Day 27/28: Last weekend in D.C. with my "parents"!

It was my last weekend in D.C. and what better way to spend it than with Penni and John?!  It was actually pretty funny....all weekend everyone thought we were a family and Penni and John were my parents! hahahaha which is funny....cause their daughter is only 5!! :p


On Saturday morning I met Penni and John at the Holocaust Museum around 10am.  We reserved tickets ahead of time, so it was really nice because we didn't have to wait in the long line!  The museum was really....neat.  I mean, it was very dark and sad and depressing, but it was very well done.  It was very informative and they did a really good job of presenting the information.  There weren't a lot of artifacts, so it was mostly a lot of reading and watching videos.  Penni has read a book about the architecture of the building so she would share random facts that were very interesting!  For example, they keep it dark and kinda crammed and uncomfortable on purpose.  The most "touching" part for me was seeing the piles of shoes.  There were thousands and thousands of pairs of shoes from the Holocaust and it was just really sad to see them all and all the different sizes.  It was also very interesting to hear the different stories of some of the survivors....very sad to hear about what their families went through.  


Oh, and it was freezing in the museum.  And by freezing I mean it was about 32 degrees, give or take.  And of course I was dressed for the outside where it was very warm!!!  Brrrrrr!  It took like 3 hours for me to thaw out.


When we were about done with the Holocaust Museum we looked at the time and it was already after 2pm!  We decided to go to the Reagan Center to grab something for lunch.  When we got there I got right through security but they stopped Penni and John and asked for their I.D's....cause it is a government building.  Apparently I look like a minor?!  Good thing I graduate next year....graduate college....!


After lunch we decided to split up for the day.  Penni was ready for a nap so they were going to head back to their hotel.  I walked around for a little bit and sat outside in the sun (you know...to warm up).  Then I decided to go to Chinatown since I had only been there briefly once.  When I got there I was standing on a corner and a guy was on a bike...with his legs up on the handle bars and his arms crossed, so he really had no control of the bike.  He crossed the street, got onto the sidewalk, and ran right into a lady and fell off his bike!!!  He got up and grabbed his bike and he didn't even apologize!  Then the lady's husband started yelling at him and he just walked away!  It was so rude!  He had to of been high....I'm just saying...


Chinatown was pretty good....went into some stores and just hung out.  After that I headed back to the apartment.  Last night was pretty chill...I watched 2 kinda bad movies, but ehhh, oh well!


This morning (Sunday) I met Penni and John at their hotel at 8:30am!!  (The 8:30 when the SUN is out!!!!!)  It was a little early for me.....  We got a taxi and headed to the Newseum!!!   (FINALLY!!!!!)  It was so much fun!!!  There were a lot of things that I really enjoyed!  I really liked an exhibit that is only there until August, the sports photography exhibit.  It was very neat to look at the pictures.  The pictures were all done by Neil Leifer.  His photographs appear on the cover of more than 200 Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine editions!!!  How crazy is that?!  He is VERY talented!  The exhibit even included Leifer's most famous picture: Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston after knocking him out in their 1965 title fight.  I also really liked the Pulitzer Prize Exhibit!  It included many of the pictures that have won a Pulitzer Prize.  What I learned is basically you have to capture a tragic moment....only a handful of the pictures weren't depressing.  Still, it was very cool to see all the pictures.  Another exhibit I really enjoyed was the First Dogs exhibit, which included pictures of the first dogs throughout history!!  It was cute :)  I decided if I were ever President I would have a First Turtle!!!  There were also a lot of things that had to do with 9/11, which was very interesting.  We decided not to do the interactive "Be a TV Reporter" exhibit...since...well....that's kinda what I do :p  Overall, it was a lot of fun!  AND we got our picture taken and the ladies said we were a very cute family! hahahahhah  Here are some pictures from the Newseum!

Part of the Berlin Wall

Artifacts from 9/11

Dang!! I never saw that headline!! But I think they pretty
much nailed it on the head!

Transmitter from one of the Twin Towers

Puppy!

