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Old 5 Aug 16, 10:19 AM  
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Boston and Washington - Day 12 - Back to DC, Jefferson Memorial, Museum of American History

This is my first trippie (please be gentle)...


Trippie Index Here



Day 11 Here




What:


Boston, Washington D.C. and Baltimore


When:


Spring 2016


Who:



Me (April) Showing My Socks...

DS (Pooter) Banning Brussels Sprouts



Day 12 - Baltimore to DC, Jefferson Memorial, Tidal Basin, Museum of American History



I was grumpy today - I think you’ll be able to tell...sorry...



During the monsoon yesterday, I thought that if the weather were better today, we might go up to Fort McHenry.





But - and I am probably going to sound like a big baby here - after yesterday I wanted OUT of Baltimore. Poot seemed unaffected by everything (I was grateful for that) so I decided to let him choose whether we went up to the fort or back to DC.


He picked DC - he was eager to get back and do the rest of his “must-dos”.


We had a pretty standard (free) hotel breakfast in the lobby/dining area. The hotel had been sold out the night before; it was a bit of a bun fight to find seats, etc...but eventually after clearing someone else’s dishes away (I really dislike this...pick up after yourselves, people!) we squeezed into a little two-top next to the wall.





After checking out we easily found the light rail stop again; we paid for our tickets and hopped the light rail back to Penn Station.

Penn Station Interior:




I could not get the ticket kiosk at Penn Station to work (this was probably my fault ) - but there was also a proper ticket counter, we just paid for the tickets there (again, $8).


The train was already boarding, so we hopped right on - again choosing seats up top.

Here you can see the two levels of the train:





Train interior:





There wasn’t much to look at in this direction, either.

--------------------------------------------------

Back in DC, we dumped our luggage at our hotel - we were off to the Jefferson Memorial.


We walked down to the tidal basin - there was ONE solitary cherry tree that still had some blossoms.





We had missed this:








...by one week!

Ah, well - I wouldn’t have traded seeing the figure skating (and more importantly, my mother - aw...) for seeing the trees. I would love to see the Cherry Blossom Festival one day though...


I had missed Jefferson on my previous visit to DC, so I was excited as we made the approach.





I find Jefferson such a fascinating man - if you read his writings and then look at some of the politicians we have today...devolution is real…


I tried to get some “artistic” shots of the memorial and surroundings. Not sure how successful I was...











I like the bottom one best, you can see the Washington monument in the gap...


There was a park ranger standing quietly at the back of the memorial, and I determined that this must be the least-coveted post in the National Park Service.


“Excuse me, where are the restrooms?”


“Just take the elevator down one level”


Repeat, ad infinitum


Poor chap, I must have heard him say this twenty times in five minutes.


We headed downstairs to the exhibits. There is a film that I think *used* to be about Jefferson, but now is the sort of warm, fuzzy thing that in its effort to offend no one ends up saying nothing. Sigh…Perhaps my views on the film were slightly coloured by the fact that it is shown RIGHT OUTSIDE the restroom doors, so every thirty seconds we could hear flushing and then hand dryers…if you’re looking for reverence, look elsewhere!


In the end I had to myself that Jefferson was an earthy sort of chap and that he would probably have laughed…


Jefferson...FLUSH...Liberty...BUZZZZ...Freedom...F LUSH


Poot and I went through the rest of the tiny museum and he bought some postcards.


We went back upstairs and walked along the water. It was COLD by the tidal basin today - the wind was really whipping up the waves.





An aside: I don’t think of myself as a particularly vain woman - but I was more than a little bit sad that so far I had had to wear my (for emergencies only) red waterproof (hood up no less!) every day. To add to my embarrassment, I was now wearing stormtrooper gloves. I felt like a right frump when we walked past some of the elegant ladies out for their lunch break.


Poot (as always) was more sanguine - I did offer to buy him a “manlier” hat yesterday at Marshalls - he said the Green Berets wore berets, so a beret was manly enough for him, too.





He also mentioned that money we didn’t spend on hats we could spend on books. Love that kid.


We walked around the basin - after a while, I gave Poot the camera, so instead of pictures like this:





We have pictures like this:





I think this was a cormorant of some sort.


I’ve been to DC before. Back in 2002, DH and I took a night-time trolley tour of the monuments. It was really good, and I have some of the pictures from that night - so I was happy to let Poot photograph all the birds he wanted.


We eventually wandered up to the Washington Monument.





