Rally To Restore Sanity

So, Jason and I are big fans of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Early this fall, he announced his rally to restore sanity. He felt that not all Americans are out and about calling President Obama, Hitler (even those that disagree with Obama's policies). Not the majority of Americans are out at rallies every weekend waving hateful signs...because most sane people are out living their lives, doing what they have to do to make ends meet, spending time with their families, etc. So, he asked for a gathering of people that can agree to disagree on politics. It sounded so fun to us. But I was too reasonable to jump on board immediately. It took Jason several weeks to convince me to drop all of our responsibilities around here to go to the rally...even though I really wanted to.

Obviously we found a way to go to the Rally To Restore Sanity. While planning this trip, the irony of the seemingly insane traveling plan to get to the Rally To Restore Sanity was quite funny to me. Of course, it turns out that the week leading up to the rally was actually quite sane and downright enjoyable! :)

The morning of the rally, you would have thought it was Christmas morning for little kid Jason. He was so pumpled about it! We got up early, had breakfast, then got to the Metro station. It was PACKED! There were crazy long lines at the station to buy passes. Luckily we still had balances on our passes from the previous days. People had their signs, were smiling, laughing...everyone was in such a good mood. The energy was delightful!

Luckily our Metro station was at the very end of the line...because we filled up the train, packed in like sardines. Nobody else could enter the train any other stop after us. I have to say, there was nobody else on the train with young children. Jason used the opportunity to say, "Wow, the metro is busy today...looks like everyone else has the same idea to go to the Air & Space Museum today."

When we got to the metro, it was shocking the number of people at the station. It was slow moving getting to the up escalator. A couple of people decided they'd try to go up the down escalator. It actually provided entertainment for the 100's of people waiting to go up. If they made it up, we all cheered and clapped. If they fell, or couldn't go quite fast enough, we all boo'd or awe'd. The boys got a kick out of that.

Once we got the the rally, we got as close as we could to one of the jumbotrons. We laid out the blanket for the boys and set up camp. We watched people parade by with their rally signs (and it was truly like a parade...they'd turn so you could snap a picture...people were so proud of their signs). Some people were dressed in Halloween costumes. But everybody was having so much fun. It was just a big giant party on the National Mall, really.

Of course, the spots filled in more and more. And unfortunately we lost cell phone service due to all the people!!! We had plans to meet our friends Courtney and Jeremy at the rally. But we had no way to contact them to let them know where we were. :( That was the biggest let down of the day...because we really wanted to visit with them while we were in town.

It got so crowded that people were standing shoulder to shoulder. The boys were protected in a little 4x4 square on the ground. They were playing with their Leapsters just about the whole time. Until just prior to the show starting, James had to go potty. The porta potties were probably about 30 yards away...but it was almost impossible to access because of all the people! Jason took him. He said that James just tapped people in the shoulders, while Jason held him, and James would say, "excuse me, can you please get out of my way." About 2/3rd through the show, James had to go potty again. I took him that time. And it literally took me about 35 minutes round trip with him. We had to weave through people, and at times, I had to send James ahead of me, while crouching down to his level to weave between all of the legs. It was crazy! When we got to the potty, people were sitting on TOP of the porta potties and were surrounding them. We could only open the door about 8 inches wide because people were packed in front of the doors. It was really nuts how many people were there!

All in all, the show was pretty good. I won't go into all the details. There were performers, entertainers, and Jon Stewart spoke a serious note at the end.

I'm glad we went to the rally. I thought that would be the highlight of the trip. And though it was good...I'd have to say that the week long journey to get there with my family was the absolute highlight of the trip!

The next day, our friend Courtney graciously gave us a ride to the airport...and we were able to visit a tiny bit with her on the way. Wished we could have visited longer. The airport was decked out in halloween decorations (it was Halloween day). While standing in the security line, I busted out the candy corn I had stashed in my purse for Halloween. It was only 8:30am...but my kids needed it for an extra punch of energy to get through that crazy line. I started offering it to other passengers in line. People were digging the candy corn. They'd all be so polite and say no thank you, then would see another passenger accept, and change their mind and ask for just a couple. :)

So many airport employees were dressed up. This was so fun for the boys! On our Southwest airplane, the flight attendants handed out some halloween stuff to the boys. It was a direct flight to New Orleans. Once we arrived there, my dad picked us up, brought us to Jason's parents house...where we visited a bit before gathering our pets and hitting the road to P'cola!

