d.c.

Last week, I flew into Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. The main reason for going was so that I could get out of Texas and see my good friend Allison. She has lived out there for most of the past 5 years and I'd never come out for a visit. So, I visited. Allison is one of my absolute favorite people in the world. I remember seeing her in our Humanities class during the very first week of college. I thought, "I would like to be her friend". And, we've been good friends for the last 9 years. We laughed a lot last week and I just had a blast hanging out with her.

The last time I was in our nation's capital was in 1992. That was before I developed a love of history so I didn't appreciate all of the sites. I won't bore you with the details of every monument I saw, every famous tombstone that I read at Arlington Cemetery, or every artifact I examined at the various Smithsonians. But, my favorite part was an exhibit at the National Archives that was about the education of our Presidents. They had reproductions of essays written, reports cards issued, and pictures of them as school boys. It was so awesome that I went twice!

Here are some random factoids that I learned:

--John Wilkes Booth was the 9th out of 10 children who were all illegitimate. He was also only 26 when he assassinated Lincoln. Right before he did the deed he drank a whiskey and water at the bar next to Ford's Theater for some 'liquid courage'.

--Robert E. Lee had 7 children who all lived to adulthood. Only 2 of those kids ever got married, so he has very few direct descendants.

--The Metro system is very clean.

--There aren't Super Targets in Virginia. How do they survive without it there!?!?!

--The Wright Brothers started out in the Printing business.

So, there is much more but those were interesting to me (:

Here are a few pictures.

Allison and me at Cantina Marina
Newlywed and new D.C. resident,Mindy, and me
A sobering picture from Arlington Cemetery
the Eternal Flame and Jackie O's gravesite
View from Robert E. Lee's Home. (he is my favorite person in US History)
Hi George!!
In front of the Nat. Archives. It says, "The Past is Prologue"