The Events of Thursday, December 2, 2010

          There’s something of almost a theme forming for Thursday mornings. This theme is something that none of us enjoy and makes us all very tired. That’s right; we were up again in the middle of the night. Except it wasn’t night, it was one o’clock in the morning. Our propane leak alarm went off exactly fifty four minutes past midnight. This time, we made sure everyone was awake and OK. (Last time we had covered our ears and hidden beneath the covers just wishing it would stop. Our parents explained that perhaps wasn’t the best response to a potential emergency.) Finally, Daddy muted the alarm by pulling the circuit breaker. Last time this happened, six days ago, Daddy called the fire department the next day after the RV had been aired out all night and we had slept inside Oma Janssen’s. After doing an extensive check, the New Jersey firemen told us that we probably had a faulty alarm and it should be replaced. But, since we hadn’t replaced the alarm yet, just to be on the safe side, we called the Maryland firefighters to see what they would find. They told us to dress warmly and evacuate the vehicle. By the time the fire truck pulled up, we were standing out in the freezing night air dressed like Eskimos and wrapped in sleeping bags and blankets. (It was 31 degrees outside‼) They checked the RV and propane tank and again told us that it was a faulty meter. Relieved, we disconnected the alarm, thanked the firemen, and headed back to bed.

          Due to our interrupted sleep it was a little hard to wake up at 7, but we needed to in order to get an early start on our day. Our campground provides van trips to a nearby Washington D.C. Metro system so we don’t have to drive Harvey in the city and find parking. Our driver, Nick and his dog, Gizmo, drove us to the station and dropped us off for our first day in Washington D.C.

          We rode the blue line on the Metro to the Marriott Metro Center and then walked a couple of blocks down to the Old Trolley Tour Welcome Center. Daddy bought our trolley tickets, which are good for two days, and we hopped onto the Trolley’s Orange line. Our first trolley driver was Steven. He had an amusing Italian accent and welcomed us about three times total. We had hopped on the trolley at Stop 10, which was the Welcome Center, but was actually three stops from the end of the tour. However, since the tour is a loop, we could start anywhere and catch up. Steven showed us Ford’s Theater, where President Lincoln was shot and also the house across the street where he died. Stop 11, the White House, showed a spectacular view of the east side of the buildings and the Washington Monument off in the distance. Stop 12 was surrounded by the Navy Memorial, The Old Post Office, National Archives Building, and The Newseum. We passed the US Court House and did a loop around Union Station, which was Stop 1. Steven dropped us off and we entered the large station underneath some HUGE wreaths.

          The building was all decked out for Christmas and there was even a little winter wonderland train exhibit set up. It was sort of like the miniature Christmas villages we like to visit in the Hyatt in San Francisco, but this one was called ‘A Norwegian Holiday’ and there were a lot of giants or trolls throughout the miniature town. Outside a souvenir shop, we posed with cardboard figures of Michelle and Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. Then we ran out to meet our next trolley and a new driver, Andrew, picked us up. Andrew must have had a very bad cold, because as we passed the Holocaust Museum, and he described the different details of it to us, it sounded like he was saying, “Holy Cross Museum.” But, he pointed out the US Capital, Supreme Court, and Library of Congress at Stop 2, without much difficulty and then Stop 3, the Air and Space Museum which is the most visited museum in the world. Finally, we got off at Stop 4, the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial. This stop actually combined Stops 4 and 5, but Stop 5 is inaccessible by trolley because of the construction on the new Martin Luther King Memorial.

          First we walked into the underground museum beneath the Jefferson monument. The museum told us about Thomas Jefferson and his contributions to America’s beginning and first few years. We used their facilities and then bundled up to go into the freezing cold air to look at the monument. (By the way, it was in the 30s and the wind made it even worse.) So, we looked at the statue of Thomas Jefferson, who stands looking out across the Tidal Basin at Washington Monument, as do all memorials in the Washington D.C. area. We took some pictures and then Mom and Abby went to use the facilities and the rest of us went out to the back of the monument to wait for them. We had told them to meet us at the front of the monument, but mistakenly ended up at the back of the memorial and ended up waiting a lot longer than we expected. We were eventually reunited and ate a little of our pre-packed lunch as we walked to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

          This memorial was my favorite. We actually started at the wrong end of the memorial and ended up doing the whole thing backwards, but such is life. And personally, I think it is better if you do it backwards. The FDR memorial is set up to follow the different four different terms of his presidency. Therefore it starts with his first presidency in 1932 and the events of the time and his impact and then proceeds through each successive presidential term. It is an outdoor memorial, full of stones, waterfalls, statues, quotes, and images. Where we entered, there were a series of waterfalls representing the types of tragedies that FDR endured. There was also a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt by a plaque of stone on which the words “The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, or one party, or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperation of the whole world.” were carved. She is represented in this part of the memorial to commemorate her contributions to her husband’s presidency and her contributions on behalf of her nation after his death.