I had failed to get advance tickets for the monument (bad mother!), but when DH and I visited before, we were able to just walk up and get tickets for the same day (this was in November). I didn’t think that was the case anymore, but I wanted to check.


Now we were in DC at a BUSY time - so I have no idea if this is true most of the year - but we were told to get to the ticket window no later than 7:30 AM (for a 9:00 AM opening).

I would have waited if Poot had wanted to, but he said he didn’t care about going up inside enough to wait ninety minutes in the cold for tickets.


Me (out loud): Are you sure? I’m happy to wait if you want to do it…


Me (inwardly): saynosaynosaynosaynosaynosayno



I would have suggested we wait if the weather had been better (I think)...



We did have a little nosey around the monument - Poot had the camera, I think the only thing he photographed was a pigeon.


By now it was long past lunchtime, and I thought we would combine a visit to The Museum of American History with a quick bite to eat.

Museum Exterior:





Holy crap! There was a MASSIVE great queue outside the museum (this was the first big queue we’d seen). There was a “line monitor” outside yelling (but in a not-unfriendly way, IKNWIM) at people to make separate lines (bags and no bags). Hmm…

It took fifteen or twenty minutes to make it to the metal detectors, but eventually we got there.


Tangent/Rant Alert - Feel free to skip!


I put what happened next in my “Lows”, it agitated me so much (tangent first, though).


My husband is from Holloway (North London), and even though we now live just OUTSIDE London, I still feel like a bit of a Londoner-by-marriage. Even now, I’m up in town all the time, for work and pleasure.


London is certainly a target of the Islamic State/Al Qaeda/whoever loonies, too - but security is handled SO DIFFERENTLY here. Even at the Olympics, I can remember how respectful and professional the guards and soldiers were. I was pretty nervous, taking then five year old Poot through the security checkpoint (staffed by soldiers holding automatic weapons), but they were GREAT with the kids, really putting them at ease. When you visit the national museums here, your bags get checked, but I've never had any security guard be rude or even uncivil.


It’s the difference (IMO) between “we’re all in this together” and “our job means we get to try and strip you of your dignity, because that makes us feel important”.


The security staff here were SHOUTING at people. It was really rather dehumanising.

I felt terrible for those who didn’t speak much English. I tried to help a group of Spanish speakers but I was shouted down by a (female) security guard - “They just PRETEND they don’t understand. They understand me just fine!” They were from Ecuador, they didn't understand...


A different woman came running up to me once we were through the barrier. “You gotta come back and pull up your pants for me”


These are the moments when I REALLY wish I had the supercilious English accent that DH utilises to such effect. But I don't. I tried to respond politely.


Me: I beg your pardon?


Her: Yank up your pants.


Me: May I ask why?


Her: I ain’t gotta tell you why - but it’s so I can check your socks.



Out of the corner of my eye I could see Poot about to say heaven knew what - so I tried to gracefully inch up the bottoms of my trousers so this woman could see my socks. They were black, with tone-on-tone stripes.

Why can’t this sort of thing be accomplished COURTEOUSLY?!


This is how America presents herself to the world?...?!


I’m a citizen, I was EMBARRASSED for America.



Rant over.



Told you I was grumpy today...

Edited at 12:10 PM.
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Old 5 Aug 16, 10:53 AM  
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We went straight in to see the Star Spangled Banner - my brilliant idea had been to go to Fort McHenry, where it had once flown, and then come here - so that Poot could make a really good connection between the location and the flag...(feeble mother)


I remember seeing the flag back in ‘02. It was displayed differently - seeing it was such a peaceful and thought-provoking experience.


Remember Miss Socks from the security checkpoint? Well, she had a sister from another mister.


This is how the flag is displayed now. You can't take any photos in the hall - but can you see the lights on the floor in the photo below?



What should have been a reverent, respectful visit to one of the nation's greatest treasures was utterly despoiled by a snide young woman shouting (over and over) "Keep between the lights, people. Does anybody understand the word between? I'll explain it to you!, etc..."


See my rant in the first post to accurately gauge my feelings at this point! I really wanted Poot to see this wonderful, wonderful relic of the past - but not like this! Why do people have to treat each other this way?


I thought some food might help to calm me down, so we followed the signs for the cafeteria.

It was already long past the lunch hour, so despite the BIG crowds in the museum, there was no wait to order.





Unfortunately that meant that all the “hot” food was sitting out getting...not hot.


