Long May It Wave

Good Morning! Kirsten here. Another full and fun day in DC yesterday. Started off cloudy, and then the sun came out in the afternoon. Not too hot. And somewhat less walking! Our day started at Ford's Theater, and then the Petersen House, where Lincoln died. The tour at Ford's Theater has changed a lot since I was here last. They have built a "lobby" and gift store next door, and they only do Park Ranger-led tours. They line you up, and then the whole group goes in and sits in the theater seats. Mr Ranger talked for a half an hour or so, basically telling the story of the night that Lincoln was assassinated. He was very well informed, but I was disappointed that we are no longer able to go upstairs and see the room, as we used to be able to. You can see it from the theater seats below, of course, but it doesn't give the same feeling as being upstairs, seeing the President's box, and visualizing that terrible night. Then we went across the street, and lined up for the Petersen House. After Lincoln was shot, a doctor that was in the theater knew as soon as he saw him, that the wound was mortal, so they looked for a place for him to be comfortable and the owner of the Petersen House beckoned them in. This I was glad to still be able to visit. The rooms are so small, and the bed in which Lincoln died is, too, especially for someone 6'4". As you walk through the front parlor, and the back bedroom, you can just imagine Lincoln's wife and son, and his advisors clustered, sitting or standing, weeping, or talking in low voices. We left there and walked down the street to the Smithsonian American History museum. We saw Judy Garland's ruby slippers, Kermit the Frog, and Carol Channing's dress from "Hello, Dolly!". One of their largest exhibits right now is called "The American Presidency; A Glorious Burden". This was very thorough, examining the job from the aspects of Commander in Chief, diplomat, husband and father, and chief "morale officer" for the country. There was a section on children in the White House, weddings in the White House, and a section on those who were killed, or died, in office, and how the nation responded, as far as the funeral ceremony, etc. We also saw some of the First Ladies' gowns, although there were fewer of them than we had hoped for. There was also a giant "America At War" exhibit which told the stories and housed many artifacts from every American war. It was very interesting and we could have spent hours just in that exhibit alone. The most special thing we saw there was the American flag that had flown at Fort McHenry, that inspired Francis Scott Key to write what would become our national anthem. Having just been at Fort McHenry two days ago made it especially cool to see the flag, and visualize that story we all know so well. One of the other amazing things about this trip is that when we were in Philadelphia, we visited Betsy Ross' house, and then that night, sang the national anthem at the Phillies game. In Baltimore, we visited Fort McHenry, then sang at the Orioles game. And tonight - the day after seeing that flag, we'll go to the Nationals game, and sing it again! After the American History museum, we walked next door to the Natural History museum. We must have visited this a lot when I was a child, because much of it was familiar to me, starting with the African bull elephant in the main rotunda. We saw the insects (everyone loved studying the bees and their hive), insects, dinosaurs, mammals, Ocean Hall, with a giant whale suspended from the ceiling. We saw the Hope Diamond, whereupon Bodie said, "That's it? It's not that big!" But I think he felt better when he discovered the interesting history of the diamond. It was interesting for Julianna to see the mummies after studying Egyptian history this year. Our day ended with a very lucky "coincidence", which is to say the fact that the movie "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian" happens to be out this summer, and they are showing it at the Imax theater in the Smithsonian. It was absolutely surreal to see things in the movie that we had just visited. Movie was pretty good - kids enjoyed it immensely, and we all enjoyed two hours of sitting! :) Today: Mount Vernon, and the town were Laura and I grew up. "Look, kids! George Washington's house! Look, kids! Mom's old house!" :) Have a good day - thanks for checking in on us! More photos to come.