Washington D.C. Part IV

Tuesday June 2
Smithsonian Day!
1)Went to the Museum of American History and saw the collection of the First Ladies' Dresses, the original Star Spangled Banner, and numerous items that once belonged Abraham Lincoln. Due to the frailness of the flag we were not even allowed to take pictures of the Star Spangled Banner. So we took a picture of a plaque to help everyone get an idea of what it looks like. The flag is 30 feet tall by 34 feet long and is threadbare...but impressive nonetheless! Of the First Ladies' Dresses Rachel's favorites were Helen Taft's Inaugural Ball Gown (the beige one) and Laura Bush's Inaugural Ball Gown (the red one). The pictures are dark and not of great quality because we were not allowed to have flash photography for the preservation of the antique articles of clothing. We apologize for that.
2)Went to the Museum of Natural History and saw the Hope Diamond and moon rocks. The Hope Diamond is famous for supposedly being cursed. We didn't spend much time in this museum as #1 it was packed with loads of kids, and #2 we had other museums we wanted to see.
3)Went to the Air and Space Museum. This is a really neat place. There are loads of "originals" in this museum. For example: Below we have a picture of Space Ship One (the first civilian craft to enter space), a picture of the the Apollo 11 command module which carried Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins on their way to the moon and back, and a picture of the Voyager plane (first plane to fly around the world non-stop). It also has the Bell which was the first plane to break the speed of sound. 4)Walked into the Smithsonian Castle. This is a glorious building on the outside as you can see. We enjoyed the exterior despite the fact that there was little to see on the interior.
5)Went to the Holocaust Museum. We highly recommend spending some time in this museum if you are ever in the D.C. area. We had very moving experiences as we walked through the displays and were deeply touched. Rachel has been to the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles, but for her this experience was deeper and more profound. You can see the tip of the Washington Monument in the background. Sorry that we cannot provide any pictures of the collection. We were asked not to take any.
6)Walked over to the Jefferson Memorial. This memorial is 70 years old, but is absolutely magnificent!
7)Went to the Bureau of Engraving and learned how money is made. We took a picture of a $100,000 bill (the largest bill the Bureau printed) that was only ever used for large transactions prior to credit cards and checks. The largest ever circulated was the $10,000 bill, and the largest presently circulated is the $100 bill.
Apparently...Nathan is worth more than Rachel!...Although some beg to differ.

By the end of the day...our feet ached but it was WORTH IT!