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Published: September 14th 2007
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After a refreshingly cool (relatively speaking) morning drive, we arrived in Washington DC on 2nd September. The traffic was blessedly light - it was a Sunday and also Labor Day weekend here in the US (a bit like the UK August bank holiday). The main attractions are situated in close proximity to each other and include several monuments (more on those below) and the various museums that make up the world famous Smithsonian Institute.
Our hotel turned out to be not where we thought it was, but actually a bit closer to the sites than we had planned. The first day was sunny but a bit cooler than we have been used to, so we had a pleasant walk down to the Washington memorial and the White House (George sends his regards, by the way). The Washington monument is the largest free standing masonry structure in the world, and you can take an elevator up to just below the top to get a bird’s eye view of the landmarks from every side, a bit like the Eiffel tower. Tom has been to Washington a couple of times but had never been up inside the Washington monument, so that was a
first for him.
From the monument we walked through the very tasteful WWII memorial that was added at the bottom of the Reflection Pool in 2004, and up to the Lincoln Memorial with its famous statue of the President. On the way back towards the Museums we wandered through the recently added Korean War memorial, and the poignant and powerful Vietnam War memorial with its simple inscription of names of those lost in the conflict.
First stop of the Smithsonian museums was the National Archives, where I was surprised to see an original copy of the Magna Carta (one of only four still in existence), on which the American constitution was originally based. Of course, the main exhibits were The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and The Bill of Rights, all somewhat faded but no less impressive for that. It was a very interesting museum; the archives are now open to the public (with an appointment) and contain everything from Edison’s patent for the first light bulb.
On to the Air and Space museum, which houses some of the greatest original items, including the Spirit of St Louis, the Wright’s original plane, and Apollo 11 landing module,
Neil Armstrong’s space suit, the Brietling Orbital 3 gondola (first balloon to fly round the world non-stop) to name but a few. Suffice it to say it was a VERY COOL museum. Not only that, but it also was playing host to some of the treasures of the Museum of American History, which is currently closed for renovation. Original items included: President Lincoln’s hat, Edison’s original light bulb, a sample of the original penicillin mold, George Washington’s uniform and battle sword, Custer’s coat, Louis Armstrong’s cornet and the signpost from M*A*S*H. By far the coolest items on display, though, were the script from the Wizard of Oz, the scarecrow’s costume and, best of all, Dorothy’s (I mean Judy’s) ruby slippers. AWEsome!!
Today we finished off with the National History Museum, which was not quite on the level of what we had seen so far but was still very well presented. Some of its exhibits surpassed those of the National History Museum in London, but on the other hand it is a lot newer and lacks the history (and moth-eaten exhibits) of our version. Best exhibit for me was the geological section, with gem displays including Mary Antoinette’s earrings and
the famous Tiffany and Hope Diamonds.
All in all, we had a great time in Washington even though we only spent a couple of days here. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to do the Arlington Cemetery or the Iwo Jima memorial, which is a bit further away from the main sites - or the zoo, which I was a bit sorry about as it is home to a family of Giant Pandas. What we saw of the city was very clean and surprisingly quiet; the museums were not at all packed and we never had to queue for more than a few minutes. What impressed me most about the museums was the originality and authenticity of the exhibits - no “reconstructions” here, only the real thing. Apart from bag checks security was very low-key, even outside the Whitehouse. Food was fairly expensive but then it is the capital city so that was to be expected. It was a good stop on our tour - I would definitely like to spend more time here sometime in the future!
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Ros - Faith's Mum
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Magna Carta
Awesome that copies still exist, bearing in mind it was signed by King John at Runnymede on Thames, in England in 1215. King John was a rotten king, which was why the mighty barons of the time made him sign this original "bill of rights". Further on in his career he was trying to cross The Wash, a notorious bay of water in England and his Crown Jewels were lost overboard. He was so traumatized by their loss that he was consumed by fever and died! Faith may remember seeing a copy of the Magna Carta when she was young. There is one in Lincoln Cathedral, in England.