Arlington Cemetery, National Gallery of Art, and Washington Monument

Today is our last day here so we went to a lot of places. First, we went to the Arlington Cemetery and saw the Kennedy Family's grave, the Everlasting Flame, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We were planning on walking through the cemetery but it was cold and windy out so we did not. There was an option to take a tour mobile which helped us out a lot because we could stay in the warm tour mobile. We went to the Kennedy Family's grave which was covered in stones and had the Everlasting Flame near the top after the headstones which were laid flat.

Next we went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the changing of the guard. The tomb is guarded out of respect. The changing of the guard was basically an inspection of the new guard and it happens every hour, on the hour, 24/7. It was a really cool experience although when I first heard we were going to the changing of the guard I thought it was like the changing of the guard in London or where ever. We then hopped aboard the tour mobile and went back to the visitor's center.

After the Arlington Cemetery, we went to Ben's Chile Bowl and went "Eww look at that line" so we went to the National Gallery of Art for Lunch. Then after lunch we decided to look around a bit so we went into the west building which had all of the older paintings and sculptures. We saw Vincent Van Gogh and Vermeer along with Henri Matisse. There was one painting that was just amazing. The artist used super small stokes and blended the colors it was so beautiful. I wish that if it were for sale I could buy it. It was beautiful.

Around 4:00 we started walking towards the Washington Monument because we had a reservation for a 4:30 elevator and to get the tickets we had to be there at 4:15 at least. We made it!! There was room for my family and me. The views were incredible. You could see the White House from one view, the capitol on another, the Lincoln Memorial on another, and the Jefferson Memorial on the other side. The windows were a little dirty for the Lincoln memorial but you could still see the reflecting pool and all. When you tried to look down you would have to do it at an angle because the windows were little small. The Washington Monument is the tallest Stone structure at 555 ft and 5 1/8 inches.. It changes color in the middle because the government ran out of money and then got more money after 30 years of no funds. The stones are held by a little bit of sand so basically just gravity. No nothing. It was really cool. It was a good last day but I am glad to be coming home. I miss all my friends and family so I need to come home.

Thanks for reading,

Maya R. Jackson

National Zoo

Today we went to the National Zoo to see the pandas. They were so cute but they can be deadly. Most of the pandas we saw were sitting in the shade and eating bamboo. There was a mom and a son and some other guy/gal. After the pandas we saw the elephant house which actually had not elephants in it at all but it had a pygmy hippo and some capyberassp. A capybera is basically a large rodent and the pygmy hippo is just a hippo sized like a baby hippo.

After we saw the elephant house (which smelled like poop) we went and saw the Small Mammals House (which did not smell like poop) and it was set up eally weirdly. They had animals of the same species in different containment areas. What if they were/ are in love or something?

We saw the seals, sea lions, and beavers but no whales or kangaroos. The seals were grey seals and not harbor seals like we have at the seattle aquarium but they were kinda cute except for their noses. The sea lions were just basking in the sun and being boring.

International Spy Museum

Name: Jane Meyer

Age: 13

Occupation: Student

Destination: Dublin, Ireland

Hometown: Sweetwater, Tennessee

Reason for trip: Vacation

Length of trip: 7 days

Today we went to the International spy museum and had to choose our cover story. Above is/was mine. After a ride up the elevator, we had three minutes to memorize our cover story. There were cars on the wall with possible cover stories and I chose the one closest to my age. After that, we went and watched a small movie about spies. Then we went into the real museum part. You know in Get Smart the movie how Maxwell Smart uses the "cell-phone in the shoe trick"? Well they actually do that in real life. The museum had all types of examples of spies like celebrities. We had to choose which kind of threat a scenario was like if someone was an enemy spying on you or if there is security and stuff like that. We also learned how to pick a lock.

After the spy Museum, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. My sister and I got vanilla milkshakes which go really good with a cheeseburger and fries if you ask me. My sister first ordered a chocolate milkshake which she took one sip of and said" I dont like it" and exchanged the chocolate one for a vanilla one.

