11th Anniversary Trip!

This year to celebrate our anniversary, Dustin and I spent a long weekend in DC!  It was an honor to see so much of our country's history all in one city, even though we don't agree (not sure that's a strong enough word for our dislike) with the current administration....  ;)

The White House was HUGE!  It actually has 5 stories, even though it doesn't look like that, the bottom stories are underground! 

Every state has 2 statues in the Capitol Building.  On our tour of the Capitol, we found Mississippi's statue of Jefferson Davis!

The Capitol Building

Dustin feeding one of MANY squirrel friends he met in DC!

Union Station

A bell in front of Union Station.  Yes, Dustin even rang the bell!  I'm sure that was not allowed!

The Washington Monument from across the Tidal Basin

You can see the bottom 1/3 is a different color.  Funds ran out during the construction process and it wasn't finished for many years, 100 years, I think.

The Jefferson Memorial

Arlington National Cemetary

While visiting Arlington, we had the honor of witnessing a military buriel with a 21 gun salute, a military fly over and a bag pipe player.  The casket was drapped in a flag and pulled by four white horses on an antique wooden wagon.  There are 27 funerals per day at Arlington, 5 days a week, although, not all with ceremonies like this special hero was given.  This pulled many heartstrings for both of us!

View of the Washington Monument from Robert E. Lee's home at the top of Arlington.  During the war, the Lee's were forced from their home and they returned to find the grounds around their home had been turned into a burial ground for the troops so they never lived their again.

Another one of Dustin's friends outside the American Indian Museum!  Dustin remembered to stick a bag of nuts in his pocket before we left the hotel.

The Koren War Memorial

This wall is beside the Koren Memorial and has depictions of soldiers in the war.

View of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.

The Vietmam Wall

Another emotional monument for this military family!  I'm fairly sure this is the first vacation we have both shead tears several times on.

And Dustin's last friend, this one drew blood, and our squirrel feedings came to an end!

The Mississippi Monument in the WWII Memorial

Entering the White House for their "Holiday Tour"

Christmas Trees and the antique Nativity Scene in the East Room of the White House  (The Obama's actually tried to have the nativity scene removed in 2009 for a White House Luncheon, but it has been a tradition since 1967 and thankfully tradition won that argument!!)

It looks like people are just rambling around, but this was actually VERY strict security this close to the White House.  This was when we exited our tour and we were being herded out to gates at the front.  We had been trough a background check, 2 id checks, a bomb sniffing dog and a metal detector before we were even allowed this close!  Not to mention the armed Secret Service in every nook and cranny of the White House.  Hummm, Mr. President, if you are pushing so hard for gun control, why do you need this much armed security???  It might be a better idea to have this type of security in our schools!