Pulitzer Prize winner which inspired
the Iwo Jima Memorial

After the Newseum we headed back to the hotel to change clothes.  This afternoon Wartburg was hosting an "Outfly" in D.C. for alumni in the area.  It was held at the German-American Heritage Museum.  We went to that and it went pretty well.  There were about 25 people there and probably around 10 alums.  They ranged from people who graduated in '61 to '09!  It was interesting to hear what they studied in college and what they are actually doing now!  I talked to a few girls, one who graduated in '06 and the other in '09, for a while.  They have both been in the D.C. area for quite some time and they both love it out here.  After an hour or so of "mingling" we went into a different room where Penni gave a short speech and I was also asked to talk a little bit about how I got my internship, what I've been doing, and what I've learned.  So that went pretty well I thought.  


Two older guys ('61 and '72 graduates) came up and talked to me after that.....after they found out I cover sports!!  One of the guys was the last 4 sport letterman at Wartburg!  He played football and basketball all 4 years (and is in the record books apparently) and he played baseball his freshman year and track his sophomore year.  It was very interesting to talk to him and watch him reminisce about his time at Wartburg.  Since then he has had 2 knee replacement surgeries and he has had his hip replaced twice....  I guess 4 sports really wears your body out!


People started heading out around 5:30pm and we had to stay until everyone was gone.  They had put "Be Orange" Wartburg magnets out for the alums to take and no one took them...so I did....all of them....all 35 of them :)  I figured, I pay enough for Wartburg, I'm taking the magnets!!!  Yep :)


After that Penni, John and I went out to dinner.  We went to this steak house close to their hotel and it was very good!  Penni and I talked for a long time about this summer and next year and how everything is going to go.  I'm looking forward to everything she has in store for the department!


Well, tomorrow is the last day at my internship and only 2.5 days left in D.C.!!!  It went by kinda fast now that I look back at it and see "Day 27/28"...it seems like just yesterday I was typing "Day 4"!!!  It has been a great experience and overall I have learned a lot....but more about that in the sappy "last day" blog, later this week!!


For now, I'm exhausted and ready to get home to relax a little bit!  More tomorrow :)


Shelby*

Day 26: It's like he's trying to speak to me! I know it!

Sorry I have gotten a little behind on the postings, it was a long, busy weekend!!!  But here is Friday's post and I will post Saturday and Sunday next!! :)


Friday I got to work and before I even got in the building Ingo was outside waiting for me to go to IKEA.  We walked a few blocks to the rental car place to pick up our vehicle.  While we were waiting to get our car there was a lady who came in and she had reserved a mini van.  Well, they informed her that they did not have a mini van but they could get her a small SUV....and she FREAKED out!!!  There were magical words that rhymed with duck and hit...  She asked how much she would be compensated if she took the SUV and she was told nothing because the SUV is actually a step up from the mini van.  Well, she continued to swear and freak out...and unfortunately we had to leave before I could see how it ended!  I mean...I guess I would be mad too if I reserved a car and got there and it wasn't available....it would be like going to a restaurant where you made reservations and them saying they gave your table again....but still.  She just kept yelling "how am I supposed to move my daughter home from college?!"


It took about 45 minutes to get there and when we did Max's wife and his son met us there.  His son is one year old and he is absolutely adorable!!!  Basically the whole time we were there I entertained him and let Max's wife and Ingo do the shopping :p  The only problem was that Max and his wife speak French at home....  So not only was his son talking baby talk so I couldn't understand him....but it was in French...so I really couldn't understand it!!  I just kept thinking of the line from Finding Nemo...."It's like he's trying to speak to me!  I know it!!!"  hahahahaha but regardless, he was cute and fun! :)  Oh, and they picked out the furniture and we got it all worked out!


After that Ingo and I headed back to the office.  By then it was lunch time so I left for break.  A few weeks ago, Lee told me about how at Farragut Square they have Food Truck Friday (or something like that) every Friday.  A bunch of food trucks come and people just eat lunch in the little park.  So I decided to walk there for lunch, it was only like a 10 minute walk.  There were like 25 different trucks and it was really neat!  There were even 2 cupcake trucks!!  One was named "Curbible Cupcakes," which I thought was VERY cleaver and cute!  


