Day 15: Washington, D.C. (last day)

Today was in the 90s and extremely muggy. One of those days when you sweat and it just clings to your body. Of course, this is the day we spent much time outside. We started at the Washington National Zoo, a Smithsonian Institution.





The Metro dropped us about two blocks away, and the boys were already hot when we got to the zoo.

We came to see the giant pandas, a species that may not survive our lifetimes. Here is one of them, sleeping on its back and trying to beat the heat!

Sherry was quite taken by this small red panda, which is not really a panda at all--its closest relative is the raccoon, and it lives in southeast asia, not Australia.

Jeremy did not want to leave the zoo, but we can see a zoo in Portland, and were only there to see the Pandas. Forrest explained this to Jeremy, and he took it pretty well. He was rewarded/bribed with a strawberry frappuccino from Starbucks.

From the zoo, we hiked to Washington National Cathedral. Thanks to Scott for the tip. He failed to tell us it was UP HILL all the way! Anyway, we arrived, wet and dripping, and it felt like heaven inside.

This is a very impressive structure, not just for the size, but for the audacious architecture, the trappings of both church and history, and the dead housed in and under the building.

Theodore Roosevelt laid the foundation stone in 1907, and George H.W. Bush was present for the completion in 1990.

The stained glass windows definitely picked up the inside. They featured historical scenes, and were fun to figure out. This one highlights Jamestown, a recurring theme in our travels.

We found several famous people interred here, including Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller.
Woodrow Wilson's last published words were, "...our civilization can not survive materially unless it be redeemed spiritually. It can be saved only in becoming permeated with the spirit of Christ...and being made free and happy by the practices which spring out of that spirit." How fitting that he should be buried in a cathedral!

The stained glass made a wonderful rainbow color pattern through the main nave. We arrived at 12:05, in time for most of the noon Eucharist.

We walked along the edges, and found dedications to Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, among others.

In general, we felt the cathedral is not just an Episcopal Church, but a fitting national church that is part of who--and what--we are.

After the cathedral, we decided to take the bus for the two mile trip to the Metro station. After two busses failed to show up in the blazing, humid heat, the third bus finally came, after we had waited 40 minutes. Forrest took this picture of an advertisement for Secret Service recruits.

The bus dropped us off at the metro station, and we took time to go into Subway restaurant and cool off with lunch. After we emerged and went back down into the metro subway, Ian realized he had thrown away his retainer with all the cups and paper. To his surprise, no one was particularly upset. He has had it on for a year, the dentist said he needed it for at least 6 months, and lately he spends more time playing with it with his tongue than keeping it on his teeth!

We took the metro to Arlington Cemetery, where we looked at graves of famous generals, JFK and Robert Kennedy, and the tomb of the unknown soldier, where we also observed the changing of the guard.

It was quite amazing how they would stop and click their heels together at the same time, even facing away from each other, and also how they would turn at the same time when they couldn't see each other. And it was HOT!



Forrest happened upon this monument to the 2111 unknown soldiers who died at Bull Run in 1866.

This is the gravemarker of the other President at Arlington, William Howard Taft. He was also a Supreme Court Justice, so was doubly entitled to be buried here.

From the top of the cemetery we had a great view of Washington. Behind Sherry one can make out the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the Capitol (lower center).

We left Arlington and headed back into town, to pick up some souvenirs for the boys and finish a couple exhibits at the American History museum, including the First Ladies exhibit and the Star Spangled Banner exhibit. In the flag exhibit, we chatted up the guard and gained permission for Sherry to take this photo of the actual giant Fort McHenry flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner anthem. Since we were just there yesterday, it felt like we had reached closure on Ft. McHenry. This is a proud flag, and a proud moment in our history.

Notice one star is missing, because someone cut it out. There is a rumor that it was buried with Lincoln, but a few attempts have been made to dig him up and find out, and they have all failed (now he is under 15 tons of concrete).

We left the museum at closing time, 7:30 pm. So did everyone else, apparently. It was starting to storm outside, and we barely made it into the Metro underground station before it poured on one inch of rain, 1700 lightning strikes and 70 mph wind gusts that toppled trees all over the area. We missed it all, going underground back to our hotel, much to Sherry's relief.

But the metro was more crowded than we have seen it yet. The boys and I formed a triangle around Sherry, and bodies were pressing in on all sides. She hung in there, even with claustrophobia, because she wanted to get away from the storm! The paper the other day described subhuman conditions on the subway, and this was pretty close.

At any rate, we're done with the subway now, and we can travel a little easier, praise God!

After we finally got back to our van, Forrest took this picture of the sun-lit thunder clouds over Washington. On the news later, we saw the incredible damage this "microburst" caused in the area.

We took the boys to Safeway for supper, and had Krispy Kremes for dessert at 9:45 pm. Another late night supper on vacation!