Potpourri

This is a conglomeration of things we have seen in about three days in Washington DC.  So where do I start?

We arrived in Virginia on October the 15th, Friday.  What would have taken us 4 hours to drive ended up being 8 hours!  Because of two accidents on I-95 just past Baltimore we crawled and crawled and crawled.  Finally, at about 8 miles from our campground we turned off of the interstate and took back roads to the place.  Thank goodness I lived here for a while and I knew where some roads went.

After setting up the motorhome we just crashed for the rest of the night and planned our methods of attack for the next three days.  On Saturday we met up with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for lunch before we took off for the city.  We arrived late in the day and didn't think we would really have time to see anything, but both of the museums we scouted out stayed open late and we were able to get them done.

Our first museum was the National Spy Museum.  Unfortunately no photography allowed.  Why I'm not sure since a good majority of the exhibits were about spy "things" that dealt with World War II and the Cold War.  But it was still very interesting to see the things that spies used: button compasses, pen recorders, brass knuckle knives, etc.  But, did you know that a lot of the stuff that were "invented" for spy movies, such as James Bond's cars, the technology is used in our cars now as standard?  How about GPS, halogen lights, re-inflating tires, shatterproof glass?  All of those were ideas that came from spy novels and movies.  And did you know that George Washington was a spy?  Edger Allen Poe was an expert decoder?  What was really disturbing was the spies that were Americans spying on Americans.  What people will do for money or notoriety. 

Then in keeping with the theme we visited the National Museum of Crime and Punishment.  This one dealt with a lot of criminals and crime.  It was three floors and we were able to see one floor real well, but didn't get to see much of the other two due to time.  If you like to see and learn about criminals this is a great place to go and spend about 3+ hours.

On Sunday we went with the in-laws to visit the brand new National Museum of the Marine Corps.  They are in the process of raising money to continue expanding the museum.  It is impressive right now and I can't imagine how much greater it will be when they finish the whole campus.  The outside structure is a very odd looking things until you are told what it represents - it is an artist rendition of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima.  Inside it starts from the beginning of the Corps in 1773 and continues through today with many exhibits and films.  There is one thing I can say about the Corps is that they are definitely a different breed of military - in a good way!

Today we went "Memorial visiting".  We visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, The World War II Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

The Law Enforcement was rather hard for Karl to see because he knew many of the names on the wall.  It's a white granite semi circle in two halves with a lion family at each end of the semi circles.  That is to depict the lion defending and protecting the lioness and cub just as the law enforcement community does everyday.  Also on this wall, which starts from the early 1800's are names from those lost on 9/11, those killed by Billy the Kid, those protecting the president, the first officer killed, the youngest, first female, first African-American, first killed in the line of duty, oldest, Attica Prison Riot, and J.D. Tippit who was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.  They broke ground for the museum on the 14th which will be across the street from the memorial and three stories underground.  The World War II Memorial was a very impressive memorial located at the end of the Reflecting Pool by the Washington Monument.  Again it is made with white granite and is divided in two halves depicting the Atlantic and the Pacific campaign.  On one side are the states that sent their people to fight and the other half depicts the different campaigns fought.  Lastly the Korean War Memorial was the most impressive in the way that it was done.  The memorial has soldiers "walking" through the trees surrounding the reflecting pool in their rain ponchos and watching for snipers.  It is a very eerie display as you walk up to it because you see these life-size men among the trees.  There are different races of human kind in this display that makes you realize that EVERYONE was involved.  Many still call this the "forgotten war" because it doesn't get the recognition it deserves.  We were near the Vietnam Wall, but I couldn't go there again.  I was there quite a few years back and I cried through the whole walk and I couldn't face it again.  But if you are ever in the the DC area I do recommend you see all of these memorials, they are well worth the visit.

Please take a moment to look at the pictures I have posted on the right of this page and you will hopefully be intrigued enough to go and visit for yourselves.