Now, as most of you know, my adviser, Penni, and her husband, John, came to visit me this weekend!!  Penni has been to D.C. multiple times, but John has only been here once and it was only for about 5 hours, 20 years ago, so it's not like he was able to see much!  When I got back from lunch Penni and John were already in D.C. so Penni came to Deutsche Welle to see how things were going.  She met with Mr. Soric for about an hour and they talked about my month there and how they can set it up for another student to come out for an internship.  They discussed maybe sending a student out for a longer amount of time, like 3 months or so.  Oh, and Mr. Soric said I'm doing a good job, so woo!!  Mr. Soric said if I was done for the day I could leave a little early, so I left around 3:30....so it was a short day at work!!


When I got home I took a quick nap then hopped back on the bus to meet Penni and John at their hotel.  (Now, just a side note....Penni and John never took a honeymoon...so I kept joking all weekend that they were on their honeymoon!  So when they would start "bickering" I would yell "NOT on the honeymoon!" hahahha)  We then went to dinner at a place by their hotel, Mai Thai.  It was really, really good!  After that we decided to walk around and see the monuments at night.  Penni downloaded a D.C. app and it included a walking tour of the monuments....and according to it, if we did it all it would equal 6 miles of walking!!  Dang!!  We started at the White House and checked it out.  I decided I wanted to do the "Shelby's version of untold history" tour.  I told them the White House was built in 1825 by General Custer (Step Brothers reference...).  They stopped listening to me at that point...rude.  Then we headed to the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Monument, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial (which was neat because I hadn't seen that yet), and the MLK Memorial.  They were all very cool lit up and it was such a nice night!  By then we were pretty tired and it was still a pretty long walk to the Jefferson Monument, so we decided to skip that one.  We got a taxi and dropped them off at their hotel and then I headed home.  Here are some pictures I took Friday night.

White House!!

Washington Monument!

Lincoln Monument and World War II Memorial

Lincoln Monument

Vietnam Memorial

Korean War Memorial

MLK Memorial

Jefferson Monument

It was a long day, but it was really good to see Penni and talk to her and what not!  We had a pretty big day planned for Saturday so I called it a night!!  


Well, that was Friday!!  More tomorrow :)

Shelby*

Day 25: 3 shots of espresso is too much espresso!

This morning I left a little early so I could get coffee.  A large with 3 shots of espresso seemed like a good idea at the time!  I was shaking after an hour.  Ahhhh sooo hyper!!!!!


This morning Max asked me if I could look up the contact information for summer schools for all the colleges in the area.  He decided he is going back to school!  hahahaha just kidding :)  He is looking for more people to invite to his talk show at the end of the month.  Once I get names and contact information for the people in charge of the summer sessions at the colleges we can send the emails to them and they can send the invite out to the students.  It took most of the day so find out how to contact people in charge of summer sessions.  I made the initial contacts today and hopefully I can get some more specific contact information tomorrow so they can send the invites out on Monday.


Max took me out to lunch today, which was really nice!  And lunch was really good too!  But I was told all our conversations were "off the record".....which I assume means "not for your blog"....sooooo that was lunch!


Today was Lisa's last day so she brought cookies!!! (Which didn't help with my hyperness this morning...)  It was nice meeting her and working with her and I hope she enjoys the rest of her time in the U.S.!!


Tomorrow morning Ingo and I get to take a field trip to IKEA to get the furniture Max needs!!  Woooooo!!!  Who's pumped?  I'm pumped.


Also, tomorrow Lisa won't be there (obviously) and Lori will be gone.  Who's in charge of answering the phone?  Me.  I warned them, if someone calls and starts speaking German I'm gonna be all like "No hablo german-o!!!"  They told me that if I answer the phone in English, the person on the other line will know to speak in English. But I don't buy that....I feel like all the Germans who speak German and only German are going to call tomorrow.  And I'm gonna have a panic attack.  Hopefully they all call while I'm at IKEA!


