In God We Trust

Last week I had the opportunity to be at our nation's capital on the beloved day of independence. Natalie was kind enough to drop Curtis and I off at Greenbelt, and we rode the metro into Washington DC. It was a popular day to be in the District, and the metro was almost completely filled. 


As we left Union Station, we passed the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Since my father works at the post office, I felt as though I held a deep connection to this building: so much that I stopped to get a picture. (This is for you Dad!)

Anyway, we started walking and saw the Capitol building. It is magnificent to look at. I enjoyed it. Also, Curtis took my picture by it.

I am small, but that is me on the steps of the Capitol!

We continued on, but ended up back at Union Station. We had walked in a big circle, actually I think it might have been more of a triangle or some abstract polygon. In any case, I took a picture of some pretty flowers. That makes everything better. 

After walking in circles, we oriented ourselves and made our way to China town. Curtis served a LDS mission in Taiwan, so he loves Chinese things and speaks the language fluently. We explored --- meaning I looked at the Chinese characters and asked Curtis what they said --- and ate food. Of course, since I could not read Chinese, Curtis decided where we ate. The service was wonderful, the waiter refilled my glass of water about six times; it was a hot day. The food was good, but I can not tell you where or what I ate.

A display about resonating asteroids, it was super cool!

Once our bellies were filled, we left China town and headed in the direction of the mall. Curtis was getting a sunburn so we decided on something indoors. I directed us to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. This was a perfect opportunity to enjoy the museum. I passed every exhibit that I did not see on the previous trip I had taken with Natalie. 

Curtis with "the man"
in one of the exhibits.

The museum was laid out showing technology as it progressed. There was an entire display on Orville and Wilbur Wright. Their lives were mapped out leading up to the first airplane. The actual plane that they made and flew is there! (See picture on the right.) The museum had placed new      fabric on the frame to restore it, but the frame has remained unchanged. It is displayed with a manikin placed where Orville or Wilbur would have piloted the air craft. It looks a bit unsafe, but I can only imagine what an adventure it must have been!

I also gawked at some fantastic space shuttles and remnants of space crafts. It was all so cool!

When the clock reached dinner time, Curtis and I made our way out of the museum in search of food. We found a pizza and wings place called Fuel and ordered a couple of calzones. 


After some time, I had begun to notice everyone that had ordered after us was served. I started to grow impatient once they finished eating and left. A couple that had been waiting for some time as well finally received their food, and remarked that we must have ordered the world's largest pizza since we had been waiting so long. A waiter came to our table and asked what we had ordered commenting on how long we had waited. We told him and he immediately brought our food out and got us complimentary barbecue wings and drinks. He even came around with moist towelettes for us to wipe our hands with when we were finished.

I am glad our wait paid off in the end. Extra food and top notch service sounds great.

We walked back to the Capitol to watch the fireworks. It was crowded. Some fireworks started, but I could only see half of them due to our location. It looked like they were closer to the Smithsonian museums than we were.

Although, just across the pool in front of the Capitol, real cannons were set off. That gave the 4th of July a whole new meaning for me. I knew what it was about before, but hearing the cannons  is a reminder why we set off fireworks in the first place. It was so real.

Worrying that we could miss our train, we started walking in the direction of Union Station. We actually ended up with a better view of the grand finale than the entire fireworks show. I tried taking a picture of the fireworks, but I was pretty unsuccessful. My camera was being sensitive to movements and my hand was not steady enough. Oh well.

Inside Union Station

We took the Amtrak back to Penn Station in Baltimore. It was the last train at Union Station. I am glad we did not miss it! 


As the train pulled away, I could see more fireworks out the window. My guess is that we left just before a firework show, or that we were in the wrong place to see them clearly. :(

My train ticket --- I rode on a train!

Back in Baltimore, I still needed to make it home. Given a play of certain events, I ended up taking a cab back. I had exactly $15 on me (a $10 bill and a $5 bill). I was a little dismayed when we got to the light that I wanted at exactly $10.00, and the driver waited through it to pull up in a driveway putting me at $10.40. Since I did not have change, I gave him a large tip. That was not exactly what I was planning for. 


Altogether, it was a great experience. What better way to celebrate the 4th of July but in Washington DC! I could not help but remind myself of the founding principles of our nation. When I look at a US coin, I love to see our motto engraved boldly to the world: in God we trust.