Poot picked out a chicken wrap...and then he saw they had Wisconsin Cheese Curds!





Cheese curds are one of the American junk foods I miss most...but these were cold.


I decided to ask the curd lady if she’d make us some fresh ones - she didn’t look thrilled to do it, but she did. Yay! The hot curds were delicious...


I felt a bit more chipper once we’d had something to eat (cheese curds can fix anything ).

___________________________________


Poot wanted to see the Presidents’ Hall - so we headed up there to look at all the presidential memorabilia.


We got to see Warren Harding’s pyjamas,





George Washington’s spyglass,





and Abraham Lincoln’s top hat (among other things).





There is a little “press conference” area for kids, who get to stand behind a podium and pretend to be the President of America. Poot was born in America - so he really could be one day!


President Poot:





He was keen to tell those assembled that his first act as President will be to... ban Brussels sprouts! I’m with him there...yuk.




A huge chunk of the museum is closed for refurbishment - but we saw all the areas we could access. I was *sure* that the original Kermit the Frog was on display in the pop culture exhibit, but no - he had been replaced by Elmo.





Kermit is funny and authentic; Elmo makes me want to knock myself unconscious with a mallet.


I asked a docent, I was told that Kermit is in long-term storage, because people like Elmo better.


We did get to peek at the ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz”, though.





It was sweet to see some little girls going crazy for them. They were very, very excited. Aww...



We stayed until the museum closed and then wandered off back to the hotel.


To be frank, after the last two days I was in a right mood, and I didn’t want to deal with anybody/anything else tonight.


We cooked up our potstickers () and watched one of Poot’s beloved weather documentaries.


Better attitude tomorrow, I promise.


continues in next post with Poot's memories of Day 12

Edited at 12:10 PM.
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Old 5 Aug 16, 11:11 AM  
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continued from previous post


Poot's Day 12:


We got up this morning and had breakfast at our hotel; there was an article about a black hole in the (free) newspaper I found in the lobby. Then we went to Convention Center Station. I found three dollar coins and a quarter in the ticket machine!


Then we rode to Government Center Station (my there are a lot of centers around) and picked up the next train to Penn Station. There we got the train to Union Station.


It was an hour and a half before we got there.


Then we went over to the Jefferson Memorial. The best part was the huge statue of Thomas Jefferson in the middle. Around it, there was an inscription of Jefferson's writings.





Then we bought some postcards of the memorial.


After that, we walked all the way along the lakeshore, and I saw a cormorant!


Then we went to the Washington monument where a man in a booth said that we would have to wait an hour and a half from about 6:30 in the morning to climb it!

I said that I did not want to wait that long. So we bought a postcard of it.


Then we went to see the Museum of American History .The first thing we saw from about fifty feet away was a HUGE, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG line!


Inside, after we had waited for fifteen minutes we were subject to the worst security we had ever seen.


Benjamin Franklin said that a society that would give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and loses both. I thought about saying this to the security woman after she asked Mother to take her socks off.


April interrupting here: ! I have the Franklin quote on a magnet on our fridge, but I was surprised to read this in Poot’s report (he writes these in private) - you never know what kids will pick up...


Then went to see the Star Spangled Banner (original), where there was also a mean woman who was telling people to keep BETWEEN THE LIGHTS in a nasty tone. :angry:


We went to lunch. There was a lady behind the counter with plates of cold food sitting out because it wasn’t very busy. So Mother asked her if she could make us a warm plate of food. We had Wisconsin cheese curds (hot) and a Caesar wrap (I like these, I think I had three or four in America).


Then we saw the presidents’ hall. I found a podium where I could make “laws”! I banned Brussels sprouts and lifted the book tax in America!





I then took a picture of an original plate with Taft (Taft was a president) on it! My picture didn't turn out, but Mother found one on the internet:





Then we saw Abe Lincoln‘s top hat! For it being over 150 years old, it was in very good condition! Then we saw George Washington’s sword.


We bought a postcard of the museum.


Then we went back to our hotel, had dinner and went to sleep. The End


Day 13 Here

Edited at 12:14 PM.
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Old 5 Aug 16, 02:30 PM  
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The security people sound like a nightmare - Poot is spot on in his observations.

