A Trip To The Mall

Lest we forget, in spite of all the hoopla surrounding the debt ceiling debate taking place on Capitol Hill, this is still the best country in the world to live in.  We are truly blessed to be citizens of the United States of America and need to keep in mind that from time to time democracy is messy at best.  Our founding fathers struggled through with all their varied ideals and principles, making many compromises along the way, in the creation of our Declaration of Independence.  Then they struggled again for months upon months in the development of the Constitution of the United States. 

The biggest contributor to the general public’s dissatisfaction with this process has been the extensive news coverage it has received.  The talking heads have over reported, over analyzed, and over predicted the out comes during the entire process while creating a sense of panic along the way.  Had the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) been around back in the 1700’s, the public opinion would have been pretty much the same as it is today – “Government is broken” – when, in fact, it is only democracy at work.  Both sides won a little and both sides lost a little.  Hopefully the outcome will set us on the right track for governmental fiscal responsibility in the future; only time will tell.

Alrighty then, we were up and out of the house early Sunday morning in order to meet up with Joel and Mary for church.  After worship we came back to their place for some nice homemade pumpkin blueberry pancakes (made by the loving hands of our son-in-law).  Then, being that it was only 97* outside, we figured it would be a great day for a walk on the Washington Mall.

We grabbed the Metro at the Pentagon City Mall and got off at L’Enfant Plaza which is right behind the Air and Space Museum. 

 

Being that that Museum was packed, we ended up only passing through; in the back door and out the front door.  It just wasn’t any fun trying to see the exhibits with that many people pushing and shoving.  Besides, we had other destinations in mind, however, we did peek at a few exhibits on the way through.

  

Once outside we made a bee line for the middle of the Mall so we could snap some photos of the Capitol Building.

 

Directly across the Mall from the Air and Space Museum is the National Gallery of Art.

 

Then heading west we passed by the National Museum of Natural History.

The Smithsonian Buildings are across the Mall from the Museum of Natural History.

Next we walked over to the base of the Washington Monument.

 

Being that we were not planning to walk all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial, we snapped this photo from the Monument.

Also, here is a picture of Joel and Mary taken from the Monument with the White House in the background.

And this last photo from the Monument is of the Department of Commerce buildings.  By the way, we have no idea why all the flags were flying at half mast.

One of the highlights of the day was the World War II Memorial.  My dad, as well as several of my uncles, served in World War II so it was extremely meaningful to spend a little time here.  I wish I had done a some homework on this Memorial before visiting as there is a lot of meaning to each of its pieces.

  

By now we were pretty well dehydrated and needed water quickly.  There were fountains available but they just didn’t have really cold, thirst quenching water.  But, good for us, there were plenty of vendors selling food and drink located all around the Mall.  Once that need was put to rest, we continued our whirlwind tour toward the White House passing by the  Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the way.

Here are the “customary” family photos of us standing across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

 

Here’s the White House without the good looking people in front of it.

And for those who like to enter via the back door - - -

Here is the view that the President gets to see from the Oval Office.  He has a great view of the Washington Monument with the Jefferson Memorial in the background.  A special thanks to President Obama for allowing us into his office to take this picture.

While we were walking around to the back of the White House we passed by the Department of the Treasury building.  I hope it’s not a sign of the times ahead, but stenciled just left of the front steps leading into the building was “For Sale By Owner” .  It is rumored that the “Asking Price is $16,400,000,000,000.00 – OBO”.  I wonder if Tim Geithner knows something that the rest of us don’t.

From there we headed for the closest Metro Station to take the train back to Pentagon City.  Once back in Alexandria, the “Feed Me” flag was flying high so we headed for the Del Ray Pizzeria for some hamburgers – yep, you read it right, their pizzas are so so, but their burgers have been written up. 

Being that the Dairy Godmother was only two doors up, we stopped there for some nice cold custard ice cream cones.  This is also a renowned establishment – President Elect Obama brought his girls, Malia and Sasha, to the Dairy Godmother right after he won the election.  And, on top of everything else, they even serve dawggie treats – what else would you give a hot dawg on a hot day?

 

We had a great time with our kids and look forward to returning.  Next time we plan to stay much longer and visit many of those museums that we passed up this time.  Also, me thinks that we’ll show up in either the spring or the fall when temperatures are a little more conducive to walking about the Mall.

Today is another long travel day, about six and half hours, so we are up and at ‘em.  Tomorrow, hopefully, we’ll be waking up to some cooler Michigan weather.  So, Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - -