Later, you can play Play Dough beauty salon and cut the hair on farm animals:
Then Grandpa will probably need to wash the car and he'll need your help:
Since our time was limited we decided to take a 1-hour "Highlight Tour." Our guide took us quickly through all three floors of the museum. Now we feel prepared to go back and spend some time and really see what they have there. Our guide was especially excited to show us Julia Child's kitchen--which is her actual kitchen and everything in it moved piece by piece to the museum.
When I visited the museum 40 years ago the original Star Spangled Banner was out in front in full view for all to see as you walked in the main door of the museum. But I guess all that light took its toll because now it is housed in a special dark room under special glass, but it is still something to see!
On another day we had a couple of hours in the morning free, so we headed into the Virginia countryside (which is very beautiful) to visit Gunston Hall which was the home of George Mason. So who is George Mason, you ask? We wondered that too as we drove around Virginia seeing signs for George Mason University. It only took a few clicks on the Internet to learn that George was an American patriot, statesman and delegate from Virginia to the US Constitutional convention. Along with James Madison he is known as the Father of the Bill of Rights. He was visited at this home by all of the famous statesmen of the day so it was fun to think about those men visiting here.
Wouldn't you love to have a tree-lined lane leading up to your home like this?
This is the actual home built in 1760. Although it doesn't look as impressive as Monticello or Mount Vernon, he was a very wealthy man of his day owning and operating this 5,500 acre tobacco and wheat plantation on the Potomac River. And there certainly weren't the crowds that you get as those other places, so we enjoyed it a lot. We had a private tour of the home as we were the only people there for the 10:30 tour. You can't see it in this picture but the kitchen was actually a whole separate building, leaving lots more room in the house for other things.
Here's George:
The Masons had 12 children so they built this little school house on their property. The schoolmaster lived upstairs. That's my kind of home school!
This is one panel of the wallpaper in one of the sitting rooms in the house. A bit over the top for our day but was very "Georgian" which is the style of architecture and decorating used in the house.
On the outside of the Newseum they have today's front page (so updated daily) posted from every major newspaper in the world (you can see them in the photo). After viewing an orientation movie in the basement of the building, they suggest you ride a special glass elevator to the 6th floor and start your way back down. So I spent some time out on this terrace where there are terrific views of Washington D.C. That's the Canadian Embassy right next door with the Capitol in the distance.
Some other highlights of my visit to the Newseum: A special exhibit called "G-Men and Journalists" where I was especially interested to see the Unabomber's Cabin. Another special exhibit were artifacts that are owned by the author of "Manhunt," James Swanson, so lots of things related to Lincoln and his assassination. (Good thing because I first got off at Ford's Theatre and found out from the notice on the door that it was closed for a couple of days). They had 8 12-foot sections of the original Berlin Wall and an actual 3-story Guard Tower. There was also an interesting display about 9/11 and the reporters who covered it. But my favorite area was on the 5th floor where they had a display called Historic Front Pages with front pages spanning 500 years of history. It was interesting to see history unfolding through the headlines of the day.
I had literally only a few minutes before I had to catch the last Trolley of the day but I couldn't resist heading across the street to the National Gallery of Art in the building below. Even in a few minutes I got to see many great works of art!
We got to take a look at John's apartment at the corner of Franklin Street and Fairfax:
We attended church at the Colonial 2nd Ward and got to hear John teach a Gospel Doctrine lesson on Section 25. He did a great job; I judge that by all the comments made during class--people were thinking! Later we enjoyed a dinner gathering at Sara's house where we were able to meet a lot of their friends--a rather impressive group of young people with advanced degrees from prestigious universities including a medical doctor, someone who works for the Fed, and several lawyers including one who clerks for Supreme Court Justice Kennedy. They were a lot of fun!
One evening we visited Old Town Alexandria and walked along King Street. "Old Town Alexandria is a quaint historic town just on the other side of the Potomac River from Washington, DC. Dating back to 1749, Alexandria’s riverfront was an important colonial port during the colonial, revolutionary and Civil War periods. Today Old Town Alexandria is a revitalized waterfront with cobblestone streets, colonial houses and churches, museums, shops and restaurants." It was rainy and dark when we were there but here is what it looks like. John says the cobblestones are murder on his bicycle.
