The Dad's 2016 Washington, D.C. Trip!

(Dictated by the dad)

In February, I went on my annual sojourn to Washington, DC for the National Association of Counties NACo.  It rained A LOT!  What pictures I did take outside, were in brief moments of respite.

This is the newly rebuilt Capitol Hill Ward Building.  It is twice as big as the old building, and took four years to build.

The old building did not have a steeple as this one does.

This building was to match the architecture of DC, and is close to the Capitol Building.

Selfie with the Wardman Park Marriot where the Conference was held in the background.

I crossed this because it took about ten minutes off the subway trip.  I would go from Farragut West to Farragut North.

Statue of Farragut.

He's the guy who said, during the Civil War, "Darn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead." What they called torpedoes, we call water mines.

This is a picture of the Smithsonian Castle because Mom needed something for a birthday present.  Mom:  At school, we were reading a Capitol Mystery that took place in DC.  The mystery involved the skeleton of James Smithson, who gave the US the money to start the Smithsonian Institute.  His remains are in a marble sarcophagus in the Smithsonian Castle.  I asked the dad to go over to the castle, if he could, to take a picture I could show my kids (on an ipad).  He did!  The kids loved it!

I had to learn how to send a picture via text message.

This is a building right by the Smithsonian Castle and is part of the Smithsonian.

This is the back side of the Smithsonian Castle that has fountains and a garden.

James Smithson's remains are interred here.

He was British, and left his fortune to the United States; hence, the Union Jack on the right.  This room is just in the front doors of the castle.

This is like the headstone.  It's off to one side of the sarcophagus.

A selfie leaving the castle.

This petrified wood came from the Holbrook area.  It is in front of the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.

The "Mr. and Mrs. James M. Gray," ie, Jim Gray, gave me and ma the petrified wood clock for our wedding.  We also have some petrified book ends he gave Papa.  Maybe they're a little more valuable now.

This is the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, VA.

Bill Lee, the County Manager, is a Master Mason.  He was excited to go here.

George Washington was the Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge in Alexandria.  He donated this chair to the lodge and every Grand Master has been  installed on this chair.  The chair came from his home at Mt. Vernon about 10 miles to the east of Alexandria.

These were in the chapel that the Templars paid for in the Memorial.

This is the Templar uniform also located in the chapel.

It was nice to have a Master Mason along for this trip just to see his excitement in going here.