This year Daniel and I celebrated 16 years of marriage! We planned to go to a new Moroccan restaurant for a dinner out, but he came home and said sadly, "We're not going to be able to go out to dinner."
"Why - are you being deployed?" (He has a track record of being gone on all major anniversaries: 5 year: deployed to Bosnia; 10 year: deployed to Iraq; 15 year: deployed to Afghanistan - my suspicions were not baseless :) )
"No, I have to go to D.C. for a meeting at the State Department, and I thought you could come along for an overnight trip."
"What?? Of course!"
Despite living at Ft. Meade, MD, I've never been to D.C. I KNOW! That's pitiful! I made some calls to good friends who agreed to take the kids at the last minute. Off we went on a Monday afternoon like we didn't have a care in the world! Because it was actually cool enough to stand being outside, we decided to walk around and see the monuments. I actually got chills. I didn't expect to like D.C. as much as I did. (I probably wouldn't if I had to drive there as much as Daniel does, though.)
I couldn't believe I was actually standing at the Lincoln Memorial! I liked the signs that asked for a respectful silence, and I liked the fact that people were following that request.
This is Daniel in front of the Korean War Memorial. We were in D.C. on D-Day (yes, our anniversary is on D-Day - partially so Daniel will never forget our anniversary :) ) so they had all kinds of ceremonies going on. A Korean military contingent was laying a wreath on the Memorial.
We also went to the World War II Memorial and Daniel got a picture of the Pacific side with Guadalcanal in honor of his grandfather.
We saw a ceremony honoring World War II veterans from France. The honorees were receiving the French Legion of Merit.
After the ceremony, the party went over to the Europe side to lay a wreath in honor of D-Day. 
One of the most touching things that I saw at the World War II Memorial was a large group of World War II veterans who were being escorted by their "guardians." They were part of the Honor Flight Network which flies veterans to DC to visit their memorial. The organization assigns three guardians to each group of eight veterans to care for them and help them with the logistics of flying and visiting. The guardians are volunteers and are expected to pay their own way. I almost got tears in my eyes seeing how respectfully and carefully these volunteers treated their veterans. I was touched by the number of young men - maybe teenagers or men in their early twenties - who were escorting these veterans who are a disappearing national treasure. What a privilege to see them. I wanted to take pictures, but I thought it might be inappropriate given the solemn occasion. 
Off we went to the Washington Monument:
While walking up to the Washington Monument, we saw a guy running past us who looked awfully familiar. When he was a few steps behind us, we both said, "Joe Funderburke!" He was Daniel's classmate at West Point, and he's working in D.C. now. I asked him on Facebook if he was running past the Washington Monument the previous afternoon, and he replied, "Why? Did you see a man who reminded you of a graceful gazelle?" Well...maybe a sweaty gazelle. :)
"Why - are you being deployed?" (He has a track record of being gone on all major anniversaries: 5 year: deployed to Bosnia; 10 year: deployed to Iraq; 15 year: deployed to Afghanistan - my suspicions were not baseless :) )
"No, I have to go to D.C. for a meeting at the State Department, and I thought you could come along for an overnight trip."
"What?? Of course!"
Despite living at Ft. Meade, MD, I've never been to D.C. I KNOW! That's pitiful! I made some calls to good friends who agreed to take the kids at the last minute. Off we went on a Monday afternoon like we didn't have a care in the world! Because it was actually cool enough to stand being outside, we decided to walk around and see the monuments. I actually got chills. I didn't expect to like D.C. as much as I did. (I probably wouldn't if I had to drive there as much as Daniel does, though.)
Here we are trying to get a good picture of the two of us by the river. I'm not sure this picture could be described as meeting that goal. :)
I couldn't believe I was actually standing at the Lincoln Memorial! I liked the signs that asked for a respectful silence, and I liked the fact that people were following that request.
This is Daniel in front of the Korean War Memorial. We were in D.C. on D-Day (yes, our anniversary is on D-Day - partially so Daniel will never forget our anniversary :) ) so they had all kinds of ceremonies going on. A Korean military contingent was laying a wreath on the Memorial.
We also went to the World War II Memorial and Daniel got a picture of the Pacific side with Guadalcanal in honor of his grandfather.
We saw a ceremony honoring World War II veterans from France. The honorees were receiving the French Legion of Merit.
After the ceremony, the party went over to the Europe side to lay a wreath in honor of D-Day. 
One of the most touching things that I saw at the World War II Memorial was a large group of World War II veterans who were being escorted by their "guardians." They were part of the Honor Flight Network which flies veterans to DC to visit their memorial. The organization assigns three guardians to each group of eight veterans to care for them and help them with the logistics of flying and visiting. The guardians are volunteers and are expected to pay their own way. I almost got tears in my eyes seeing how respectfully and carefully these volunteers treated their veterans. I was touched by the number of young men - maybe teenagers or men in their early twenties - who were escorting these veterans who are a disappearing national treasure. What a privilege to see them. I wanted to take pictures, but I thought it might be inappropriate given the solemn occasion. 
