorial Bridge, and to the Lincoln Memorial. 1 mile. Took a photo from where Martin Luther King, Jr. stood while giving the I Have a Dream speech. Walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Vietnam Memorial. Granddad traced the names of two friends who died in Vietnam. Had a hotdog for lunch at a food stand. Walked along the reflecting pool to the WWII Memorial. There was some prayer event going on at the time in front of the pool. Saw one of the Kilroys at the WWII Memorial, the one next to the Pennsylvania pillar. Walked to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Read all the quotes from MLK. Walked over to the FDR memorial. Walked along the side of the Tidal Basin, to the Kurtz Bridge, and back to Smithsonian Station. Had a burger from Five Guys for supper.

Tuesday October 13, 2015
Took the Metro to Capitol South Station. Went to the Library of Congress. Saw the Gutenberg Bible, Bay Pslam Book, a page from an early draft of Invisble Man by Ralph Ellison, Rosa Park's arress record, the teleprompter feed of Lyndon B. Johnson's speech announcing the Civl Rights Act of 1964, Thomas Jefferson's library, a copy of the Bible donated to the Library from Pope Francis, and a first edition of Poor Richard's Almanack by Benjamin Franklin. Also saw the Reading Room. Didn't get to go in. My granddad hid his pocket knife on the steps of the library because he couldn't bring it in. Got a copy of the Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce at the gift shop. Took the tunnel to the Capitol. It was still under restoration. Saw the statues of Philo T. Farnsworth, Norman Borlaug, Helen Keller, Kamehameha I, Jeannette Rankin, Sacagawea, Samuel Adams, Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr, amd Rosa Parks. In the museum, I saw James Garfield's walking stick. Went to the Cannon House Office Building to get a Gallery Pass from Chuck Fleischmann's office. Didn't meet him. His secretary gave us one. Walked back to the Capitol. After going through alot of security checks, I got to sit in the House Chamber. There was a small ceremony reaffirming that Congress is still in recess and will begin again October 20, 2015. Left the Capitol, walked past the Supreme Court. My grandparents sat outside the court in a park while mom and I went across the street to the Folger Shakespeare Library. Saw a copy of the First Folio. Took two photos when I wasn't supposed to. Got a blu ray of Macbeth by Orson Welles at the gift shop. Granddad got his knife back.Took the Metro back to the hotel. Had orange chicken and walnut honey shrimp from Panda Express for supper.

Wednesday October 14, 2015
Checked out of the hotel. Drove to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Saw a SR-71 Blackbird, the Enola Gay, the Space Shuttle Discovery, Mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a display of Transformers action figures, a piece of fabric from the Hindenburg, an R2-D2 mail box, and an Air France Concorde. Drove back home. Watched No Country for Old Men on the way.