Washington, DC Metro system/ Smithsonian Museum of American History. Oct 2019

It's been a crazy busy year! I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to Washington DC in October. Mike has been there a couple of times, but it was my first trip. One of our daughters got married in September, so we only had time for a short vacation this year. We allotted 1 week to see the major sites and museums with a trip to Mount Vernon as well.

We arrived early in the day on a Sunday and checked in at our hotel, the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. There is a convenient metro stop just across from the hotel with underground access tunnel through the Crystal Gateway shopping center.

As I've said before, we're definitely not experts at using subways but I had done some research and knew which transit pass to buy. There was a transit office in Crystal Gateway center, so we were able to buy our prepaid transit cards there. The lady at the desk was helpful and really funny, we actually checked back with her when we returned to our hotel at the end of the day to let her know we found our way back! The metro system for the main sites in DC is really very simple to use and the subway is very clean.  We only got on going the wrong direction once and immediately realized our mistake, so we just went one stop out of our way.

After purchasing our cards, we headed into DC and our first stop was the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. There was so much to see! We spent a good bit of time on the first floor which highlights American inventions and ingenuity. The second floor's most incredible display is the Star-Spangled Banner - the actual flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. The same flag Francis Scott Key saw as he watched the battle from the ship where he was being held prisoner. The flag spent almost 100 years in the possession of the Armistead family, the descendants of the fort commander. This is a big flag, originally 30x42 feet. It is very worn, as one would expect because the Armistead family used to take it out and display it on holidays and the flag has been laundered several times. It now lies in a controlled environment room with a huge glass window.

We eventually made our way to the third floor which has exhibits on the Presidents and First Ladies of the United States. One of the most interesting things to me was the exhibit of the actual table and chairs used by General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee at the signing of the Confederacy's official surrender to end the Civil War. There are also some items relating to President Abraham Lincoln, but there are lots more at the Ford Theater (a tour I highly recommend). They have George Washington's sword as well.

An interesting story, that I had never heard before, was an account of how First Lady Dolley Madison helped to save precious artifacts of American history. In 1814 during the War of 1812, the British advanced on Washington and burned the White House and the Capitol Building. When the Madisons found out that the British were coming and were only 30 miles away, the orders were given to evacuate the White House. Dolley stayed and oversaw the packing of several key possessions and artwork that were important in American history, and only then did she leave the city. A few days later, after the British had been repelled, she returned to Washington to meet with builders and start making plans to rebuild the White House.

We stayed so long that we actually had a late lunch in the dining area at the museum. I think we spent about 6 hours total, my back was hurting from standing in place so long looking at all the exhibits and reading the information.

It was one of my favorite museums in Washington.