Off we went to the Washington Monument:
While walking up to the Washington Monument, we saw a guy running past us who looked awfully familiar. When he was a few steps behind us, we both said, "Joe Funderburke!" He was Daniel's classmate at West Point, and he's working in D.C. now. I asked him on Facebook if he was running past the Washington Monument the previous afternoon, and he replied, "Why? Did you see a man who reminded you of a graceful gazelle?" Well...maybe a sweaty gazelle. :)This is not the sweaty gazelle - this is my husband:
The view from below was breath-taking. We were too late to go inside; the last tour tickets had already been sold.
We started walking toward the Jefferson Memorial but decided we weren't going to make it there and all the way back to our car before exhaustion set in, so we headed for the hotel. We freshened up, had some snacks in the penthouse lounge, and decided what to do for dinner. Neither one of us wanted to venture out by car again, so had dinner outside at our hotel, and we had a good time people-watching. It's always a fun game to try to see if you can pick out the Europeans in the crowd. The footwear and the eyewear usually give them away, not to mention the "man-pris" the Danish guy was wearing when he sat down at the table next to us. Thankfully, we were almost done with our meal when he decided to roll his own cigarette to smoke. :) We went for a walk and got ice cream. What a lovely day with my husband!
I took this picture of the White House as we returned to our hotel that evening. There was some to-do going on there with the Marine Corps band bus and LOTS of limos. We later found out Angela Merkel was visiting with the President.
The next day, after I dropped Daniel off at the State Department, I DROVE ALL BY MYSELF to the Smithsonian for a tour. It's so handy that Daniel has a little car that can parallel park anywhere. :) I admired the architecture of buildings like the Department of Justice building:
And then I chose to tour the Smithsonian Museum of American History because I didn't have time for the whole complex. I'll have to see the Hope Diamond in the Natural History Museum next time. :) (This is how much of a goober tourist I am - I didn't even know the Smithsonian was FREE!)
I only had my phone with me because I left the camera in the car, so these are not the best pictures. I particularly liked the display of the dresses and personal belongings from the First Ladies. I took this picture of Abigail Adams's dress for the girls. Actually, I took all the pictures for the girls, except for Jacqueline Kennedy's dress - I took that for my mom. :)
And these beautiful instruments:
And then I got to hear recordings of music made with these instruments. I'm not a musical person AT ALL but I could appreciate that music!
The view from below was breath-taking. We were too late to go inside; the last tour tickets had already been sold.
We started walking toward the Jefferson Memorial but decided we weren't going to make it there and all the way back to our car before exhaustion set in, so we headed for the hotel. We freshened up, had some snacks in the penthouse lounge, and decided what to do for dinner. Neither one of us wanted to venture out by car again, so had dinner outside at our hotel, and we had a good time people-watching. It's always a fun game to try to see if you can pick out the Europeans in the crowd. The footwear and the eyewear usually give them away, not to mention the "man-pris" the Danish guy was wearing when he sat down at the table next to us. Thankfully, we were almost done with our meal when he decided to roll his own cigarette to smoke. :) We went for a walk and got ice cream. What a lovely day with my husband!
I took this picture of the White House as we returned to our hotel that evening. There was some to-do going on there with the Marine Corps band bus and LOTS of limos. We later found out Angela Merkel was visiting with the President.
The next day, after I dropped Daniel off at the State Department, I DROVE ALL BY MYSELF to the Smithsonian for a tour. It's so handy that Daniel has a little car that can parallel park anywhere. :) I admired the architecture of buildings like the Department of Justice building:
And then I chose to tour the Smithsonian Museum of American History because I didn't have time for the whole complex. I'll have to see the Hope Diamond in the Natural History Museum next time. :) (This is how much of a goober tourist I am - I didn't even know the Smithsonian was FREE!)
I only had my phone with me because I left the camera in the car, so these are not the best pictures. I particularly liked the display of the dresses and personal belongings from the First Ladies. I took this picture of Abigail Adams's dress for the girls. Actually, I took all the pictures for the girls, except for Jacqueline Kennedy's dress - I took that for my mom. :)
I think that Mamie Eisenhower's dress was my favorite. It was so interesting to see the reactions from the little girls as they entered the room with all the sparkly dresses. I heard a lot of gasping and quiet squealing, as well as exclamations about sparkles and pretty shoes. :) I also heard a crowd of girls surmising how much Michelle Obama's outfit had been, including her Manolo Blahnik shoes. They were debating whether the diamonds on display were real or not. The boys' reaction to this particular area: immediate slumping of the shoulders and drawn-out sighs. Poor guys.
Mamie Eisenhower's dress:
I went into a music room where I saw this sign:
And these beautiful instruments:
And then I got to hear recordings of music made with these instruments. I'm not a musical person AT ALL but I could appreciate that music!After my quiet tour, I successfully drove back to get Daniel ALL BY MYSELF and we headed home. What a lovely anniversary trip!
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