Cold Visit to the National Christmas Tree

As this day drew to an end and the sun was beginning to set, the cold was too beginning to set in on us.  In front of the White House is the National Christmas Tree along with trees to represent all of the states, plus the territories.

I loved the trees around the White House.  I could imagine the children and families that have lived there playing in the trees, running around the lawn and playing on the hills.  It occurred to me that the loss of reverence and privacy of the President's family in the era in which we live, that innocence of climbing on those trees, playing hide and seek and whatnot are lost.  Nonetheless, I thought these trees beautiful.

Here's the infamous White House Garden.  Being very late December, it was covered.

 We surveyed all of the state trees and found the Oklahoma tree to have Origami figures in glass balls.

Great View - Old Post Office Tower

The Old Post Office Tower was constructed in 1899, it was the first government building to have it's own electric power plant (fun fact).  We went up to the top, where we could see DC in all directions.

  The Old Post Office Clock Tower has the official US Bells of Congress, they were a bicentennial gift from England.

Hidden Treasure: National Postal Museum

The National Postal Museum, totally unassuming Smithsonian location, holds an incredibly interesting and interactive set of exhibits.  Everything from the history of mail delivery, to lost mail, to mail fraud, to a Stamp Gallery.  There is also a totally interactive exhibit of how direct marketing really works.

These are some of the more creative mail boxes on display.

This is the exhibit about the Unibomber.  These are the handcuffs used in his arrest and an unopened package.  Interesting, living history.

Union Station DC

I had never been inside of a large train/travel station like this before. I was really excited that we were able to visit.

Here we are with another large Christmas Tree. This is the one in Union Station. It's covered in little American Flags. Nice touch.

This was a miniture train set inside of the station. It was a good stop.

National Air & Space Museum

Being a very cold day, right in the middle of Christmas vacation time, the National Air & Space Museum was very, very full. Millions of people visit each year, and I am pretty sure that 1 of those million were there the day we visited. This fact alone made the visit to the other Air & Space Museum all the better. The exhibits here were interactive, high-tech, interesting and at times hard to see and really enjoy. Here are a few that we were able to really take advantage of:

Raven & the Wright Brothers

JB & the Starship Enterprise:

Luke & Raven at Lunchtime:

Library of Congress Christmas Tree Capitol, and National Museum of the American Indian

The Library of Congress in one AMAZING place. It houses over 145 million items and over 33 million cataloged books. It is the largest library in the world. And it is always growning, collecting more books and other items. Not just printed or other wise recorded artifacts are on display at the Library of Congress, but we found Houdini's actual cuffs:

It is awesome to see the preservation of print in thie digital world in which we live.

It was a very cold day when we visited these locations. The Capitol tour was quite informative. The building has so much history, so many have been through it's halls, to see it in person was a wonderful experience.

The National Museum of the American Indian is the 16th museum of the Smithsonian Institution and the first to showcase and preserve the life, heratige, history and arts and the Native Americans. This unique structure houses collections of artifacts from all around the Americas.

Inside the Museum of Native Americans

Raven loves when we see anything that is a Raven. Here on the upper level of the museum is an exhibit of How Raven Stole the Sun.

Inside the graceful expanse of the National Museum of the American Indian there are visually stunning works of art, expressions of visceral feeling on the history that the Native Americans have experienced as this land became the United States.

National Zoo Lights

We did not make it to see the National Zoo durring the day, but we were able to go for an evening of the Zoo Lights event. It was a great night! A few of the buildings and exhibits were open for us to visit along the trail of lights.

These dancing pandas, albeit a bit strange in this more than life size snow globe, they were engaging and playful with the kids.

The light displays were beautiful and the ones set to music were fun for the kids to sing and dance with.

It was a real treat to see the Pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, being active this evening. Raven LOVES Pandas. There was a zoologist available to talk about the research they are doing with them and tell visitors about Panda daily life. Very Cool.

Washington National Cathedral

The Washington National Cathedral was first the idea of L'Enfant's in 1791 as a "great church for national purposes." It was not begun to be built until the early 1900's. It was not considered "completed" until 1990, 83 years of construction. 15 Presidents have had their funerals at the Cathedral, 5 have held their presidential inaugural prayer service, and there is a Darth Vader sculpture near the top of the west tower.

National Ait and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

I don't think that we could have made a better choice for seeing the National Air and Space Museum than we did going out near Dulles to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. A short drive from DC, the thousands of aviation and space artifacts are well showcased and easily strolled around to take it all in.

The Space Shuttle Enterprise in the McDonnell Space Hanger was amazingly big.

It was not crowded, so we were able to enjoy reading about and looking at aircrafts, prototypes, bombers and airliners and so much more.

Arlington National Cemetery

It was a very cold, brisk morning when we visited Arlington National Cemetery. I was unsure what to expect when we arrived, the sprawling hills of headstones were awe inspiring.
We were able to watch the change of guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Here are the kids at the resting place of JFK. This spot has a great view of the Mall.

U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial

The Marine Corps War Memorial stands as a symbol of honored dead of the U.S. Marine Corps. While the statue depicts one of the most famous incidents of World War II, the memorial is dedicated to all Marines who have given their lives in the defense of the United States since 1775.

The statue is 32 feet tall with a 60-foot flag pole, on which a cloth flag flies 24 hours a day and is replaced regularly.

This was a very meaningful visit for Raven.