Jamie had to travel to Washington DC for work. He had to be gone for two weeks. So the second Thursday I flew out and spent the second weekend with him. I was glad to see him after a week and a half without him. I think that's probably the longest I've ever gone without seeing him since we got married.
The first night we went to eat at a place called Mission Barbecue and found a quote that President Monson used in one of his talks.
After that we rode the metro into the city. I wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial at night. We made a short stop at the white house.
And then we headed to the Lincoln Memorial. I had been here before and remember the spirit I felt but I think it was even more evident to me this time. Above Lincoln's Memorial it says, "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever." You really do feel like you are on sacred ground when you go to the Lincoln Memorial. There is a spirit there that is sobering. I really do feel like he was called of God to hold the union together in that very difficult time of American history.
Friday morning Jamie had to work. But after he got off work we headed back into DC. We had scheduled a tour at the capital that afternoon. Andy Biggs aide took us through several of the rooms in the capital building including the rotunda.
The Rotunda is filled with huge, beautiful paintings. This one was my favorite.
After we were shown around we were given tickets to go visit the gallery above the house of representatives and the senate. As we were walking
down the hall to the house of representatives, this guy started talking to us. He was a legal
clerk for the House of Representatives. He just decided he was going to
show us around. So he took the next 2 hours, showing us a lot of the
capital that you normally don't get to go to. He
took us down on the floor of the House of Representatives and told us
stories that I had never heard. For example, I think it was in the 50's
they were debating whether or not to make Puerto Rico a state and these
men, pretending to be reporters from Puerto
Rico came in, but when they went to set up their tripods, they were
really guns and they opened fire on the house floor. There are still
bullet holes in some of the desks, and walls and ceiling. He showed us
where the President walks out when he is sworn in
and the subway in the bottom of the capital that takes the
representatives and senate to their office buildings. He had worked
under every president since George Bush. He has a weekly meeting with
President Trump so he told us a little about their personalities.
So that was really interesting and so nice of him. We ended up finding out his name was George Cartagena. I couldn't figure
out why he would spend so much of his time showing us around until we started talking to him later and I was
asking him if he had family that lived close and he said he was raised
in a boys home. He then joined the military and
went to law school. I honestly think he was just lonely. It made me
really sad. But it was a really cool experience. We stayed at the capital so long we, it was dark by the time we got done and we ended up just heading back to our hotel.
Saturday we started off at Ford Theater. I had been to Ford Theater before as well. But again I was just taken back by the solemnity of it. My respect and admiration for President Lincoln grew exponentially on this trip. He had a firm belief in God and in the union of the United States
The week before he was assassinated he dreamed that he had been killed.
This was a cool tower. These are all books that have been written about Abraham Lincoln.
Of course, I had to stop and get a picture with this sign.
After we went to Ford's Theater, we went to the National Archives and got to see the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights which was really cool. Then we went to several of the Smithsonians - my favorites included The Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History.
By the time we were done with the Smithsonians, everything was closed. So we took a few pictures outside the capital and the supreme court and headed back to our hotel.
We didn't have near enough time to do everything we wanted but I loved being with him in that place with so much history.
