I Can Do This!: Washington, DC Trip, Part 3

The last couple of days of our trip were my favorites. I was done with my classes, so I was much more relaxed. We were also staying with Rara’s friend, La Rene, at her house, so it was much more comfortable than a hotel. In addition, we had a built-in tour guide!

On Thursday, October 29, La Rene took us north to Baltimore, Maryland, to Fort McHenry. Fort McHenry is where “The Star Spangled Banner” was written. This is an aerial shot of Fort McHenry from the University of Maryland website.

We went into the visitor’s center, where we were directed into a small theater to watch a short film. The film was narrated by an actor playing Dr. William Beanes, who was held captive on the British ship, HMS Tonnant, with Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812. After telling the story of the Battle of Baltimore, and the circumstances under which The Star Spangled Banner was written, a single male voice started singing “The Star Spangled Banner.” As more and more male voices joined in, a curtain opened to our right, to reveal the large flag flying over Fort McHenry. It was very stirring, and just about everyone in the theater was a little bit emotional.

As we exited the theater to go out into the fort itself, we were able to meet up with Angela and Dalton McGhie. Angela was one of my college roommates at BYU, and now lives in Laurel, Maryland.

Ryan and Dalton had a great time exploring the various areas of the fort…

They also enjoyed doing the Junior Ranger activities and earning the Junior Ranger badge.

We said good-bye to Angela and Dalton, and had lunch in Baltimore. Then we drove back toward DC. On our way up, we had passed the Washington DC temple, and took this picture from the car on the freeway…

On our way back toward DC, we decided to stop at the temple. Here are a couple of pictures we took outside…

There was an absolutely amazing exhibit in the visitor’s center. They had huge pictures taken by the Hubble telescope, along with scripture quotes. Here are a few of my favorites…

Ryan also enjoyed an exhibit about the Stripling Warriors…

That night we went back to La Rene’s house and had a wonderful dinner and relaxing evening.

On Friday, October 30, we ventured south to Mount Vernon, Virginia. It was absolutely beautiful! We also enjoyed a brief film in the visitor’s center there, recounting some of the important events of George Washington’s life. Here are a couple of pictures from the visitor’s center…

The grounds were gorgeous. Here are the mansion, the garden, and the greenhouse…We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the mansion, but this picture from the Mount Vernon website reminded me of something that we found very overwhelming. As we were climbing the stairs and holding on to the banister, Ryan said, “Mom, do you think George Washington touched this banister?” Why, yes. He absolutely did. And we were touching it now.We enjoyed sitting on the porch overlooking the Potomac River, just as George Washington probably did hundreds of times.

As we approached the tomb of George and Martha Washington, the gentleman there told us that if we hurried, we could look in. There had just been a wreath-laying ceremony, and the gates that are normally closed were wide open. We were able to look right in, almost close enough to touch…We were also able to visit the Slave Memorial on the Mount Vernon grounds.As we were walking back toward the visitor’s center and our car, we were told that there was a drum and fife band playing on the front lawn of the mansion, and that there was a crew filming. We were able to stand across the road and watch for a while. It was so cool! Seeing the drum and fife band, dressed in their Colonial uniforms, playing on the front lawn of Mount Vernon, made us feel that we were there during George Washington’s time!We enjoyed walking around the various gift shops, and then decided to eat lunch there. They had a full food court with fast food, but we opted for the more formal restaurant. We were so glad that we did! The most delicious thing was the Mount Vernon Peanut and Chestnut soup. They actually gave us the recipe, so I will post it. It was delicious! Ryan even tried it!

One Washington, DC site that was at the top of my list to see was The National Archives. As I described in an earlier post, we missed the Archives on Wednesday. Friday, we had enough time after Mount Vernon to stop in. We were able to see The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and The Constitution. YEA!!!Ryan even "stumbled upon" some Top Secret information!That night, the night before Halloween, we went on a walking ghost tour of Washington, DC. I had found it online, and we thought it would be a fun way to end our trip. We started near The White House and Lafayette Park.We walked around several blocks surrounding The White House and heard about the Steven Decatur house, the Octagon, and The White House, among others. It was a lot of fun, and the perfect Halloween activity!

We flew home on Halloween. I think Ryan was the only kid on the plane! As we got on the plane, the pilot and co-pilot invited Ryan to sit in the cockpit for a few minutes. He was thrilled!