Our Morning in DC

Savannah had to be at Michaela's hotel at 7:30 to spend the day with the bride and all the other bridesmaids as they got ready for the wedding so David and I decided to head down to DC after dropping her off. We found out that Saturday mornings are the best time to visit DC. Parking was easy to find and there was hardly anyone around. We arrived an hour before our tour so, to pass the time, we walked around for a little bit, checking out some of the cool buildings.

I told David I would love to stay in the Waldorf Astoria for just one night...and then we looked up prices. Maybe not.

Two years ago when we visited DC, Ford's Theater was closed, leaving me super bummed. I had only been there once, way back in 8th grade, and for some reason we had never done the tour when we lived close by. So visiting was our priority!

It did not disappoint. We started with the museum portion which contained some really cool items.

I especially loved the Sanitary Commission Quilt. This quilt has 56 signatures from politicians to poets, including Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and was auctioned in 1864 to support nursing services for Civil War soldiers.

After spending time in the museum, we were then moved into the theater where we watched a wonderful play that told the story of the assassination through the eyes of the people who worked at Ford's Theater in 1865.

While we were in the theater I heard some people talking about seeing the gun used by John Wilkes Booth down in the museum. Somehow David and I had totally missed that so we asked the ranger if we could go back in. While there we were able to check out a few more things, including these items offered to Lincoln once the Baltimore assassination plot was uncovered;

items worn by John Wilkes Booth and those charged in the conspiracy;

and the deringer used by Johnn Wilkes Booth. After he shot the president, he dropped his pistol and what should happen to it has been a question ever since. As of right now, it is displayed but the reason David and I missed it is because they have it in a section that we walked right by, not even realizing there was a display in this side section. Apparently the display bothers so many people that they basically hide it.

I love DC so much! As we were driving around the city I was already planning our next visit.

We just didn't have much time so the only other site we visited was the Iwo Jima Memorial. I had only seen it once before, when we left Kelly's wedding reception back in 2006. We lucked out and basically had the place to ourselves.

We took some pictures, read a few of the signs, and then were ready to head back to the car. It was way too hot to spend too much time outside!

Our last stop of the morning was the DC temple!