          Around this time, we met up with a park ranger who was just finishing his tour of the memorial. We listened to the end of his talk and then asked a few questions. He told us that we had started at the wrong end and volunteered to take us through and explain the symbolism, backwards. He showed us a statue of FDR with his dog next to a plaque that read, “they (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers … call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order.” And then the ranger told us a funny story about Roosevelt and his dog, Fala. It appears the dog had been left behind once, and FDR turned around to retrieve him and the press made a big deal about him wasting the taxpayers’ money. To which FDR replied: “Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks, but Fala, being a Scottie, does resent them.” The ranger also showed on the statue of Roosevelt, where the effect of polio was starting to cause his leg muscles to deteriorate. Near this statue was a reflecting pool which reflected a stone picture of a team of horses hard at work pulling a wagon, which represented the end of the Great Depression.

          Now, the memorial is divided into four parts. These four parts represent each of Roosevelt’s four terms that he served as president. As we moved, backward, into the third term, there was a series of kind of crazy, irregular waterfalls representing the chaos of war. There was also a series of misplaced blocks of granite. On three of which, the words, “I HATE WAR” were inscribed. The ranger explained that the initial plan for this part of the memorial had been different. But then someone bumped into the miniature diorama of the plan and knocked over all the rocks. The result was symbolic of rocks being blown apart and destroyed by an explosion and they decided it represented WWI, which happed during FDR’s third term, well.

          As we walked into the second term, we saw a single and yet powerful waterfall, representing how the greatest problem at the time was a big one, The Great Depression. There were also columns that looked like rolling pins that were imprints of different ideas and corporations that FDR made to help the US get out of the Great Depression, like the CCC. On a nearby wall, was the imprint of the “rolling pins,” symbolizing how FDR’s work really did help and improve the lives of so many people. As we walked towards the beginning of his second term, we saw a series of male statues standing in line by a door, looking ashamed and cold, representing the people that went through much humiliation waiting for a meal outside a soup kitchen. There were also a couple who appeared to be farmers looking very thin and very sad, symbolizing how the farmers could grow crops, but there was no one to buy crops, so they got very poor very fast. The last statue was of a man very carefully listening to a radio, representing one of FDR’s fireside chats.

          The atmosphere definitely changed as we walked into his first term. A very calm orderly waterfall rushes nearby Roosevelt sitting in his specially designed wheelchair. The ranger shared how there are only a few known photographs of Roosevelt in his wheelchair and that the press respected FDR’s wishes to be shown as strong. In fact, this statue created much controversy when the memorial was being built. However, in the end, it was decided that instead of representing weakness, this statue represented strength as despite his polio, FDR had accomplished much. The statue was used to hopefully encourage people who have obstacles in their lives to have hope that they too can do great things.  This ended our tour, at the beginning, and we went inside the visitor center to warm up and read a little bit more about FDR.

          Once warmed, we walked a short distance to the Lincoln Memorial, as that was where Stop 6 was located. On the way, we finished our lunch and then went inside the underground museum to read about Lincoln’s impact and all of the different protests that occur on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Then we viewed the huge statue of our 16th president. We saw our trolley coming up and raced out to meet it. This time, the driver’s name was Mark and he gave each of us kids fake coins with Neil Armstrong and other famous astronauts on them. He did the best job of all of our drivers and pointed out the World War II Memorial, some of the Smithsonian Museums, and all of his favorite restaurants until we reached the Welcome Center. Then, Billy, an elderly gentleman, drove us to the White House Museum. When we arrived, we went through security and just as we were getting settled in front of the orientation film for the White House, they announced that the museum was closing in 20 minutes.

          While we finished the film, Dad talked to the rangers and got an inside scoop on one of the best kept secrets in Washington, D.C., the Old Post Office Tower. So when the visitor center closed, we walked across the street to the Old Post Office. This building’s towers are said to have some of the best views of Washington. So, we rode the elevator up to the top and saw all the sights as sunset enraptured the sky. The sun setting behind Washington Monument was simply spectacular. We went down a little bit to a series of exhibits on the tower’s bells and how they ring, and then we crammed all of us, a couple, and a large family from Australia into a tiny elevator and rode a very slow, scary ride down to the ground floor. We walked to the nearest Metro station and then rode home, again on the blue line to a waiting Nick and his dog, Gizmo, our ride to our campsite. We got groceries on the way home and then when we arrived, cooked a warm dinner and headed to bed after our first day of Washington D.C.