National Archives
Over the past couple years, I've really become a geek when it comes to history and artifacts. So being a quasi-memorabilia dealer I found the Archives to fascinating. This has the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and other important documents throughout the history of our country. This is an absolute must see.
THE GOOD: The penmanship of these old documents was unbelievable. As an autograph nut I do have an appreciation for a nice signature, but the thought of someone spending the time to perfect every word of these long documents is just too cool. When I was there it reminded and amazed me that our country was created by the principles these men laid out that over 200 years later, and they still ring true today.
THE BAD: The Declaration of Independence was pretty much impossible to read. The Constitution has held up over time, but the DOI didn't look as good as it it did in National Treasure.
The National Gallery of Art
My and Rachel's taste in art it is very similar, so going to art museums together is usually a pretty good day. Both of us really like impressionists like Monet, and Post Impressionists like Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Seurat. The exhibit was very impressive especially in the sculpture department. If you are a fan of Edgar DeGas, you have to go to this museum. It has to have the finest collection of art from him in the world.
THE GOOD: The collection was very impressive. I always find it neat to actually see famous sculptures and paintings that I've seen in books or TV right in front of my eye. Then it's kind of scary to think that they are worth 1o's of millions of dollars and I take a couple steps back. They had a special exhibit by Martin Puryear which was kind of lame, but his "Ladder for Booker T Washington" shown in the photo was definitely the best piece of his they had on display.
THE BAD: I don't know if it's possible for something to be too big, but the NGOA may have been. We spent close to a full day there and we didn't even go into the East building. Besides that, the musuem didn't have a nice flow it it. At times we found ourselves wondering what direction we were supposed to go in next. Kind of frustrating, but overall a great museum.
SIDE NOTE: If you like art and going to be in DC I would HIGHLY reccommend checking out the Phillips Collection Museum. This place was much better than we thought it would be. It was fairly small (took about an hour to go through) and had works from Picasso, Van Gogh, Cezane, and other famous artists. Great exhibit even if you have to pay to get in.
The White House
I was really looking forward to this, and although it was cool it didn't quite live up to expectations. We planned for this to take the entire morning, but the entire tour took about 20-30 minutes. I fully expected there to be some kind of tour guide, instead it was a self guided tour through about 6 rooms of the White House. I wasn't expecting to rub elbows with "W" or anything, but I did expect a little more. Still, worth doing if because nothing, it didn't take up a whole lot of time.
THE GOOD: I can now say I've been in the most famous house in the world. I think there is something to be said for that.
THE BAD: Make sure you plan ahead...Way ahead. You actually have to schedule an appointment with your congressman to get in the White House. It wasn't too big of deal for us, but we got lucky because our Congressman's secretary did most of the work. If you plan on going, be sure to schedule several months in advance.
The Monuments
These take up a HUGE chunk of time (if you decide to walk to them all like we did), but it was worth the tired legs. I've seen and read about all the monuments, but
they really didn't do them justice. They are just spectacular. I can't really decide which is my favorite, but there seemed to be an understated tranquility at the Jefferson Memorial which I really enjoyed. In fact, one quote on a 
panel really impressed on me how much our fore fathers were forward thinkers, and how lucky we were to have such intelligent people forming this country."I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
THE GOOD: Everything...There was a ranger near the Lincoln Memorial which gave us a great background on the statute. The Vietman Memorial was incredibly moving. The World War II Memorial was beautiful, and the FDR Monument(s), were okay, but I think some of the statues need some restoration.
THE BAD: Unfortunately we did not get to go in the Washington Monument. Apparently they only let a certain number of people inside every day, and we didn't get there until late afternoon so we missed out.
The Capital
We scheduled a tour with an intern from Congressman's office, which I thought enhanced the experience. The rotunda was unbelievable, and I was surprisingly intrigued watching Congress in session. It's kind of like hockey...sucks on TV, but pretty decent in person.
THE GOOD: Just amazing architechture and art work on the inside and outside of this building. We got lucky because on our tour the intern took us through the underground hallways which connect offices to the Capital.
THE BAD: The brand new museum and visitors center wasn't open yet. It's supposedly pretty impressive and went about $50 million over budget, so I guess I got something to look forward to next time.
COMING TOMORROW........PART II
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