July 12 Mike, Betsy, Natalie, Steve and Cricket - Washington DC

We are in Millersville, Maryland outside of Washington DC.   Bucket List Item - check

We have spent the weekend with John’s niece Betsy, nephew Steve and their family. It has been great to catch up.

Mike and Betsy drove us to the capital of Maryland, Annapolis last evening along with their daughter Natalie. What a fun evening.
We had a delicious dinner at 6:15 tonight so after dinner we took a beautiful walk along the street and Pier.  It was great to hear the great street music, boats big and small, moon, bay, Atlantic Ocean and loads of people. So much fun.  We laughed and said we usually don't get out past 7pm.  Great Day!!

Sunday, we attended 2 Episcopal Church services that John's niece Cricket officiated as a Episcopal priest this morning. The organ and music were beautiful.
So glad we were able attend church this am.  After church we met so many nice members and felt very welcome.
Another bucket list.

This evening we had a delicious meal at Betsy and Mike house, John's niece and her husband. Steve and Cricket joined us and they shared their vacation pictures of Yosemite. Gorgeous.

Tomorrow, Mon and Tuesday we are taking a tour into Washington DC from the campground.
We did the same thing in New York City and it worked great even with the parade of the US Soccer Team.

Temperatures are in the still in the 90’s with high humidity. We are having a great time but will be glad to get home to our normal summer temperatures.  LOL

Another bucket list - Washington DC.  I do have to say, after the fact, that even a full week or two would not be enough time to marvel at the architecture and landmarks and see historic landmarks and monuments in Washington DC. 

Seeing all the monuments that I have seen in books, school, TV is a dream come true.  Again, I was caught off guard a few times, when first seeing the United States Capital, Washington Monument, National Mall, Jefferson Monument and much more so when we were standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial.  

Arlington National Cemetery was very sobering.  John was especially taken back at the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.  

Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery   Click link to learn more


The green hillsides covered with white headstones are not a sight you soon forget.  I had not realized there were so many different section of the cemetery.  There is even a section for nurses.  We visited the Kennedy gravesite and many more.

 

The architecture was beautiful and hearing more history of the city was very interesting.  I loved the Union Station.  It is beautiful but there are also so many huge buildings to see and tour.

Allen, our son and family, had planned on joining us to see the Smithsonian.  I told him not to feel bad, we only went into one museum to see the Hope Diamond.   We are planning a return trip just to visit the Smithsonian Museums.

Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC are collectively called the Smithsonian Institution, this world-renowned museum and research complex consists of 17 museums, galleries and a zoo. 

On our last day in Washington DC, we drove into the city to visit with Steve and Cricket.  They took us for a tour of the Washington National Cathedral.

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American Cathedral of the Episcopal Church.  The structure is of Neo-Gothic design closely modeled on English Gothic style of the late fourteenth century.  It is both the second-largest church building in the United States, and the fourth-tallest structure in Washington, D.C. 
 We were able to attend a holy Eucharist and had a short organ demo.

Cathedral Organ Demo   Click the link to listen to the demo

Steve, Cricket John (Jack)