Skip to main content

Recap/Pictures

A lot of history happened within two hours drive of Washington DC.  This was David's trip so I did not get to see much that was new for me.  It was fun watching David see it all though.  David did not like having his picture taken, so I did not take as many pictures as I would have liked.  I enjoyed my time with him.  He showed a great deal of interest in just about everything we saw.



A cold and crisp day at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.


This is the room where it all happened.

The Liberty Bell.  We were there early before the long lines.


David's shadow on the spotwhere Franklin hadhis outhouse.  He didn't want his face in a picture, so this is all he would consent to.


David looking through the fence at Ben Franklin's grave.


Reading the epitaph on James Buchanan's tombstone in Lancaster, PA.



This was Robert E. Lee's view of the expanse across which he ordered Pickett to attack the Union center.  Their objective was the clump of trees over David's right shoulder.  That spot becommes known as "the angle."


This monument marks the place from which Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.  David is reading the text from a plaque.


Mount Vernon


David in front of Washington's tomb.

I



Mounted horses pulling a caisson carrying a flag draped casket at Arlington National Cemetary.  They turned the corner and came right by us.


In the National Art Museum.  The painting behind David is by Leonardo da Vinci.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Smithsonian

There is so much to see in the museums on both sides of the National Mall I cannot possibly mention everything. I will list that which stands out.      Mueum of Natural History:  a huge stuffed elephant that dominates the rotunda, dozens of dinosaur skeletons, the Hope diamond, gemstones galore, and Egyptian mummies.      Museum of American History:  the section on civil rights from 1863 to 1963, the stories of Medal of Honor winners, the section on America at War, the section on Thomas Edison.     Air and Space Museum:  the Wright brother's plane, all the Apollo space stuff about how we went to the moon, the section on telescopes,  the section on aircraft carriers, the section on taking photographs from the air.  This last sectio n covered everything from the first pictures taken from the air in baloons and from cameras strapped to the bellies of birds to pictures taken from modern satellites.  Of all the museums...

The Battle of New Orleans

     The Battle of New Orleans was fought in late December, 1814 and early January, 1815, culminating in the final battle on January 8.  The Americans, a ragtag bunch, made up of some regulars and some militia, plus volunteer free Blacks, Creoles, Natives, and s few French pirates We’re led byAndrew Jackson.      The British had more soldiers and they were better armed and better trained. However when the final battle was over the British had suffered 2000 casualties and the Americans less than fifty. It was one of the most lopsided battles in the history of warfare. Ironically the battle was fought after the Treaty if Ghent had ended the War of 1812.  The Americans victory ensured that the British would honor the terms.   It also propelled Andrew Jackson into the awhite house.      The pictures above were taken at the battlefield. A tell oblisk monument marks the center of the battlefield. The other picture is if the rai...

New Orleans and the Mississippi River

     I had a hard time getting my head around the fact that the Mississippi flows through New Orleans from west to east rather than north to south. The river dominates the city.  It actually winds through the city in a “u” shape.  The right side of the “u” actually flows south to north.  They don’t use the cardinal directions: north south east west. Instead they say up river downriver toward the river and away from the river. They also talk about before aKatrina and after Katrina.   I took a riverboat down riverfive mikes to where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1815. I took some pictures along the way including the dukes that are supposed to keep the river under control.