Saturday- Day 2

               We slept in a little today because we had such little sleep the night before. We checked out of our hotel around 10:30, then trekked the ~2.5 to the National Mall. There, we visited the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. We admired the Jefferson Memorial from afar. 

                As we were deciding what Smithsonian things to visit today, Wilson said he really wanted to go to the National Air and Space Museum. He talked about it for a while, then said, “Plus, I really want to see Emily Gherhart.” Zach and I looked at each other for a second and started smiling. Zach said, “Amelia Earhart?” Wilson looked embarrassed then said in his best Wilson voice, “Yeah her. I just really want to go there, okay?!”  It was a funny moment, and maybe you had to be there. But the memory makes me smile.

                After the National Mall, we made our way to the Museum of American History. We only went into a few exhibits (we had little time because we also had to drive to New Jersey in the late afternoon). I enjoyed learning about the flag and writing of “The Star Spangled Banner.” I also loved seeing the first Washington Monument. We studied this sculpture in the last art history class I took. I think it’s so interesting because of the symbolism behind it, but at the same time, I see why they didn’t accept it as a true tribute to George Washington. Making him look like Zeus is not what George Washington would have wanted. I imagine as a pretty humble man. We also went into a pop culture exhibit that was all about the 30s: inventions, innovations, ideas, and world happenings. It was cool.

(picture of first Washington Monument to come)

                Next, we went to the National Air and Space Museum. That was awesome too! I split from my family for a while and went to learn about Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and the Wright brothers. It was fascinating. I have always admired Amelia Earhart, and this made me even more interested in her. She was a great role model for women, especially in the sense of following your dreams and aspiring to higher things. One thing I admired about the Wright brothers was that when they worked in their bike shop, they felt the need to push their intellect a little further. Eventually, that’s how their airplane came about. They didn’t settle for something easy. They pushed themselves to see what they could do. Now, their idea has come a very long way. Without people like this, our culture and society wouldn’t grow. I truly believe there is something we can all do to push ourselves and discover/do something wonderful.

                After that, we took a taxi back to our hotel (our feet killed), grabbed our bags, and set out for other adventures on this trip.

                We drove to see the DC temple. On the way, we saw a lot of damage from the storm last night. We were really lucky that nothing serious happened to us or the restaurant we were eating in! The damage was scary! We watched a family moving out because a tree pretty much crushed their house. All the trees here are really old and really big. I can’t imagine having to pack up and move because a tree pretty much totaled my house. 

 Crazy, huh? And we managed to safely run back to our hotel from dinner between bad bursts of the storm.

                When we got to our hotel in Jersey, we found out that the storm had hit really bad there too and that the power was out in the entire county. They weren’t sure when they would get it up and running. Apparently the workers did call my dad to let him know, but the only number they had on file for him was his work number. So we didn’t get the message until we got there. What an adventure.

                Emily and I went in to find the bathroom (we had just finished a 3-4 hour drive). It was roped off. So we went back outside. My dad was making calls trying to find another place for us to stay. While we waited, we ventured back inside to find another bathroom. The front-desk people told us we could use the one upstairs. So we took our phones as flashlights and went up. It was so CREEPY. The bathroom was all the way across the building through this creepy hallway. After we both used the bathroom, we ran back downstairs. Everyone else had followed us inside, so we showed them where the bathrooms were too. Ben hid behind a plant upstairs and freaked me out when I walked by. I almost started crying. Haha. We laughed about it, but I was a little mad too. We finally decided to drive to Philadelphia, which we were planning on driving to in the morning. Now, we are pretty much trying to figure out the rest of our trip day by day.