A Busy June Tuesday in Washington DC

It is taking me for-ev-er to get the events of the June trip posted but since we usually try to take a vacation alone for our anniversary (which is this week!) and that ain't happen' (thanks to the various excursions made so far in 2010!) I don't feel too guilty submitting the commentary and pictures at this time.


To continue. . .

We checked out of our room in the 'burbs because we only had reservations for 3 nights. Since we had gotten such a good rate online we could not come to terms with the management. Pastor Dad attempted to secure further reservations online but our Wifi mysteriously stopped working. Hmm.

Okay, we know when we're not wanted. But we did some sight-seeing in the area before our departure:

NOT a great picture, I'll admit, but it was an afterthought. An almost-too-late afterthought.

Why do I visit Civil War battlefields, you ask? I don't know. I just do. I'm drawn to history like a moth to a flame. But you'd think I'd stop going to places that make me cry.

Why do places like Civil War battlefields make me cry? I don't know. They just do. To quote a line from the movie The Money Pit, "[I'm] complex." And to quote a line from The Sixth Sense, "I see dead people." Not really. Well, not like the boy in the movie, anyway. But in the moments I spend there I experience the fear, despair, patriotism (of both sides), and confusion of the people who lived the events. And even those who didn't die there are dead now. The pathos and utter tragedy of their stories make me weep.

Just common folks like you and I.


We left there and drove here:



This is the home of a very uncommon person.

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Auxiliary has done a magnificent job of keeping the memory of the Father of our Country alive. And as such, our nation's birth story. No tax dollars are used for the upkeep of this property.

After experiencing the displays on the property and in the educational center I'm loathe to have used the word "complex" to describe myself. If anyone was complex, it was George Washington! He was both a thinker and a doer. A lover and a fighter. An earthly inhabitant and a spiritual pilgrim. A great leader and a humble citizen.

I've always admired Washington, but now more than ever. Even his dying words attest to the source of his inner strength , "It is well," he said as his soul was departing.



After we left Mount Vernon we drove into the city where we had reservations for the last four nights. The hotel was AAA approved but I've considered calling the auto club to complain. It was here that I had nightmares the whole night long. No, that's inaccurate. "Nightmares" suggests "sleep" when actually very little of that happened.

It began from the moment we opened the door to our room and were greeted by a stench like I have never smelled before. We called the desk and were told that a maid would be there soon. No maid ever appeared but I located the source of the problem soon enough. That would be the mouse that ran across the room and stopped next to my open suitcase!

It was too late in the evening to find other accommodations so the manager moved us to another room. I wouldn't let Pastor Dad bring our suitcases in until he had opened and emptied them in the hallway. I didn't care if our tidy-whities were on display for all to see!

Even that wasn't enough precaution to dispel my reservations about our reservations. We cancelled the next three nights and worked to secure lodging elsewhere.

(To be continued . . .)