Tourists in Our Own Backyard - Washington DC Monuments and Cherry Blossoms

 3/22/2024

Washington DC is a beautiful city, particularly this time of year.  Today we made the trek to the city which we don't do nearly often enough.  Our main goal was the Cherry Blossoms, and we added in two monuments, FDR and MLK that I hadn't seen before.  The day was a bit dreary and chilly, and the Tidal Basin is always a beautiful walk.

Washington and Jefferson Memorials.

The Washington Monument

We started with FDR.  Because we went clockwise around the tidal basin we did the monument in reverse chronological order.  The monument has "rooms" for each of his terms of office.

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Worship

Freedom from Want

Freedom from Fear

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.  Let us move forward with strong and active faith.

The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party or one nation.  It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative efforts of the whole world.

More than and end to war we want an end to the beginnings of all wars.

They who seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers...call this a new order.  It is not new and it is not order.

Our next stop was the Martin Luther Kind Jr. Memorial.

Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument

Our favorite memorial, George Mason!  

It was a great afternoon.  We enjoyed seeing the beautiful cherry blossoms and the many memorials and monuments!

Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig

3.17.2023

Stratford Circle Colonial Beach, VA

We've been home for a couple of days now.  We're starting to settle in for the next couple of weeks until we take off for a rally to see the eclipse.  It's always great to see David and Erin, and Erin and Eric plus the grand-dogs.  It takes a few days to get used to a different bed, catch-up on laundry, and get food back in the cupboard and fridge.  This was a great trip with some familiar sights and many new ones.

The trip afforded us the chance to see many friends, some of whom we haven't seen in many years.  It is always great to reconnect with folks.  The last of which, Linda Corp-Knapp, I taught with many years ago at Dranesville.  It was fun catching up from the last 30ish years.  

On the same day Kenny rode his bike around Myrtle Beach.  The state park where we were staying is near the airport.  Below are memorials and exhibits he saw there.

In classic Ann style I beelined it home on Thursday.  Kenny made an additional stop and got home on Friday.  

We've gotten the, "What's your favorite . . . place, park, stop . .  ?" question a lot lately.  It is a tough one to answer as each place has it's own character.  We learn something different each time we visit a museum, memorial, or historic spot.  I think that's the beauty of travel; it embodies the constant expansion of our understanding.

Not sure how much I'll post in the next couple of weeks.  Doing laundry and taxes hardly seem blog worthy.  We take-off again on Easter headed south towards Texas for about a month.  So, you can expect to hear from us again then.

Thanks for keeping up with our travels!