Lett's See DC - Mom Schlepped Here, There and Everywhere

I brought my Mom back to DC with me after Christmas. We spent a few days gallivanting around the Nation's Capital before a quick trip to the Big Apple. I coaxed Mom into writing up her experience, and what you will get is a four(?) part mini-series of the Mother Fish Out of Water. And let me tell you what, she was out of water! At some point along the series, I'll add my own brief recap of the events - you know, two sides to every story. Part two of my Mom's four(?) part mini-series of her trip to Washington, DC and NYC continues with her first full day in the Nation's Capital.

There is a two hour time difference between Arizona and DC this time of year so getting up early for Chelsea is even earlier for me. But rise early we do. We have memorials and monuments to see! One of Chelsea's roommates, Abigail, generously shared coffee. We ate breakfast, bundled up, then headed out. First stop – the Capitol Building. A short walk and we arrived in time for an 8:30 tour (I believe Mom is on AZ time still – there’s no way I would’ve been functioning for an 8:30am EST tour especially since I was still functioning on AZ time). There were probably 30 people in our group. The guide did a fair job sharing info, but I felt like there should have been more. Chelsea gave Capitol tours when she worked for the Congressman, so she was able to provide more in depth anecdotes – such as the painting containing a person with six toes on one foot, because the artist didn't care for the person being depicted (Mom is so PC – the artist didn’t like Native Americans so he gave Pocahontas’ brother an extra toe). We saw the old Supreme Court chambers, the catafalque dating back to President Lincoln, models representing the Capitol Building and grounds showing changes over the years, the Statuary Room – each state is allowed to send two statues to be on display. It's so much to absorb in such a short time.

Moving on, we walked through a tunnel to the Library of Congress. We arrived in time to join a tour. The guide seemed very knowledgeable. The architectural details are just astounding. When the tour was over, Chelsea left me on my own; she had a hair appointment. I wandered back through the displays to look more closely at maps, (I love maps) paintings and Thomas Jefferson's personal library. So my time was up at the library. I walked back home to meet Chelsea for lunch. Oh, her hair cut was cute. We used this time to book a night time trolley tour of Washington for the evening.

After hearty tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, we headed out for round two – Arlington National Cemetery and The Kennedy Center. We walked back to the Metro stop and boarded to ride out to Arlington. This trek required transfers and I'm so amazed at how comfortable Chelsea is with all this (No transfers on this one, but I can understand being confused – I carted my Mom everywhere in such a small amount of time). She's so at home here. We arrived at Arlington and inquired about a tour at the information desk. We're pressed for time, so the attendant provided us with directions and a map that we can use for a self-guided tour.

We headed to John F. Kennedy's grave site. The view back toward the Washington Monument is very pretty. We walked by Robert Kennedy's and Teddy Kennedy's graves as well. We then headed over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. The white crosses marking the graves are still adorned with wreaths that were placed before Christmas. Chelsea was able to participate in the wreath placement. What an honor. We arrived at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and watched the sentinel pace back and forth before the tomb. It's hard to find the right words to describe this event. Proud, sad, grateful, among so many emotions. We didn't have time to stay for the changing of the guard, though I could have stayed there all day. We then made our way through the Memorial Amphitheater on our way to the Mast of the USS Maine, Space Shuttle Challenger/Columbia Memorial and Iran Rescue Mission Memorial.

We left the cemetery and took the Metro to Foggy Bottom (I love that!) where we picked up a shuttle to the Kennedy Center. This is home to the Washington National Opera for which Chelsea interned for three months last fall. She was the tour guide at this attraction, showing me all around, inside and out. Most impressive – a very beautiful center. We headed back outside (Brrr-it's getting colder) to shuttle back to the Metro stop and then home. I was beginning to feel like Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation. We walked home to eat dinner but really only had time for a snack before we had to walk back to Union Station to catch the trolley. I did take the time to add a pair of long underwear and a second pair of gloves. Yes, the very same Isotoner gloves mentioned in Chelsea's Christmas remembrances, with knit gloves over those. So, appropriately layered against the cold, we walked to Union Station.....

~ Susan