East Coast Blog #4

Sunday, July 4

First, a few words to the wise.  If you truly want to blog—and you want to do it right—you need two things:  scheduled downtime during your day in which to compose your blog and fast internet!  When you are out exploring from dawn to dusk every day, there is little time for blogging that doesn’t eat up your sleeping hours. (Unless you take long bus trips every once in a while, in which case you are completely at the mercy of your computer battery.  This one gives out after about one hour.)  And if the internet at your hotel is slow, recognize that the process of uploading 5 photos to your blog page could take an eternity.

Really what I’m saying is don’t expect to get your blogs done in a timely fashion.  I should also add in that it’s really fun, and you’ll be so happy that you did it!

At this point, I’m working solely on the “better late than never” principle, because it’s Sunday at 7AM, and I just posted my blog for Wednesday and Thursday!  Those days seem like ancient history at this point, but I still want to update y’all on what’s happening.  One of our trumpet players Danny sat down at the hotel piano this morning during breakfast and played “Let it Be,” and those piano chords are still echoing through my mind.

The short version of what has happened since Friday morning is this:  We visited Gettysburg, Arlington National Cemetery, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, numerous monuments and memorials, two Smithsonian Museums, and ate a meal on the top floor of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  Whew!

Highlights:

• There is a painting in the Gettysburg Civil War Museum called the Cyclorama.  It is a circular painting 7.5 meters tall, and you stand in the middle of it.  You are “standing” on a particular spot on the battlefield, and in every direction 360° you can see Civil War troops and horses.  It is so well done it is uncanny.  You feel like you are part of the landscape. Go see it.  It’s amazing.
• We got to touch a moon rock in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
  

  Mother and daughter Draper in front of the White House

• If you take your photo in front of the White House, you’ll get to see Secret Service Police in person.
• Don’t venture to the back of a bus filled with teenagers on a hot day at the end of a long trip.  Or if you do, hold your nose!!  (Sorry guys, but it’s true.)
• The Library of Congress is one of the most ornate buildings you will every see.  There are paintings, mosaics, and statuettes everywhere you look.
• There are fireflies in Washington DC, and if you’re lucky, you might spot one.
• Mother and daughter pairs can make great traveling partners!


Mother Miller and daughter Miller