Thoughts after a few days in DC

The kids and I took a trip to DC for one more visit (pics to come soon). Here are some of my thoughts after the trip:

- The ruby slippers are pretty cool. Not anti-climatic for me. I loved reading how the ones on display had felt bottoms and were therefore used for dancing sequences.

- As to be expected, I loved all of the inaugural gowns. So beautiful. I thought it was funny that some of the women picked their gowns because they knew they would be on display in the Smithsonian and they picked gowns that would "age well." Believe me that those gowns weren't as fun to look at as some of the other gowns.

- I never knew how well off George Washington was until visiting Mount Vernon. It makes the cabins and houses in Valley Forge seem all the smaller and cramped. The living quarters for his overseer were bigger than our grad school apartments. (I'm being completely serious.) Mount Vernon was beautiful and someday I'm going to go back to spend more time seeing all of the things that are hard to see with kids.

- I've always heard the story of the flag that flew over Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. Now I've seen the flag. It is really big. I should have figured this out, but it was incredible to see. It was also incredible to think of the woman who made that flag and try to think of how she fit it into her home to sew it. (I know, the things I think about...)

- Visiting Ford's Theater made John Wilkes Booth really come alive for me. I can't believe how far of a jump he had made off the balcony after killing Lincoln. And then to think that he broke his leg and still got away for so many days is incredible.

- Visiting Petersen's Boarding house(across the street from Ford Theater) made the death of Lincoln become more real. While I've studied about Lincoln and his life in school, I hadn't remembered that he died across the street from Ford's Theater. It was interesting to see the house that he died in and thinking of how many people would have been coming in and out of that house to mourn with Mary Todd Lincoln during that time.

Ultimately this trip made me realize that becoming an adult really helps when you visit a lot of these historical sites. There is so much more meaning to all of these places/things when I think about the people who lived/died/did whatever they did to make that place/thing be a special part of our country. I hope that my children remember that we went to these places, but I know that it's only as they read and grow that these places will really have a lot of meaning for them. This was such a special trip because these places and things really did come alive for me in the way that I wanted them to. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense. It was just a great trip and I'm really wanting to remember how I feel right now.