We called to have pizza delivered around 10 minutes prior to getting home. Right when we got home (around 5pm), we got the boys dressed in their costumes...ate a couple of pieces of pizza...and darted out the door to our friends' house a couple of neighborhoods over for some trick-or-treating!

What a day! What a trip!

White House & Capitol Tours

For good reasons, when touring the White House, you basically can only have yourself and nothing else! No bags, purses, cameras...not even chapstick. You can, however, carry a cell phone...but no taking pictures. Needless to say, we had ourselves and our phones on the tour.

We stood in a line where we had to show our ID and they had to confirm our reservation. We were told it was a self-guided tour and it could take anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes depending on how much time we spent walking through the rooms. They also told us that if we had any questions, to ask the secret service agents standing around the rooms.

So, we headed into the White House taking our time. The first area we entered was a hallway with portraits of various Presidents and First Families on one side and the other side with glass windows facing the south lawn. As we approached the end of the hallway, we encountered the first secret service agent. He was dressed in black from head to toe and was carrying a very large black duffle bag filled with what we believed to be weapons. As we were looking around some more in that area...two more heavily armed secret service members rushed to the area. They did NOT seem as though they were going to entertain any of our questions regarding the White House. In fact, they seemed to not even notice us or care about us. They looked as though they were about to exit the french doors facing the south lawn. It kind of dawned on us and some of the people around us, that something was about to happen. However, we just went about our business and entered the first room on the tour. It was the green room. Matt Lauer recently did an interview with President Obama in that room.

James was particularly friendly with, let's just say HALF of DC, while we were on our trip. He went up to any and everybody and said, "hi, I'm James" and "nice to meetchya!" Upon entering the green room, we saw the first of the secret service agents that was more likely the ones we were told to ask questions. This lady was dressed in a more police officer looking uniform, rather than swat team-ish uniform. James went straight over to her and did his whole friendly act. He chatted as we looked around. The lady was getting such a kick out of him, that she called me over and whispered, "If you stand right here in this window, you can see Marine One land soon." Ahhh...THAT'S what was up with the "men in black" act we had seen earlier.

So, we did just that. We lingered and waited in that window until we saw Marine One approach. It was such a sight. From this particular window, you could see the Washington Monument directly ahead in the distance and to the right, you could see the side of the Jefferson Memorial. It was such a beautiful day too. As the helicopter approached, it passed over the White House. That's because there are actually three Marine One helicopters. Only one lands. So, you never know which one the President is in. A second Marine One approached and then ever so slowly landed in a seemingly tiny space between the trees on the South Lawn. It looked as though it was going to be just out of view because of the pillars on the front of the White House, but sure enough, it moved forward just before landing and we had the best view of it! And it wasn't nearly as far away from the White House as it seems when you see it land on television. Once the rotors stopped, the door opened and we had a straight-lined view of the open door! First a Marine exited. Then some other person...don't know who it was...and then the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! He walked out, waved to some people in the area where we had ID's checked, and then walked across the lawn to the White House!!! It was by far, the coolest thing we got to witness while on our trip. The boys were both in awe that they got to see the PRESIDENT and the helicopter!

Just to show what window we were standing in...I'm adding this picture I got from the internet. The window you can see best on the floor where the pillars begin, is the window where we were standing!



We completed the rest of our tour on such a high. We were able to take pictures once we exited the north side of the White House and once we got passed the pillars. So, we snapped a couple of pictures with our iPhones.




After our White House tour, we headed over to the Capitol as quickly as we could to catch our tour there. The last time we did the tour, there were some renovations being done and it wasn't the full tour. They have completed a visitors center section that was very well done. We also got to see a movie to start out the tour this time. They also provided everyone with headphones so we could hear the tour guide whether we were near her or far from her. The tour was great! Even the boys didn't mind it.

We didn't have enough time to go back to the hotel to get our camera for Capitol pictures, so again, we snapped a few with the iPhone.




Below. If you stand on that circle on the floor, you're standing in four different zipcodes of Washington DC.