My ride home tonight was RIDICULOUS!!!  Not exaggerating, it took an hour and 35 minutes to get home.  (Just for a comparison, I've gotten home in 25 minutes before...)  It was awful!  There was so much traffic and there were so many people on the buses!  I think that is something that would drive me crazy if I lived here!  You never know how long it will take you to get somewhere!  It would get really annoying...really fast.


Oh, and I forgot to put this in yesterday's post, but yesterday a lady pushed me while we were getting on the bus.  And I'm not saying she just ran into me.  We were all merging into one line and she was behind me and she legit pushed me out of the way and got in front of me!!  It totally threw me off!  And then she ended up getting the last seat on the bus!  Boo.  Rude. 


Well, sorry today wasn't more exciting!  BUT good news!!  Penni (my adviser) and her husband, John, are visiting me tomorrow!  They will be here all weekend and it will be a full weekend...but I'm very excited!  There is an Outfly planned for alumni here on Sunday afternoon, so we will be attending that and doing sight seeing!  I'm looking forward to an awesome weekend and I can't wait to see them!!!! :)


2 days left at my internship and 5.5 days left in D.C.!!!  My adventure is coming to an end, but I'm getting ready to be home and with my friends and family again!!  More tomorrow :)

Shelby*

Day 24: Take me out to the ball game!

This morning at work I set up the interview with the lady in D.C.  She graduated from George Washington University two years ago, she is $250,000 in debt, and she is struggling to find a job....exactly what we were looking for! ....so I thought.


I set up the interview for 2:30pm.  We planned on meeting her on the GW campus and I had already contacted them to make sure it was ok that we filmed on campus.  The media people at GW then contacted campus security to let them know we would be coming.  So everything was good to go.


Around 11am Mr. Soric came out and asked me how much debt the lady we were interviewing was in.  I told him $250,000 because she got her bachelor's degree and her masters, so she was in school for a while.  He said he is looking for a student with an average amount of debt (between $25,000-$60,000, I found out from research) so the lady who I found would not work.  He asked me to cancel the interview.  It was a little frustrating because I had spent a week looking for a student in debt and I finally found one and then it wouldn't work.  Sooooo I had to contact her and apologize and I had to contact GW and let them know I would not be coming any more.


After that Mr. Soric had the idea that I find a Wartburg student who is in debt and may be struggling to find a job, since he will be at Wartburg for graduation anyway.  I told him I would look, but he wouldn't get a graduate student...he said that was alright.  Soooo now I'm looking for a Wartburg student, but haven't had much luck!  So if you are someone or you know someone who is in debt and struggling to find a job and you will be in Waverly on graduation, let me know!


In the afternoon Ingo was going to the Corcoran Art Gallery to get some outside shots and he invited me to tag along, so I did.  That is where Max's talk show is going to be at the end of the month.  When we got there he let me do some camera work, which was really nice!  Hopefully I got some good shots that he can use!  While we were standing there I witnessed a fender bender.  Bummer, right?!  Wanna know the worst part?  It really wasn't even that bad...the two guys could've just easily shared their insurance information and been on their way.  But, we are in Washington D.C....and we were pretty close to the White House.  So there are cops EVERYWHERE!  Not long after it happened a cop car pulled up.  Then 2 bike cops came.  At one point there were 4 cops there....and it seriously wasn't bad.  The front end of the one car had a little damage...but it hit an SUV so the SUV didn't have much damage at all.  It would've ruined my day!


Tonight Lee and I went to a Nationals game and it was so much fun!  They were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates....I was just excited to see Bryce Harper, the teenage superstar, play :)  We didn't get tickets beforehand but we bought some from a guy before we went into the stadium.  $30 for a $50 ticket?!  I'll take it!  The seats were GREAT!  On the third baseline and not very far back!  It was also the perfect weather for a baseball game.  There was also this crazy guy, Terrance.  I don't really know how to describe Terrance....but I'm pretty sure he had 8 red bulls before the game....I couldn't even get a good picture of him because he was moving/dancing so fast!  Oh, and the Nats won 7-4!  It was quite the game!  Harper tripled his first at bat, there were 4 homeruns (Nats even hit back to back homeruns!), and LaRoche got his 1,000th hit! I got some really good pictures too since we had good seats!  Here are some of my favorites, and of course you can check out more on Facebook!

