We the People
For starters, our step count for the previous day, Tuesday, was 26,978!!!
This morning, the first thing we had scheduled was a docent-guided tour of the National Archives at 9:45 (meet at 9:30). This is practically the middle of the day for us!
We, most of us anyway, decided we wanted a big, leisurely breakfast in the hotel dining room. Nate didn’t like this idea. I’m not sure what it was he wanted to do, probably get something at the food court. He was totally pissy as we sat for breakfast. We were not all that sympathetic since you can basically get anything you want at the buffet, but it was well into the meal before he was out of his foul mood and bearable to be with.
Truth be told, I’M the one who should have been annoyed. The breakfast was $26 per person!!! YIKES! The place was packed, too, but I’m sure all the business people who were there were not paying the full price we did or their companies were picking up the tab.
The buffet did include some delicious fresh fruit and an omelet station which included a special of the day, a crab and Boursin choice. Since we were spending so much for this meal, Mark got this but I tried some and thought it was a bit sweet and rich for breakfast. Mine was spinach, mushroom, bacon, tomato and probably feta.
Overall, the meal was great, with some interesting selections. I didn’t take pictures of the buffet station because I didn’t feel comfortable and I was stewing over my son’s attitude and the price of the meal.
Total cost, prior to tip, was $114.40.
Our dinner on Monday night was $128.70, pre-tip. A difference of $14.30. That just seems wrong!
After finishing, we walked off our breakfast on the 6 block journey to the Archives. We passed by the nearby Navy Memorial. Although this was not the landmark we visited after the archives, I’ll give 5 points to bookgirl and annie170 for mentioning it!
Archives building
- The Declaration announced to the world on July 4, 1776, that thirteen British colonies in North America were leaving Great Britain to form a separate nation, called the United States of America. In justifying the revolution, the Declaration asserted a universal truth about human rights.
- The Constitution, drafted in 1787 after a hard-won victory in the War for Independence, codified the spirit of the Revolution into an ingenious practical scheme of government to promote the welfare of all its citizens.
The Bill of Rights, added to the Constitution in 1791 as the first ten amendments, explicitly protected freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, and of assembly, among many other rights.
Since we were in the rotunda before the archives opened, we had private viewings of the documents. There were 3 groups of about 15 people each. Our group consisted of two other families. One of them had a really annoying young kid who was asking really lame questions throughout the tour and the adults in the group edged out my boys during the viewings. I think we looked at the Constitution first. Then we spent a lot of time at the Declaration of Independence. We stepped back, and our docent told us all about the famous murals in the rotunda and their significance. And then she said it was time to move on.
What?!?
I asked “Are we going to see the Bill of Rights?” She was a little embarrassed as she said she forgot.
We went over and that was just about the time the general public line started to be let in.
Despite that minor glitch, it was really great to tour the museum with a docent, because she pointed out things we would have missed and told us stories about the exhibits and artifacts we saw.
No pictures are allowed in the archives, so I can’t show you the Magna Carta (1297), the Watergate tape recorder or the Emancipation Proclamation. There was an interactive game where you identify a patented product (like a pencil) from the description. There was a display of poignant and funny “Letters to FDR“ – one piece of correspondence that the docent shared with us was from a young child asking FDR to organize the draft for the service alphabetically. Her last name began with Z.
Photographic evidence really helps me remember the things we see on vacation and sadly I am having trouble recalling everything we saw. Sadder still, I went to the internet to see descriptions of the exhibits at the archives and found pictures and descriptions of the current exhibits- From June to the end of August. Current displays are a copy of the legislation for the National Park Service (100 years ago this summer) and the patent for a Coca-Cola bottle. I wish it had occurred to me to look sooner! What an incredible job and fascinating resources the curators of the Archives have!
There was more to see and the docent was continuing to take her group to displays, but a couple of times during the tour, she excused people if they had other places to go. After about 45 minutes, we left to try to squeeze in one more landmark before lunch and our afternoon at the Air & Space annex.
We walked a couple of blocks – here.
Nobody guessed Ford’s Theatre, I guess because you all believed my misdirection and whining that we didn’t have time in our schedule for this.
This is the line for people entering into the Peterson House across the street from the theatre. This is where Lincoln was brought after he was shot and where he died the morning of April 15, 1865. The house was closed for refurbishment last time we visited DC, so we really wanted to go in this time.
It is very confusing when you get to the box office. Every 30 minutes throughout the day they have set tours where you see some combination of 4 parts of the Ford’s Theatre tour. Tour of the Theatre (sometimes a walk-through and sometimes guided by a park ranger), the Ford’s Theatre museum, the Petersen House where Lincoln died and a performance of the one-act play “One Destiny”. You pay the same price regardless of how many of these features are available during your ticketed time.
The two main things I wanted to see were the interior of the theatre and a walk-through of the Petersen house since that we didn’t see that last time. The woman at the ticket booth said “The museum is not on the next tour, you are going to miss 2/4 of the offerings unless you wait until later.” But we were in a time crunch, so I took the 11:30 tour.
Inside, we came into the theatre and everyone was sitting down and listening to a docent speaking about the night Lincoln was shot. We took seats in the back, waiting for him to finish up so we could walk through the theatre.
Then there was an announcement that the show “One Destiny“ was about to start.
What?!?
We don’t have time to stay for a show.
So we got up from our seats and exited out the back. We still wanted to go into the Peterson House, so we crossed the street. It was between tour times, so there was no line! The guy at the door scanned our tickets and we went in to see the rooms that played important parts in the final hours of President Lincoln’s life.
The one artifact I remembered from the visit here when I was 12, and from my visit with Mark many years ago, was the bloodstained pillow on the bed.
But when we got close to the bed, the pillows were clean.
Once of the plaques explained that some of the items were on display on a museum in Chicago.
I’m really glad we had a chance to quickly see some of the important things in Ford’s Theatre, but we needed to get going. We had a busy afternoon and evening lined up.
But first lunch. Back to the food court at our resort. Again!
I can’t find any pictures of what we had (that’s weird) but I found a receipt. Two of us got meals at the Japanese place- shrimp tempura udon and a beef teriyaki meal. I think there was also a pasta meal or two ordered for lunch. We needed to be well-fueled for the rest of our day.
Our afternoon plans were to go to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum annex which is located near Dulles Airport. The two hangars are home to a huge amount of aeronautic memorabilia including the Discovery Space Shuttle and the Enola Gay, the plane used to drop the atomic bombs on Japan.
New Contest Questions:
We employed 3 methods of transportation to get to the Udvar-Hazy Center . One was walking. What were the other two? 10 points each
What souvenir did Ben get? 10 points
How many pictures from this museum? 20 points if you guess within 20 of the total.
Next Up: Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Center
sometimes
Oh well, I never would have guessed Shake Shack. I would have picked something that served appetizers. 