Jack listening to our tour guide.



Once we wrapped up the Capitol tour, we headed to Union Station. We ate a late lunch, got dessert, and walked around. It was kind of like a mall. It had shops and eateries and a Barnes & Noble.






We wrapped up our day and headed back to our hotel via Metro from Union Station. I must say, James was a HUGE fan of the Metro....and the people on the Metro. He cozied himself right up next to a young guy that was sleeping. I told James that that man is taking his nap, to not disturb him. He could hardly contain himself though, and gave the guy a tap on the arm. He woke up and James said, "see Mom, he's not napping!" Good thing the guy was a good sport about it.

I honestly believe James made friends with half of DC! Our next day, the rally day, was his heaven on the Metro!

METRO, Air & Space Museum, Friends, Gardens, Monuments

Our first day in DC began with breakfast in the hotel, then off to the Metro station. The boys were SO EXCITED to ride on the Metro!






Once we got off the the Metro, it was a short walk to the Air & Space Museum.





We met our sweet friend Claire (Stroup) Walton there with her two children, Tierney and Holden. Her and her husband moved to DC about 3 years ago. It has been a little over 5 years since we've seen Claire. It was so good to catch up and meet her babies! As you can tell, the kids all got along great!















Once we said goodbye to our friends, which James was sad to do...we took a walk on the National Mall. The first thing we stumbled upon was a garden. It was a raised rotating garden right there on the edge of the National Mall. There were two people working in the garden so we started asking them what it was for. It's actually an organic garden built by the USDA to demonstrate gardening and to teach about food. The man even let Jack plant some seeds in the garden he was working in. And the lady let James pull a carrot from the garden! Of course, then Jack got to pull a beet! We were glad we happened to be walking passed that area.






Next, we walked over to view the Washington Monument. Jack was excited to see it up closer. We had read about it prior to the trip. One interesting fact...if you look closely, the bottom 1/3 of the monument is a bit of a different shade than the rest of the monument. It's because they stopped building about 1/3 of the way for over 20 years before starting again because of funding. But once they resumed building, they couldn't get the same marble they started with. Jack was so proud to know that fact!






Leaving the Washington Monument, heading over to the Lincoln Memorial, you walk pass the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Jason warned Jack and James to walk pass the wall quietly and respectfully. I think even Jack was taken back by ALL of the names inscribed on the wall. It truly puts it into perspective when you see that LONG black wall with names upon names. It's my 3rd time to see the wall...and seeing this time still felt like the first time. It's that stunning!




Next we saw the Lincoln Memorial. Jack was also looking forward to seeing this, because we discussed Abraham Lincoln before the trip.




After all of that walking, our legs were super tired. Soooo, we decided to take a bicycle taxi to the closest Metro station! Talk about EVERY mode of transportation on this trip! Too bad we couldn't squeeze in a boat ride!






After such an action packed day, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next day...our White House and Capitol tours!!

Interstate 81, Highways, and Naval Academy

We drove I-81 to get to Washington DC from Roanoke. I must say, it was a beautiful drive! Makes me wonder if it's one of the prettiest interstates in America? We also had to decide whether to continue on the interstate to travel east, or get on highways. We chose the highway, and we're so glad we did. Highways 231 and 20 were beautiful rolling hills with farm after farm. Really nice looking farms! Green grass, white fences. It was a lovely drive.

We made it to the DC area just after lunch. Instead of going straight to the hotel and returning our car, we decided to take a drive to Annapolis, MD to see the US Naval Academy. Jason had been before, but I had not, so I was hoping to see it. It was definitely beautiful...but I must say, the Air Force Academy is much more stunning (maybe I'm bias though).





We left Annapolis and headed to our hotel. It was in the same parking lot as IKEA (unfortunately, there was never a time to go to IKEA). And there were a few restaurants that were walking distance. This was great, because we were turning in our car that evening. After dinner, Jason took the car to Union Station in downtown DC to return it, and then rode the METRO back to the station closest to our hotel. Then the hotel picked him up (complimentary shuttle transportation between the hotel and the station). By the time he got back, the boys were already bathed and in bed for the night. We had a big day ahead...Air & Space Museum and visiting a good friend (from Covington) and meeting her two sweet children.