Tuesday, June 28th

Written by the ladies on the Pilgrimage

Today we left "she who would not be parked" at the hotel and took the shuttle to the local Metro Station. We got onboard a shiny, new Metro car, complete with the 'new' car smell, and headed to the Smithsonian. First up, the American History Museum where we saw artifacts from World War I and II, the Civil and Indian Wars, complete with specific bombshells from those eras. We all entered the Star Spangled Banner exhibit as we arrived. The dimly lit room held the same American flag that Francis Scott Key saw at a distance. It was cool for us to see the flag's history and evolution. In another exhibit we learned about how the doctors and the mechanics worked together to create a pacemaker. At the exhibit of the Presidents, several of us even stood at a replica of the presidential podium to deliver our own speeches!

Walking across the mall we entered the Air and Space Museum and were mesmerized by the planes and spacecrafts hanging above us. We saw the moon rover. There were trophies for the best planes and how long they were able to fly and their distances.

We got some marvelous food from the food trucks down the street - an assortment of crepes, pizza, gyros, pies, and salads. We picnicked in the grass and enjoyed the live music in the plaza.

The walk to the Holocaust Museum was a hot and sticky one. We arrived at the emotional museum and waited for our entrance time. Before getting on the elevator to the permanent exhibit we all received 'passports' with stories of an individual who experienced the horrors first had. Few words were spoken as we walked through the exhibit. The pictures and videos were overwhelming at times. We gathered at the end and shared our thoughts and feelings but we will be processing this for a long time. At prayer later that evening we focused on God's creation and what that means, and how God's creation was destroyed during the Holocaust and what it would take for that to not happen again.

After the museum we headed up to Union Station in search of dinner, which we found in the form of "Johnny Rockets". Back on the metro we headed back to the hotel to load onto the bus in an attempt to see DC and some of the memorials by night. Sighted were the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial. We were able to get off of the bus and see the Iwo Jima Memorial, where we looked for the 'thirteen hand' in the sculpture.

The rain got heavier so we climbed back on board and headed back to the hotel. Abby led Evening Prayer on our ride back home which was a great end to a fabulous day.