Monday, April 26, 2004
THE LAST OF THE TOURS
An interesting thing happened when we left Lincoln’s Memorial. A funeral procession passed by the Memorial and the President’s car was noticed in the line following the hearse. We later learned it was Forrestal who passed away. He was Secretary of the Navy in 1944, the first Secretary of Defense in 1947 and had resigned because of ill health in 1949. He died a few days before we were at the Memorial and so we were seeing history play out before our eyes. He was only 57-years at time of death. Flags throughout the city were at half-mast.
From there we took the bus to Jefferson’s Memorial next to the Tidal Basin. It was a pretty setting because there was room enough for lawn and flowering bushes as well as flowers. It was a good tribute because of his love to garden and landscape.
We spent a little time at the Smithsonian Institute. We were told it would take 7 ½ years to see everything in the building and spend 2 minutes on each display. We saw a few famous exhibits and left for the next stop. We passed by Union Station, the Pentagon, Treasury Department and the Library of Congress. We had a brief tour where they print our currency and make the coins. It was interesting to see it handled as any ordinary object rather than the wealth of bills we saw printed.
Late afternoon we boarded a boat for a ride up the Potomac and we enjoyed dancing and some food. It was a wonderful, warm starry night and we were all in our best clothes. Truly a night to remember for a bunch of kids from the Mid-West. My friend, Leola, still has a flattened paper cup in her scrap book that held a coke a boy brought to her. I have a few mementoes of my own….and seeing them always brings magic to my heart.
The next morning we were on our way to Annapolis, Maryland to see the Naval Academy and Chesapeake Bay. When we arrived, there were many white sails on the Bay as boats bobbed about in the water. We toured the buildings on the grounds and learned a great deal about the U.S. Navy. When we entered the chapel the glee club was practicing and we enjoyed their music. At that time it was all male voices…..long before women were admitted to the Academy.
On the way back to D.C. we ate at a quaint place called The Back Bone Inn. It was in a picturesque setting. We were pretty tired when we returned to the hotel and most of us spent a quiet evening getting ready for the next day’s outing.
We were scheduled to go to Mt. Vernon so we left early for another full day. We were shown all of the grounds and the mansion, kitchen, slave quarters, stables, harness and leather shop…….it was all very interesting. The rooms in the house were small with furniture that looked uncomfortable. Original items were still in view behind the velvet ropes that kept visitors from handling things or damaging them.
In Martha’s bedroom was her bed, rocking chair, chest and a few pictures and rug. On her table by the bed was a brass candle holder. There were reproductions available in the gift shop on the grounds but buying a few post cards to mail home was the extent of most of our shopping. George’s bedroom was more masculine and there were false teeth on the table made of wood. The information next to the teeth said he tried having teeth made out of many materials but none had worked well. When he became very ill, the doctor attending him, “let blood” which was the medical thinking of the day. He did that several times which only weakened and drained his chances of recovery.
His and Martha’s graves were in a marble building on the grounds. Some slaves were also buried at the site. Slaves did well with good owners and were close to the family. The kitchen, where many of them worked was in a building apart from the main house where food was prepared before serving.
The picture we most see of the home is on the river side where the lawn slopes gracefully down to the water’s edge. The river is quite wide at this point and I doubt if George could have thrown a coin across it. I will just say he and his dad must have been further up river where it was a shorter distance to the other side.
We were a tired bunch when we returned that night. In the morning we would be heading home so most of us were gathering up our things and packing for the trip. We were full of images, sounds and emotions that had been pressed into a few days while there……..enough to last a lifetime……..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
From there we took the bus to Jefferson’s Memorial next to the Tidal Basin. It was a pretty setting because there was room enough for lawn and flowering bushes as well as flowers. It was a good tribute because of his love to garden and landscape.
We spent a little time at the Smithsonian Institute. We were told it would take 7 ½ years to see everything in the building and spend 2 minutes on each display. We saw a few famous exhibits and left for the next stop. We passed by Union Station, the Pentagon, Treasury Department and the Library of Congress. We had a brief tour where they print our currency and make the coins. It was interesting to see it handled as any ordinary object rather than the wealth of bills we saw printed.
Late afternoon we boarded a boat for a ride up the Potomac and we enjoyed dancing and some food. It was a wonderful, warm starry night and we were all in our best clothes. Truly a night to remember for a bunch of kids from the Mid-West. My friend, Leola, still has a flattened paper cup in her scrap book that held a coke a boy brought to her. I have a few mementoes of my own….and seeing them always brings magic to my heart.
The next morning we were on our way to Annapolis, Maryland to see the Naval Academy and Chesapeake Bay. When we arrived, there were many white sails on the Bay as boats bobbed about in the water. We toured the buildings on the grounds and learned a great deal about the U.S. Navy. When we entered the chapel the glee club was practicing and we enjoyed their music. At that time it was all male voices…..long before women were admitted to the Academy.
On the way back to D.C. we ate at a quaint place called The Back Bone Inn. It was in a picturesque setting. We were pretty tired when we returned to the hotel and most of us spent a quiet evening getting ready for the next day’s outing.
We were scheduled to go to Mt. Vernon so we left early for another full day. We were shown all of the grounds and the mansion, kitchen, slave quarters, stables, harness and leather shop…….it was all very interesting. The rooms in the house were small with furniture that looked uncomfortable. Original items were still in view behind the velvet ropes that kept visitors from handling things or damaging them.
In Martha’s bedroom was her bed, rocking chair, chest and a few pictures and rug. On her table by the bed was a brass candle holder. There were reproductions available in the gift shop on the grounds but buying a few post cards to mail home was the extent of most of our shopping. George’s bedroom was more masculine and there were false teeth on the table made of wood. The information next to the teeth said he tried having teeth made out of many materials but none had worked well. When he became very ill, the doctor attending him, “let blood” which was the medical thinking of the day. He did that several times which only weakened and drained his chances of recovery.
His and Martha’s graves were in a marble building on the grounds. Some slaves were also buried at the site. Slaves did well with good owners and were close to the family. The kitchen, where many of them worked was in a building apart from the main house where food was prepared before serving.
The picture we most see of the home is on the river side where the lawn slopes gracefully down to the water’s edge. The river is quite wide at this point and I doubt if George could have thrown a coin across it. I will just say he and his dad must have been further up river where it was a shorter distance to the other side.
We were a tired bunch when we returned that night. In the morning we would be heading home so most of us were gathering up our things and packing for the trip. We were full of images, sounds and emotions that had been pressed into a few days while there……..enough to last a lifetime……..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
