The Wright Idea - Washington, DC, Day 2

Many people think that "The Smithsonian" refers to a single museum in Washington, DC.  But actually, The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge," is a group of museums and research centers administered by the United States government. Termed "the nation's attic" for its eclectic holdings of 137 million items, the Institution's Washington, D.C. nucleus of nineteen museums, nine research centers, and a zoo—many of them historical or architectural landmarks—is the largest such complex in the world. The Institutions's thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge; funding comes from the Institution's own endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, government support, and retail, concession and licensing revenues. (Wikipedia)

On Thursday, we visited the American History Museum.  On Friday, I flew out and Karl took the kids to the Air and Space Museum.

The kids said that Seattle's Museum of Flight has a better WWI/WWII exhibit.  It's really good.  They let you fly a WWI plane!

After the museum, Karl took the kids to historic Winchester, Virginia to buy black powder for Gettysburg.  I'll bet not many dads can say that!

A little Winchester history:

During the Revolutionary War, the Virginia House of Burgesses chose local resident and French and Indian War veteran Daniel Morgan to raise a company of militia to support General George Washington's efforts during the Siege of Boston. He led 

The 96 men of Daniel "Morgan's Sharpshooters" marched from Winchester to Boston in 21 days. Morgan, and others also performed various duties in holding captured prisoners of war, particularly Hessian soldiers, who were known to walk to the high ridge north and west of town, where they could purchase and eat apple pies made by the Quakers. The ridge became affectionately known as Apple Pie Ridge. 


During the Civil War, Winchester and the surrounding area were the site of numerous battles as both the Confederate and Union armies strove to control that portion of the Shenandoah Valley. Seven major battlefields are within the original Frederick County.  I am currently reading the diary of a woman who lived in Winchester during the Civil War.

This area - the whole east coast really - is just riddled with historical sites.  It is incredible to drive along the highway spotting names familiar from history left and right - Manassas, Lexington, Trenton, Menlo Park, Spotsylvania.



They ate dinner here.  "Wings", get it?!  (Snort.)

A Capital Idea - Washington, DC, Day 1

The history of Washington, D.C. is tied to its role as the capital of the United States. Originally inhabited by an Algonquian-speaking people known as the Nacotchtank, the site of the District of Columbia along the Potomac River was first selected by President George Washington. 

The city came under attack during the War of 1812 in an episode known as the Burning of Washington.  On August 24, 1814, after defeating the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, a British force occupied Washington City and set fire to many public buildings. The facilities of the U.S. government, including the White House and U.S. Capitol, were largely destroyed.  The British commander's orders to burn only public buildings and strict discipline among the British troops are credited with preserving the city's private buildings.  This was the only time since the Revolutionary War that a foreign power captured and occupied the United States capital.

Unique among cities with a high percentage of African Americans, Washington has had a significant black population since the city's creation. As a result, Washington became both a center of African American culture and a center of civil rights movement. Since the city government was run by the federal government, black and white school teachers were paid at an equal scale as workers for the federal government. It was not until the administration of President Woodrow Wilson, a southerner who had numerous southerners in his cabinet, that federal offices and workplaces were segregated, starting in 1913. This situation persisted for decades: the city was racially segregated in certain facilities until the 1950s.

The Washington Metro opened in 1976.  A rising economy and gentrification in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to revitalization of many downtown neighborhoods.  The United States Constitution places the District (which is not a state) under the exclusive legislation of Congress. Throughout its history, Washington, D.C. residents have therefore lacked voting representation in Congress. The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961, gave the District representation in the Electoral College. The 1973 District of Columbia Home Rule Act provided the local government more control of affairs, including direct election of the city council and mayor.

On Thursday we arrived in our nation's capital.  After parking the car at our hotel we hopped on the Metro and headed to the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian.

This is George Washington's camp box.  I totally want one of these!  A place for everything and everything in its place.  Apparently General Washington didn't actually use this very often because he usually stayed in a complying patriot's house.

After perusing the military section, we looked at the first lady's gowns - here are just as few.

I love this one!

Michelle Obama's Inaugural Ball Gown.

This is Julia Childs' kitchen!

You can probably barely see it, but check out these Mexican War images of Generals Lee and Grant.

This is the actual furniture from the Civil War surrender at Appomattox.

These cargo wagons, made quite a bit before the wagons used to cross the prairie sloped toward the middle to keep cargo from shifting.  They were traditionally painted these colors and we've seen several examples of them.

What We did on Wednesday

On Wednesday, we made an unplanned stop at an outdoor history museum called Mystic Seaport.  Here's what Wikipedia says about it:

Mystic Seaport or Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea, in Mystic, Connecticut, is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats, and for the re-creation of the crafts and fabric of an entire 19th-century seafaring village. It consists of more than 60 original historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the 37-acre (0.15 km2) site and meticulously restored.

It was a beautiful day on the bay!  :)

The Old Church

An old house

The old one-room school house!

The General Store, or, as we were told, the old-fashioned 7-Eleven.

The Cooperage.  (barrel making)

An old kitchen!

A printing shop.

Lets play I Spy.  I spy a Starbucks.  And an iPhone.

There are many ships here.

All these ships need lots of rope.  All these spools make only one thick rope!

There are little boats too!

The miniature Mystic Seaport.

We bought lunch and fudge at the museum.

Fish and chips.

44 or 45 flavors of fudge!  (Can't remember which.)  We only tried three.

After Mystic, we drove on through the rest of Connecticut, through a skinny portion of New York and New Jersey and stopped for the night in Delaware.  We started the day in Rhode Island.  The states are smaller here then in the west.  Here is an interesting fact:  Whatcom county (2,120 sq mi), our county in Washington State is almost twice the size of the whole state of Rhode Island (1,214 sq mi).