Good seats, huh?!

Harper :)

LaRoche after his big hit!

Nationals WIN!!!! :)

The game was so much fun and I'm really glad we went!!!  Well, more tomorrow :)

Shelby*

Day 23: New intern duty: Buy furniture...??

Today I rode a pink bus to work!  It was awesome!


Work was work today.  It started off pretty slow.  I was still waiting to hear if the 2 people had found any students we could interview.  Mr. Soric and I went back and forth quite a bit today.  He told me since I hadn't found anyone yet I would just have to go to the campus of George Washington University or Georgetown and talk to students until I find a student who is in debt and struggling to find a job.  I told him that all the colleges around here are done for the summer.  He said well, students will be there for summer school.  I checked and summer school doesn't start until next week....  Then he told me to go and start hanging signs around campus explaining what we are looking for.  I wasn't sure about this either.  1. As a college student, I doubt students would read the sign and actually call us.  And 2. we can't just hang signs on a college campus without getting permission!


LUCKILY a guy emailed me this afternoon with two names and contact information of students in the D.C. area!  I emailed them both and I already heard back from one of them.  She graduated from George Washington University 2 years ago, she hasn't found a job and she is $250,000 in student loan debt!  So she is perfect for this story and she will do the interview on Thursday afternoon!  I am very excited (and relieved) about this!


Later in the afternoon Max brought me a picture of a chair and told me to find it on the IKEA website and order 4 of them.  I asked if he had a part number or anything.  He said no, and he also said he needs 2 tables....I was like okee dokee then, I'm on it!  So I searched the IKEA website and I found the chairs and I printed off all the different tables and gave the pages to Max.  He picked out the table he wants and told me to find out how much it would cost for delivery and if we could get them by next week.  Well, I found out that delivery would be at least $100 and that delivery takes at least 2 weeks and they don't offer rush delivery.  So then Max asked if I have a drivers license.  I said yes.....  He told Lori to sign me up for Zip Cars (?) which is like a rental car business for businesses, I guess.  That way I could go to IKEA and pick up the furniture.  Well,  Lori was filling out the form and came across a problem...I'm not 21 and you have to be at least 21.  Soooo we're still stuck, but Max is determined to get the furniture, so we'll see what he has up his sleeves!


We're up to like 80 guests out of 190 for the talk show!  Woo!!!  Max and I were being kinda sarcastic with each other today and at one point he walked away and Lori said to me, "I don't think Max knows what to do with you."  I said, "Good."  I thought, mission accomplished.  :)


I MET A FRIEND TODAY!!!  I was on the bus sitting next to this guy and I looked over and he was talking to me (I had my headphones in).  He asked if I knew if the bus was going to...I can't remember where he wanted to go.  I said I wasn't sure because I was pretty new here.  He said, "Oh, me too.  I've been here for less than a year."  I said that I had been there for a little less than a month.  He said that he is originally from Illinois!  I said "Oh!  Me too!"  He asked where I was from and I said Rockford and he said "Oh, by Chicago!"  I said yes and he said that he is from the South side of Chicago.  Now, he kinda looked like Ozzie Guillen....so I was kinda excited.....but then I realized I could understand what he was saying, so it couldn't have been Ozzie... :(  He asked if I was a cubs fan and I was like NOOOOOOOOO!  White Sox!  Then he gave me a high five!! :)  His name is Fernando and he works in construction!  Small world!  So I had a nice little chat with him before I got off the bus!  Yayyy for meeting friends :)


Well, that was today.  Definitely had it's ups and downs!  Hump day tomorrow!!  And Lee and I are planning on going to the Nationals game tomorrow night, so I may not blog until Thursday night!!  More tomorrow (or eventually) :)


Shelby*

Day 22: When it rains, it pours....and everyone rides the bus.

One week left at my internship!!!


So obviously you saw the title of this blog...and yes, it rained all day.  The buses were very busy this morning!


