Photo Friday

Fasten your seatbelts! (snicker, snicker) Here comes our vacation slideshow, folks.

Actually, just a few sights from last weekend's trip to D.C. Since our main purpose was to be in Quantico for Paul's graduation from OCS, and because we spent a good amount of time ferrying people to and from the airport, we only had a couple of hours snuck in here and there to go sight-seeing, but we did get to see a few of the more iconic tourist destinations.

We picked Paul up in Quantico Friday morning, and before his 6:30 p.m. curfew, we had some time to doodle around. We drove through old town Alexandria, on up to D.C., and stopped at the mall in the heart of our nation's capital. Here's one proof of our visit ~ the Washington Monument:
And here it is coming out of the top of Paul's head:

(Oh, that must be his mom there next to him... &:o)

And here's my sis, Donna, with Paul. Can you tell he's just a little doted on?

We were so surprised by the haunting Korean War Memorial. You never hear about this one! But, it was a strangely touching and personal tribute to the men and women of that war.

We were thrilled to get to stop at the Lincoln Memorial for about five minutes:

And here's the famous (and, boy, is it huge!) statue of Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln became my favorite president when I was about nine years old and read a book about his wit. Then, I read more and learned more, and he's still my favorite. To know him is to love him. I wish we'd had more time to spend here at the museum.

Here, below, is a monument particular to our family ~ the dorms at Quantico USMC base, where Paul spent ten weeks at OCS.

We dropped him off here Friday at about 6:30, after sitting in traffic for an hour to go two miles to the Quantico off ramp. Argh!
Then, after Paul's graduation ceremony Saturday morning, we drove back toward Alexandria and had lunch...

Here are Paul and Nicole at Red Robin. (I'm a shameless mom and take every photo op... They're good sports, though!)

Then we dropped Paul, Nicole, and Donna at the airport, and drove around DC a little more. We couldn't find parking, so just took pictures from the car window.

This was cool: A carriage preparing to meet a newlywed couple outside a courthouse on one of the Washington DC streets. You don't see this every day! (Well, at least not in our neck of the woods...)

And here' are the very impressive spires of the National Cathedral against the very impressive Virginia blue skies... We wanted to find Immaculate Conception, but didn't have time, and we did drive by St. Patrick's but the traffic hurried us by so fast, I couldn't get a picture.
We'd saved most of our time to visit Arlington National Cemetery and were not disappointed in the least. The solemn beauty of this place...
The soldier at the Grave of the Unknown soldier ~ there are not words to describe the touching ceremony of this lone sentry. Then, Sunday, after Mass in Vienna, Virginia, we had lunch at a Chinese seafood buffet, where I got a taste of a crawdad. Better shot of my chin than the crawdad, but you get the picture. We make a point of trying new and unusual menu items when we go on trips together. Last trip, we tried squid. Don't ask me which we preferred. They actually were equally unremarkable!

And, then we had about two and a half hours to spend at Mt. Vernon, before we had to leave for the airport and home.

But, I'm so glad we took the time to visit this site! What a perfectly preserved historic home, and a wonderful museum. Let me tell you, if I didn't already feel the utmost honor and regard for George Washington, I do now. His home and grounds are the most lovely example of efficiency and beauty I can imagine. Mind you, not that his military and political achievements for our country aren't really, really important, but, seriously, as a homemaker, I can appreciate his taste, organization, and care through his home. God is in the details. What an amazing man!

Two and half hours were not nearly enough to visit here. I would live here if I could! Here are a few sights, sounds, and smells of Mt. Vernon: