The fireworks

The night before Tom had been watching TV in our room and I had felt that I had not come 3000 miles to watch TV when the mall was right out the front door of the hotel. I had decided to take a walk in the evening and see some monuments. Tom made Trevor go with me. But in his rush to follow orders Trevor had worn Rileys flip flop. They were not comfortable and hurt his feet. It made me cranky to be taking a lovely walk with a whiny boy. Next time he must wear his shoes. Some times it is better to take the extra time or help Trevor find his shoes and not just shove him out the door willy nilly.



It limits our walk. We can't go the distance I had intended. Probably just as well as it got dark quickly after sunset. There were police everywhere though, watching out for all the tourists. Again, we were surprised there weren't more crowds.



Trevor and I stop at the Air space museum as we see people going in the door. It was closed though but there is an IMAX theater showing Iron Man II. I tell Trevor maybe another night. We keep walking.



We walk all the way to the Washington Memorial. Trevor touches the walls. He asks if it is as tall as the World Trade Center were. I will have to take the boys to down town when I get home so they can get perspective on sky scrapers again. DC has no buildings over 5 stories. Nothing is allowed to be taller than the Washington monument at 555 feet. I love not feeling towered over by sky scrapers. The whole layout is so beautiful with the Greek influences. There is even a model of the Acropolis in one of the museums to show the inspiration. But up close leaning against the granite walls of this monolithic obelisk, it does feel impressive.



The world trade center buildings were at least 120 stories over 1200 feet. You couldn't see the tops when you leaned away from the buildings. You could only see the tops when at a distance. Here we were at the center of America's political world, having just come from the center of our financial world. Standing touching the cold granite with the lights illuminating its solid walls, even in the 80 degree heat if the evening, Trevor and I had tingles down our spines.



Trevor's feet hurt to walk any further so I opt out of continuing down to the reflection pool. You could see there was a concert going on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. You could see the flashes from cameras and hear the faint music and cheering crowd. We turn and head back to the hotel. The vendors are closing up shop for the evening. Tom texts me to see where we are and I text back we are almost there. I just wish Trevor had worn his comfortable shoes and we would have walked to that concert.





So, both Tom and I have checked out the best locations to view the fireworks. We have found the crowds are not bad at the Capital Hill side of the monument. We walk down the mall past tents. some are labeled Asia, Mexico, children's crafts. They are all empty. I wondered why. One was having a barbecue. But again the lack of crowds or lines surprised us. We find a fringe of warn weeds and grass to sit and view. After walking almost to the Monument again. Tom mentioned the Capital Steps, but I knew the fireworks were around the reflection pools. We had watched a show about the set up on the Discovery channel. We had found out that the display would last only 20 minutes. Had we a radio we could have heard the symphony playing patriotic songs with the display.



The fireworks began big and stayed strong. Lots of big round fireworks. From our position on the grass, the Washington Monument was smack dab in the middle of it. I guess it was appropriate. Definitely reminded us of where we were. it did make Tom and me laugh. We had tried so hard to find just the right spot. Off the mall trees would have blocked our view. We had seen a party on the balcony of the Smithsonian building American History. We had walked over to see how we could get ourselves invited. The security guards had told us it was a private party hosted by the secretary of the Smithsonian, not someone we could afford to bribe. Their view would have been spectacular.



So on the well worn grass we sat with the Monument right in the middle of our view. Tom had thought the fire works would be high enough to clear the top. They weren't. But they were so big lighting up the sides that it was still spectacular. Trevor asked if the finally had been an accident. So many had gone off at once he thought there must have been a mistake.



Tom and I are something of affectionatos when it comes to fire works. Seattle has wonderful displays. I grew up seeing the fire works at Lake Oswego. We would go to Fort Vancouver displays a few times. Then Tom discovered the lack of limitations on fireworks in Longview and would spend over $1000 at the Indian reservations. He and a friend would let off a display in our own yard that puts our Oregon small town displays to shame. Its one of the reasons we try not to be in Oregon for the fourth anymore.



I figure the spending money we took on this trip would have gone to fireworks this year if we hadn't been ion this trip. It was a break even proposition, win win. Here we were seeing one of the most impressive firework displays in the country. We oohed and Aaahed with glee.



I did get a momentary catch in my throat at the beginning when I chanced to remember where I had been last year. My dad passed away July 1, 2009. My sister Jen and her family were with me clearing out my Dad's house. We had walked up the hill to the local elementary school and watched the valley fireworks at a distance. There weren't much local family fireworks in the desert because of the fire hazard. Tom had done tank wars with the boys but he had also had a low key fourth last year.