After the Spy Museum and lunch we went to the Air and Space Museum to return my plasma ball. I got most of the money I paid back but my sister out of the blue, decided to get a plasma ball. Hers actually worked because it does not take batteries. The manager said that she has gotten tons of the plasma things that I got back and only 2 of the other kind.

We also went to the Museum of American History to go to the Lincoln exhibit that was not open when we first went there. There were Lincoln's suit and the real casts made of his hands after he had been campaigning. The right was so swollen from shaking hands that Lincoln had to use part of a broom handle to hold it steady. They even had Lincoln's hat!

We also went to the Museum of Natural History to finish it by going to the mammals room. The mammals room had fennec foxes, bats, african animals and so much more.

Museum of the American Indian, Museum of Air and Space, and the Conservatory

Today I am up to date with my blogs and gift shopping for now so lets celebrate!!! To celebrate, I got myself a little gift: a small plasma ball thats broken!!! Before I tell you where I got it, let me tell you what happened before I got it.
First we went to the museum of the American Indian and it was pretty cool since i am part native american. The exhibits had drawers and windows and open air views of paintings, sculptures, and beaded jewelry. We had lunch there and it was pretty exotic. There was mexican hot chocolate and buffalo burgers.
After lunch, we went to the museum of air and space wich was pretty cool. There were the atmosphere cones that burn up when shuttles enter our atmosphere. we also saw the original space craft that landed on the moon! My family and I were thinking of going on the flight simulator but none of us except my dad wanted to barf. I went to the Museum store and bought a plasma ball. I did not know that it was broken when I bought it but after I got home.
After the gift shop, we walked to the conservatory or other wise known as the national gardens. It waas beautiful. when you first walked in you could smell tropical plants and feel the heat. The flowers were so vibrant and colorful you just had to walk around and look at them.
When we got to were we are staying, my dad took out the old batteries and found that they were coroded. He tried putting in new batteries but that did not work.

The Inauguration

Yay!!! We have a new president that will help our wonderful country!!!

Today was the Inauguration of Barrack Obama and Joe Biden as president and vice-president of the United States of America. For those people who did not watch it on TV, it was amazing. It had basically our entire ruling government including John McCain and Hillary Clinton. There were helicopters flying over our heads and police tours looking out for terrorists. There were people singing and chanting. The biggest crowd I had ever been in. As we were walking to the mall you cold only see a sea of people walking towards the mall. Every bus stop was full and every metro car was full to capacity and it was 20 degrees out but people still came to witness this historic moment when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream WAS fulfilled. And I am proud to say, I was there and I witnessed a great moment in history.

Day 3 Renwick Gallery and Kennedy Center

Hi y'all sorry I have not posted for a while I was so busy. I normally blog after I get to where I'm staying but I got back really late due to a concert at the famous Kennedy Center. Norway's premier pianist was there playing Rachmaninoff  So we went since I am 1/4 Norwegian and my grandmother is 100% Norwegian. The premier pianist was Leif Ove Andsnes and he was amazing. As he played, he never looked at the music for he had none. He had memorized the whole part. After the concert, Leif Ove Andsnes signed copies of his cds. My dad actually did a fist bump and my mom was mad at my dad. Why would it be such a big deal?

Capitol and Library of Congress

Today we went to the Capitol and the Library of Congress with tours . first we went to the Capitol for a 12 o'clock tour. We arrived around 11 o'clock so we could look around at the visitor's center. At the visitor's center there were a whole bunch of marble and copper statues everywhere.We went to the Information Desk to sign an at 11:20 a.m. for a 12 o'clock tour.We actually got an 11:30 tour. When our tour started, we went inside a theater that showed us a movie about the capitol. Then the actual tour started. We got a headset so that we co uld hear our tourguide while he spoke. We went inside the giant dome of the capital and saw the incredible ceiling and statues. The statues were amazing. They were either made of marble or copper. Each state has 2 statues chosen by the state. Washington has Mother Joeseph and Marcus Whitman. We also saw the original Supreme Court. at the Library of congress, we saw the main reading room shown in National Treasure 2 book of secrets. The library of Congress also had some of Thomas Jefferson's library.