Thanks for writing the report - it is really interesting!
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2016 Quebec - Kuala Lumpar - New York City 2017 Dubai - Eurocamps France - Ontario and Quebec - So-Cal 2018 Montreal - Bangkok - New England 2019 Argentina - Quebec City - Hong Kong - 2020 Switzerland 2022 Arizona - Costa Med Cruise - Oslo 2023 Hong Kong - Gothenburg
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Old 5 Aug 16, 03:20 PM  
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Sorry about the security guards. I always feel like many of the people in "security" are police officer wanna bes who could not get the job they want. They are not educated and IMO poorly paid so take advantage of their "power."

I go through security at many court houses (some allow counsel to enter separately bypassing security), I find the bailiffs friendly and polite but they tend to be older, retired law enforcement.

I love your son's comments. And he reminds me of looking for birds at Disneyland when my son was his age.
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Old 6 Aug 16, 11:00 AM  
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Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
The security people sound like a nightmare - Poot is spot on in his observations.

Thanks for writing the report - it is really interesting!
Thanks for reading - I do sometimes worry that I'm raising an anarchist! DH (of course) finds that highly entertaining...

PS: I am excited to read your Quebec TR (I LOVE Quebec!) but I told myself that I can't READ any trippies until I finish writing mine...
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Old 6 Aug 16, 11:07 AM  
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Originally Posted by Ridersmom View Post
Sorry about the security guards. I always feel like many of the people in "security" are police officer wanna bes who could not get the job they want. They are not educated and IMO poorly paid so take advantage of their "power."

I go through security at many court houses (some allow counsel to enter separately bypassing security), I find the bailiffs friendly and polite but they tend to be older, retired law enforcement.

I love your son's comments. And he reminds me of looking for birds at Disneyland when my son was his age.
Yes, I feel the same about the security - I have always thought that guys who wanted to go to the police academy or Quantico, etc...should do two years with the TSA (or whatever) and as a reward get moved to the front of the queue - I think that would draw a different group of individuals.

I try and go to the older guys too (when I can) - they seem to be WAY less interested in "proving themselves".

Part of it, of course, is just the decline in civility in general ().


Thanks for commenting - it's funny that there's another "bird-mother" out there in Dibbland. ...you should see how many bird pictures I HAVEN'T posted!
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Old 6 Aug 16, 12:03 PM  
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Originally Posted by GopherLass View Post
Thanks for reading - I do sometimes worry that I'm raising an anarchist! DH (of course) finds that highly entertaining...

PS: I am excited to read your Quebec TR (I LOVE Quebec!) but I told myself that I can't READ any trippies until I finish writing mine...
Quebec is fabulous. We are having such a great time!
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Index of my trip reports
2016 Quebec - Kuala Lumpar - New York City 2017 Dubai - Eurocamps France - Ontario and Quebec - So-Cal 2018 Montreal - Bangkok - New England 2019 Argentina - Quebec City - Hong Kong - 2020 Switzerland 2022 Arizona - Costa Med Cruise - Oslo 2023 Hong Kong - Gothenburg
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Old 6 Aug 16, 02:53 PM  
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April,

My birder is now 30, still birding when ever he can. Not only does he have a lovely hobby but he has opened the world of birds to all of us. We spent more vacations than my daughter wished trying to find local birds. Now one of my favorite photos is of my son, with his not quite two year old nephew, looking up and admiring some white winged doves.

You son sounds like a real independent thinker, which IMO helps tremendously in adolescence and undergraduate days. No need to follow the crowd into bad judgement.
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Old 7 Aug 16, 03:26 PM  
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Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
Quebec is fabulous. We are having such a great time!
Oh, I'm so glad to hear that - I look forward to the trippie!

Originally Posted by Ridersmom View Post
April,

My birder is now 30, still birding when ever he can. Not only does he have a lovely hobby but he has opened the world of birds to all of us. We spent more vacations than my daughter wished trying to find local birds. Now one of my favorite photos is of my son, with his not quite two year old nephew, looking up and admiring some white winged doves.

You son sounds like a real independent thinker, which IMO helps tremendously in adolescence and undergraduate days. No need to follow the crowd into bad judgement.
I take your points - DH and I have learned an enormous amount thanks to Poot's interests. I never imagined that I would know so much about volcanoes, birds or aircraft design!

As Samuel Johnson said...All knowledge is worth having.

Parenting a son is like getting to explore a whole other world...I would guess it is the same for you.

As for independent thinking...well, we homeschool, so there is far less pressure on Poot to conform. Our family's life is unusual, it will be interesting to see what he does with his life...
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