When I got to work this morning I had several emails from people about helping me out with the student debt story!!  So I was very happy.  I am currently in contact with 2 people who are searching for people in the D.C. area who we can talk to!  So that is very good.  I made a few more contacts throughout the day and checked up on some of the blogs I had posted on.  It was not a very exciting day at work, but it happens.


Max was back at work today from North Dakota.  He said he got a lot of good footage and it should be a good story!!  So that made me happy since I did a lot of the research!


They are having a talk show at the end of the month and unfortunately I won't be there.  There are a lot of people coming for it and they are trying to get 190 people for a live audience.  They are having a hard time finding people so when someone RSVP's everyone gets excited, so it's kinda funny.


My cousin Shannon is in town for business, so tonight we went out for dinner.  He picked me up and we decided to go to a restaurant that the taxi driver recommended.  He said he had never eaten there before, but he takes people there all the time so it must be good.  The restaurant was "The Capitol Grill."  Sounds normal!  Now, I didn't know where we would be eating, so I was in jeans and my Wartburg fleece.  Shannon was in a suit because that is what he had to wear for the day.  So we go up to the hostess counter and tell the lady "2 please."  She said, "Did you call ahead and make a reservation?"  Shannon said no.  It was only 6pm and she said they had a table but we would have to be done by 8 because there was a reservation coming in.  Shannon said that would be plenty of time and he started laughing and said "and besides, if we are still sitting there, just come up and take the table." hahaha?  No.  Very seriously she said, "Oh.  We will."  Alrightyyyyyyy then!  


So they take us to our table.....and it's a very fancy restaurant....andddddd I'm in jeans.  Oops.  So we sit down and hand us the menu and I'm pretty sure my eyes looked like this... oO .... yeah.  I about fell out of my seat when I saw the prices!  The prices on the menu ranged from $10 (for a cup of soup) to $99 (for a seafood platter)!  It was crazy!  All the entrees were between $30-$60!  Ahhhh I was like this is wayyyy too fancy pants for me!  But we stayed and it was very good!  While we were sitting there I was expecting Obama to walk in!  We were probably surrounded by Senators!!  Oh....and the waiter asked what we wanted to drink.  Shannon asked for wine and I asked for water.  The waiter asked me what kind?  I was thinking "Um....clear and wet, please?"  Then he said "iced or bottled?"  I almost laughed when I said "iced will be fine."  Ahhh yeah.  It was quite the experience.  


Then when we were going to leave we asked for a cab and one of the guys outside of the restaurant said, "Oh!  I"ll take them!"  He led us to this town car that was super nice.  He then drove me home and took Shannon back to Arlington!  It was funny, while we were on our way to my apartment he pointed to a restaurant and asked if I had eaten there yet.  He said it was world famous and a lot of famous people have eaten there.  I said no, is it good?  His response?  "Eh....."  Hahahahaha I was like ooohhhhhhh geez!


Well that was my Monday!!!  More tomorrow :)


Shelby*

Day 21: Do you know how hard it was for me to conduct myself with dignity and respect?!

As if I didn't do enough exploring yesterday, I was back at it again today!  Even though I was pretty tired I got up and started my day off right!


The first thing I did was take the metro to Arlington Cemetery.  It took almost an hour to get there and when I got there it was already pretty hot.  At the visitor center I learned I could take a bus tour of the cemetery for $9....but I'm stubborn, and I thought 'nah, I don't need to spend $9, I'll just walk!'  Boy, was that stupid.  Not only would it have been worth the $9, but it probably would've been worth $12.  Have you ever been to Arlington?!  It's huge!!  I read somewhere that there are over 360,000 people buried there!  It was really hot and a lot of walking, but for the most part I survived, besides, I just tried to hit the highlights, I knew I didn't have to see everything.  


