Sunday Night in DC

I had hoped to visit all the monuments west of the Washington Monument while we had the car, but we ran out of time. The only one we visited was the Jefferson Memorial which is on the south side of the Tidal Basin. We were too early in the season to see the blossoms on the cherry trees that arearound the Tidal Basin. After 9-11 they moved the parking lot that was right south of the Jefferson Memorial. Now we had to park over a quarter mile away and walk. The statue of Jefferson shows him standing, looking across the Tidal Basin at the Washington Mounument. I remember a few years ago when I came to DC with a group from Berthold to attend the natioal ABC convention. Tanya was too young to go into the Holacaust Museum so she and I rented a paddle boat and cruised around the Tidal Basin.
In the evening David and I met my cousin Blanch at a chile place in Alexandria for supper. King Street in Alexandria is a tourist place with many quaint shops and restaurants. A free trolley runs the length of the street. The next time I come to DC I migght stay in one of the motels near the west end of King Street. Alexandria is also the place of the school in the movie "Remember the Titans." Both Blanch and I got confused because the Jefferson Davis Highway which we came into Alexandria on is not called that in town. David and I asked a number of people on the street how to find it but they were all from out of town. It took us 15 minutes to get out of there. David has lost all confidence in my ability to navigate. We turned in the rental car and traveled by bus, subway, and taxi back to our motel which is on the north end of DC, actually in College Park, MD. So far nothing we have seen in Washington has impressed David more than Gettysburg.

Comments

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.

Pastor Skar

Search This Blog