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In short - we had a wonderful time. I did have some days where I needed to go back to the hotel room and sleep and couldn't stay with the family, but as the week went on and I got further out from my chemo treatment I felt better and the last couple of days was able to keep up.
Biggest disappointment - the archives was still closed from the flooding, so we did not get to see the Declaration of Independence which really upset my eight year old Emily. It was on her list as something she really wanted to do. However, we met an archives employee outside the building, who, when he saw her tear up at the news it was closed, pulled her aside and showed her a digital copy of it and talked to her about the history of the document and some of the men who signed it. He was very, very nice and seemed really touched that it meant so much to her.
Best day - we saw the national zoo in the morning including the baby panda and the Air and Space museum in the afternoon. I may have a budding aviator, Emily was enthralled with the whole museum and did her best to drag us to every exhibit.
Hardest moment - the wall. More about that below.
Best food - Eddie's Chinese Cafe. Both the egg drop soup and the Szechuan beef was to die for.
Quick background on my sordid family history. My mother's first husband, Francis Griffin, was a helicopter pilot killed in Vietnam. In this picture you can see his name on the Wall between the twins (next to Abigail's head.) My father, Mike, was supposed to fly that mission that day. Afterwards, he struck up correspondence with my Mom, and they eventually married but divorced soon after my brother and I were born. We didn't have contact with Mike for thirty years. He came back into our lives about two years ago - he's still in the military and he annually attended the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association meetings. He wanted very much to have his family with him at one of these meetings, so we came. You can see a pic of me with both my parents here, dressed up for the banquet. Yes, that is one of my scarves that I dyed for the occasion.
Anyway, it was a very emotional visit for my Mom, because she met several men who served with her husband, including the one that pulled his body from the helicopter. That was something. He came up, was introduced by my dad, then looked at my mom and said "I was there when Griff came in." Then he just broke down and said "I pulled him out but he was already gone, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." It's amazing, what these men went through, it really is something to see them - when they talk about it it's like they are right there in the jungle, again. As if it were yesterday.
Anyway, on to the rest of the vacation. We climbed up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial and had our picture taken looking back at the mall. On the fourth, the kids and Wes attended the parade (I slept, that was a bad day) and Daniel waved his flag at my dad and the other Vietnam pilots marching in the parade. Emily's favorite moment was turning a cartwheel in front of the Lincoln Memorial, something her gymnastics coach said she wanted proof that she had done. Em saw the pic and frowned and said "My legs were straight, but she'll yell because I didn't point my toes. One of my fav shots is Emily at Arlington walking along and carrying her gatorade. Emily actually was very sick for much of the trip, we had to take her to the doctor when we returned home where the ped diagnosed a case of reflux. We are on a Prilosec regimen to see if she gets better, poor baby has been throwing up every day for a about a week.
It was a long trip, but a great one. We met some wonderful people. My favorite was a young woman on the metro who told us it was her first fourth of July in the states, she was from South Africa, her mother was Kenyan. Her eyes misted over when she said how much she loved this country. We hugged when we parted, I really felt like meeting her and seeing her pride and love for this country was about the best thing I could have done on the fourth.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I realize Emily is all through my post. It's not as if my other three kids weren't there or didn't have fun. Just that I think eight going on nine is probably the perfect age for DC. She understood things the twins did not and didn't tire or whine as much as the 13 year old. Heck, even being sick didn't slow her down.
But, all four had great times and on our way home we talked about our favorite sights and what really impacted us. Seeing the flag that was hung at the Pentagon after 9/11 was big on most people's lists. Daniel loved the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History and Natalie loved the First Ladies' Exhibit at the Museum of American history with all the inagural ball dresses. Everybody was impressed and moved at the Changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown at Arlington.
Funniest moment of the trip - after leaving the tomb of the unknowns, Emily thought she would throw up again and I was hot and exhausted so I was trying to get back to the visitor's center as soon as possible. My father wanted us to detour to see Kennedy's grave and the eternal flame. We said we didn't think we could, it was out of our way and uphill and I was just about through and had a sick young un I was worried about. He kept pressing.
Finally, my stepmother just screams out at him in the middle of the cemetery "Honey, they're Republicans, they don't care about Kennedy, they have better things to do!" We got lots of laughs from other tourists.
Fact is, I would have loved to see Kennedy's grave, but I had a sick little one and was about out of energy. It wasn't his being a democrat that made us not want to go, it was the fact that his grave was uphill and it was 90+ and I had an eight year old saying she was going to hurl any second. Still, it was very funny.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Could you tell me what part of DC was Eddie's Chinese Cafe in? I've vowed that the next time we go to DC I'm not going to trust my father's questionable taste in restaurants. So I'm collecting reccomendations.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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About a block from the Woodley Park/Zoo/Adams Morgan metro stop. Dont' know what street it's on I just know how to get there from our hotel, which was the Marriott at Wardman Park.
Dunno if that helps, maybe it will.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I'm glad y'all had a good time.
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