I started off by visiting the women's memorial, it was very nice and it was up fairly high so it gave a good view of the city.  After that I went to where the Kennedys are buried.  The eternal flame is there as well....and the other guests don't like it when you yell "OMG the grave is on FIRE!"  But other than that I "conducted myself with dignity and respect" like the sign said.  (I didn't really do that, p.s.)  After that I started wandering around and I decided to walk up to Robert E. Lee's house.....it was a long walk and a lot of stairs!!!  I bet the bus tour would've been very convenient at that point!!!  But once I got to the top it was worth it because it was a great view of D.C.  When I was done up there I walked down to the Tomb of the Unknowns.  I got there just in time to see the changing of the guard that they do every hour.  It was pretty neat.  But, there were so many questions I wanted to ask the new guard!!!  1. Don't you get hot?  2. What if you have to go to the bathroom?  3. Do you ever get to smile?  4. Will you take a picture with me?  5. Can we be Facebook friends?  6. How are you not sweating right now?!  7. Have you ever had to use your gun?  8. Do they bring you water?  9. Is your phone on silent? That would be embarrassing...  10. Do you have to do this at night? What if you are afraid of the dark?  


And believe me...I had many more questions....but I had to "conduct myself with dignity and respect."  After that I decided to leave...I felt like I saw all the important things...and it was hot.  But I couldn't read the stupid map and I was lost for a little bit...but I finally found a sign saying "Visitors Center".  WOO!  Here are some pictures from Arlington Cemetery.

Arlington Cemetery

Kennedys graves

View from Robert E. Lee's house

New guard!

Tomb of the Unknown Soliders

Bird!

When I was done at Arlington, Lee picked me up and we went to Dulles Airport where the Air and Space Udvar-Hazy Center is.  I have been to the Air and Space Museum in D.C., but this one has a lot more of the big planes......AND the Discovery Space Shuttle!!!  I saw a lot of planes and it was very interesting.  My favorite part was obviously seeing the Discovery Space Shuttle (again, something my Dad would love to see!!).  It was really neat because it is pretty beat up, so it  made it more real that this has actually been to space multiple times!  I also saw the Enola Gay...the first plane to drop a nuclear bomb!  Another cool part of this museum is that part of Transformers 2 was filmed there!  They actually had part of the movie playing to show how the museum and the planes were used!  It was very cool.  There was also an observation deck we went up to.  It looks out on the runway of the Dulles Airport, unfortunately no planes were taking off and all the planes landing were at the other end so we couldn't see any!  But when we were in the parking lot getting ready to leave we saw the Airbus A380 fly right over us!  It is a huge plane so it was very cool to see it!  Here are some pictures.

Discovery Space Shuttle

Back of the Discovery

Enola Gay

So. Many. Planes. !!!

A380

After that, Lee had to drop a soccer ball off with his friend who tore his achilles.  Ouch!  We talked to him and his wife for about an hour and they were very nice!! :)


On our way home we stopped at the Air Force Memorial and the Pentagon Memorial.  Both were very neat!  The Air Force Memorial was up on a hill so you could see most of D.C. from it.  The structure of the actual memorial was also very interesting.  The Pentagon Memorial may be one of the coolest I've seen.  I mean, it looks very simple, but it is so well thought out and it is just very impressive.  The structures look like benches almost and there are 184 of them, representing the number of people who died when the plane hit the Pentagon on 9/11.  They are laid out in order from the youngest person who died (3 years old) to the oldest (71 years old) and they are all arranged based on age.  Now, as you can see in my pictures below, the structure has an open end where the name of the person who died is and the underneath is filled with water.  (It's really hard to explain, but good thing I included pictures!! :) )  Now, if I were standing with my back to the Pentagon and I could read the name, it means that person was on the plane.  If I was looking at the Pentagon and I could read the name, that person was in the Pentagon.  Get it?  If not, refer to the pictures!  It is a very impressive memorial and the design is incredible.  So again, simple, but very complex.

Air Force Memorial

Pentagon.  If you look closely you can tell where the plane hit because
it is the lighter part of the building.

So, like I was describing, this person was in the Pentagon,
if it were facing the other way it would be a person who was
on the plane.

Interesting, huh???

Flowers in the water under one of the structures.

After that we headed home so I could catch up on my blogs!  It was a very eventful and productive weekend and even though I am very tired it was a lot of fun!  I hope to finish up my list of things I want to do before I leave a week from Wednesday and thanks to this weekend I should be able to!  I have a lot more pictures from this weekend on my Facebook for those who are interested!!  More tomorrow :)

Shelby*