Newseum

On March 13th we went to see the Newseum located on Pennsylvania Ave. not far from the Capitol building. It opened in 2008 and is one of the few museums in DC you have to pay to go into, but it is well worth it! It is devoted to the First Amendment and the role of a free press in the democratic system.

The first thing you see when going in is the 90 foot high atrium with a giant breaking news screen & a news helicopter suspended overhead.



The visit began with the Berlin Wall Gallery. There is an 8 section portion of the original Berlin Wall with a 3 story guard tower. It was interesting to see the graffiti covering the West Berlin side and the starkness of the East Berlin side.

This exhibit entitled "G-Men & Journalists" explored the FBI's top cases and the headlines they inspired.

Walter looss, a photographer for "Sports Illustrated" was featured in this exhibit.

This exhibit covered the whole 5th level and was a fascinating look at historic newspapers & magazines.

Check out the year on THIS newspaper: 1781!!!

On the wall is a display of newspapers from around the world reporting the tragedy on 9/11 (in the foreground is an antenna from on top of one of the World Trade Center buildings)

Many of you have probably heard of Tim Russert. He did a political talk show program on Sundays, called "Meet the Press". Tim died June 2008 as he was preparing for his next show. One of the exhibits in the Newseum is a recreation of his office as it was at the time of his death.

This map was really interesting. It shows a snapshot of press freedom around the world. The green is where there is freedom of the press, the yellow is partial freedom, and the red is where there is no freedom of the press. Very eye opening!!

On the outside of the Newseum is a 74 ft. tall marble tablet of the First Amendment. Pretty impressive! Along the sidewalk, every day is posted front pages of one newspaper from every state in the U.S.

Another site off our list!!!

Dupont Circle, Washington DC

The weekend of March 6th found us exploring DC once again! The day was cool but sunny. We originally had headed in to go to the National Geographic Museum to see a special exhibit called "The Terra Cotta Warriors" which were life sized clay figures that had been buried in China 2,000 years ago. They had brought just a few of them to the U.S. to be on display. But, alas, all tickets were sold out. So, we went with plan B and just started walking! What we found was just as interesting as we got to explore a part of DC we hadn't spent time in yet... Dupont Circle:)
Dupont Circle is located just a few blocks north of the White House and is considered one of Washington's artiest neighborhoods where Conneticut, Massachusetts & New Hampshire avenues intersect.

We did go into the National Geographic Museum to see a fantastic photo gallery of photos taken by a photographer, Paul Niklen in the arctic called "Polar Obsession".

In the same neighborhood as the museum we happened upon St. Matthew's church where Pres. John F. Kennedy worshipped. The church was built in 1893 with the first Mass being in 1895.



The main Sanctuary, the Chapel of St. Anthony of Padua, & the Wedding Chapel

The organ, the great dome, & the inlaid marble plaque in front of the sanctuary gates which commemorats Pres. Kennedy's funeral Mass.

The next "find" was the beautiful Mayflower Hotel built in 1925.



After that we finally ventured into Dupont Circle. There is a circle park which is the gathering place for the area. There you will see a fountain in the middle commemorating Civil War naval officer Samuel F. Dupont. You will often see people strolling through the park, playing soccer, or playing a game of chess at one of several chess tables situated around the outside.

Not far from Dupont Circle is an area called "Embassy Row" where Washington's diplomatic community is concentrated. More than 175 nations are represented in these buildings.We took a picture of a statue at the Croatian Embassy. Among the embassies is the Islamic Center where an estimated 65,000 Muslims gather.

Also among the embassies was a memorial to Mahatma Ghandi. Sculptured out of bronze, it measures 8 ft. 8 in. tall and commemorates Ghandi's life.

After dinner, we found a hotel, called the Tabard Inn, to have dessert. Built during the 1920's, it was formed during WWI by 3 Victorian townhouses being linked together. It is known to be the oldest continuously operated hotel in Washington D.C.

Another wonderful day!

Seattle trip- Feb. 19th-28th

It was wonderful when Dan had to fly back to Seattle for business and I got to go with him! We had a wonderful week spending incredible times with the kids and seeing friends. Of course there is never enough time to see everyone, but we were blessed with what we WERE able to do!!

The very 1st thing we did was spend Sat. afternoon at Green Lake. It was a gorgeous day and we walked all the way around the lake (with our lattes of course!!)


Family time was spent eating, playing games, and special father/daughter time watching "The Hannity Report"....awwwww....

Going to visit friends at North Sound Christian School was like going home again. It is always wonderful to see my family there!!

We also got to meet Bob & Lisa for dinner at the mexican restaurant that has become our spot to meet:)-it was great catching up! Callie, Nate, & Kacie were able to join us, but we realized it's time for Erin & Kaitlyn to join us too!! Next time girls!! We also got to have lunch with Callie's friend, Sarah! Thanks, Sarah, for taking time to see us!!

We have so many family pictures taken in front of Bruce & Joellen's fireplace you'd think we lived there!! But we had to have another one while we were there especially since Kacie's boyfriend, Carlos, was visiting from Mexico! We had a delicious dinner Bruce cooked for us! Duck, Pork, Dumplings and Sauerkraut... YUM!!!!!

It was another wonderful trip filled with many wonderful memories!!