For which it stands... (Days 20 & 21)

Day 20

Wednesday, July 31^st 2013

We were off to Maryland. My sweet husband stopped at a rest stop just so we could take a picture together behind a giant LOVE sign. That made me so happy! 

Along the way, we visited Chancellorsville, Virginia and got to see the Confederate Trenches. These were the fortifications made by the Confederate army under General Stonewall Jackson's leadership. 

The Battle of Chancellorsville was fought here from April 30 - May 6th, 1863 and you can still see the trenches today as a silent memorial to what happened long ago.

 It was an amazing sight to behold and reflect upon. 

Then we drove through the town of Fredericksburg and at the corner of William St. and Charles St. was an original slave auction block preserved today at the corner of the sidewalk. It's just a small stone step but it serves as a solemn reminder of just what we fought for in the Civil War. All men are created equal! 

We made it to our place for the night at a place called Cherry Hill Park. This was a pretty nice RV park though very expensive as it was the closest we could get to Washington D.C. which was our next stop for tomorrow.  

  

Day 21

Thursday, August 1^st 2013

It was funny seeing all the signs for "Washington" as we approached Washington D.C. From one Washington to another. It even looks similar being green and raining the day we visited. 

We drove around for a long time trying to find a place to park our big rig. Try not to drive anything big into downtown as all the parking garages are pretty much 6 ft. 10 in. and below. The tallest one we could find was full. =( So we ended up parking at a park across the river on the Virginia side.

Hooking up the bike trailer, we loaded the kids up and biked all the way to Washington D.C. 

It was actually a ton of fun and not too hard. And it sounds pretty cool to say I biked from Virginia to Washington (cause no one says Washington D.C. around here, so you could get away with that ;)

We rode over the bridge, through downtown, to the White House, around the Treasury Department, and past the Washington Monument. 

Then of course it started to rain. Huge raindrops and rain so hard we had to find cover before becoming completely soaked. It finally let up and we set off again all the way to the Smithsonian Institute which is a really big area made up of about 16 museums. 

The museums are amazing, huge buildings full of information and interactive displays... and the best part, it's all free! 

The first we explored was the National Museum of Natural History. This one was full of biology starting with dinosaurs and fossils, onto humans and genomes, under the sea, butterflies and insects, bones, gems and rocks. 

There was more stuff to look at then we had time for! There was even a butterfly pavilion you could walk through with live butterflies but that did cost money and the line looked very long with a big wait. 

We rode our bikes past the US Capitol Building and then checked out the National Air and Space Museum. 

Caleb thought this museum the best thing ever. It had everything about rockets, spaceships, airplanes, satellites, jets... anything you could want to know about flying or space. 

The museum also had a lot of hands-on activities for the kids.

How Earth looks through different lens starting from our own eyes all the way to a satellite way out in space.

There just wasn't enough time for all that the Smithsonian Institute or National Mall had to offer. We had to get going so we rode our bikes along the Reflective Pool and climbed the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. 

Juliet was more interested in the ducks swimming in the pool than looking at the camera, lol 

This was probably all of our favorite place of the day. The girls thought climbing all those stairs was too much fun, and seeing the statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting so majestically there was amazing. 

His Gettysburg address was engraved in the wall and the words put everyone in a spell-binding awe. The elegance of the memorial beset by the tranquility of the Reflective pool were an incredible experience.    

We live in such an amazing country founded upon great principles and people! 

And we stand as...

One nation. under God. 

With liberty. And justice. 

For all! 

So what did you think? Likes, questions, suggestions? 

Have you visited some of these sights? What was your favorite place? 

Leave me a comment and feel free to share our blog. =) We'd love to hear from you!