We enjoyed a pleasant dinner at a local restaurant:
Earlier we met John on the campus of Georgetown University. He showed us around the the Reiss Science Building including some classrooms and a place called "the dungeon":
And we got to see his "office" where he spends a lot of time each day:
The University was established in 1789 and the campus is very picturesque:
Georgetown is actually a neighborhood located in Northwest Washington D.C., along the Potomac River. It was founded in 1751 much earlier than the District of Columbia and assimilated into the city in 1871. Also, the embassies for Sweden and Ukraine are located in Georgetown. Here is a shot up one street from the car as we were driving through traffic:
Thanks to John and Sara for sharing a part of their lives with us! We loved "Alex"andria and "George"town!!
I asked Dan and John to pose in front of this statue of Robert E. Lee, one wearing a blue jacket and one wearing a gray one but it was an overcast day so hard to tell. But it was an amazing visit for the three of us!
We purchased an audio CD that took us on a 2 1/2 hour journey around the battlefield. I was impressed at all the civil war cannons that still exist:
I became fascinated with the Civil War! Then we purchased this movie made from the above book:
Wow! It is an amazing movie (and a war movie rated just PG) that we watch on a regular basis. The movie helped me picture the strategy and events of the three days so it made more sense in my mind. And of course it focuses on individuals so it becomes more personal. The movie is very accurate in its portrayal of the battle.
From the Gettysburg brochure: "Upon these peaceful, tilled Pennsylvania fields, more men fell than in any other battle fought in North America before or since. Much has been written and said about this, the greatest battle of the Civil War. But the most tangible link to those three days in July is the battlefield itself, parts of which look much as they did in 1863." It was interesting to see photographs from the era of a particular spot and then actually see that spot and it looked exactly the same today!
Most profound for me was standing at this spot below and picturing the 12,000 Confederates advancing across this open field toward the Union troops in an attack known as Pickett's Charge. The attack cost Lee over 5,000 soldiers in one hour!
"Total casualties (killed, wounded, captured, and missing) for the three days of fighting were 23,000 for the Union army and as many as 28,000 for the Confederate army." Another interesting thing that this trip brought to my mind was what the aftermath must have been like for the people of Gettysburg as the battlefield encircles the town on three sides. "When the armies marched away from Gettysburg they left behind a community in shambles and over 51,000 soldiers dead, wounded or missing. Wounded and dying were crowded into nearly every building. Most of the dead lay in hastily dug and inadequate graves; some had not been buried at all." Not too pleasant to think about. Of course this situation eventually lead to a National Cemetery and the Gettysburg address delivered by Abraham Lincoln.
And a final highlight was hiking to the spot where the 20th Maine under Colonel Joshua Chamberlain stood their ground. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't seen the movie, watch it sometime when you are ready for a profound, sobering and patriotic experience!
I always love the return of Spring each year!
Drawn by Heidi in 1985:
Amanda was in a dance group to the Twilight Zone:
Heidi was the star one year:
But in the end they all become friends:
I have a lot of fond memories of Roadshows I was in as a youth. In those days there were very strict rules about timing and entree acts (the only part Beehives could participate in) and getting scenery on and off. The wards were also given very strict budgets and the challenge was to see what kind of production you could come up with within those rules. It was all broken down into points, some subjective but many just based on timing. You could even earn extra points if original music was used in your production. We traveled from building to building with all of our sets and wearing our costumes trying to make it within the time limits. It was exciting for the youth but must have given some headaches to our leaders. Our ward often took one of the top honors. I have one photo from those days. Here are Becky and I in our Roadshow costumes. Mom donated some old white sheets which were then dyed gray and I believe we did a lot of sewing on these ourselves. We were suffragettes who wanted our voting rights.
So remember if you go to watch the production, it's easy to catch Roadshow Fever!