This year we were making it up with a vengeance. Wow, it was worth coming 3000 miles to see. next time though our seats are going to be on the Lincoln Memorial side so the Washington Monument is the back drop, not the centerpiece.



After the fireworks ended we walked back to the hotel. Even then the crowds weren't bad. Police were out directing traffic. I think they had closed the capitol streets for the day. As we passed the subway station, we did see crowds packed around the entrance. That made the expensive hotel worth every penny. We got to head to the bar for a drink while everyone else, all 150,000 plus, headed for a tight and crowded subway.



The next day, Monday, when we went down for breakfast, families were packed and leaving the hotel. We had the restaurant virtually to ourselves. Riley wants to relax with his dad so I take Trevor to the Museum of Galleries. This is Americas collection of paintings both American artist and from Europe. There are also sculptures. I love this museum and could wonder these rooms for hours. These paintings are the equivalent to modern photo albums. They capture a time before photography. The details are amazing. You can stare at a painting and see something new every instant. The building is a beautiful piece of architecture in itself with garden rooms at each end and a huge Pantheon ceiling. A painting of the Pantheon can be found in one of the Italian artists rooms.



The boys had a book called Where's Waldo. The object was to find this man in every photo and the photo would have great detail. I feel that with the Dutch and Italian and English artists. A street scene catches the moment. A mother nursing a child, a dog peeing on a building, a boy playing jacks in the street while vendors sell food to the maids, soldiers smoke while leaning on their weapons. Another painting is of a funeral by ship. You can see the drummer playing the dirge while women weep and men look on stoically. These are powerful paintings.



Trevor stops at Daniel in the Lions' Den, a huge painting probably 10 feet long. The artist has made the lions angry with their noses crinkled and their teeth bared. Human bones lie about the cave.



A sculpture catches his eye in another room. Its the memorial of Bostonian Colnol Shaw with his all black Brigade on their march to be slaughtered in the attack on Fort Wagner in the Civil War. Those men knew they would not survive yet walked with purpose and fortitude captured in this memorial. The movie Glory is based on this moment.



Trevor bores of looking at paintings. I am not even half done. We head down to the basement where a concourse connects this museum to the museum of modern art. A moving ramp with twinkling lights lining the walls and the ceiling, painted black for dramatic effect, greets us down stairs. The ramp is very cushy, enough of a ride that Trevor is content to ride the ramp back and forth while I race upstairs to see one of the newest building on the mall.



Beautiful architecture but I found the open plan with the few pieces of sculpture a little disappointing. With all the modern artists in our country there didn't seem to be enough on display. It was more about the building than the artists. I guess you could get away with it with the Hirtshorn just across the mall. It also is a modern art museum. Trevor and I head back to the hotel



Everyone has left the hotel the day after the fourth of July. The pool that afternoon was empty but for us. It was lovely and I got extremely burnt. I sent the boys down to the room for sunblock which they applied but did not bring it back with them. I was tucked under a tree thinking I was safe from the sun. But I ended up with a painful sunburn. As I was waiting in the lobby for the boys the next day, a man stopped to tell me how painful my sun burns looked. Yes, I do know its painful.



I have the bell hop call a town car for us. Jen has told me they are about the same price as a taxi and so much nicer. We pack that night with our cloths for tomorrow set out. All our souvenirs need to fit into our bags and the breakables need to make it home undamaged. The boys and I have breakfast as usual and bring Tom his coffee. We have an hour before we need to go to the lobby, but I don't want to listen to the TV so I find a quiet corner in the lobby to hang until it is time. I read my book that I have rarely opened the whole trip. Who has time with all there is to see. When ever I sit down its bed time.



The town car comes. It looks like a limo. Black and beautiful with that fake mahogany and leather seats. An upgrade from the torn taxi seats and the dirty exteriors. The boys are impressed. We are flying out of Reagan International. $38 plus tip for a 15 minute drive. But its "styling". Last day splurge, we had to go in style.



Reagan Airport surprises me. It is one small terminal. Almost like a small town airport. No wonder they had to build a new airport further out. The computers are down when we arrive so checking our bags takes waiting in the front of the line for 20 minutes. When we go through security Riley misplaces his boarding pass. Turns up in my bag next to mine. I must have picked it up with mine without noticing. Nothing like a little stress before take off. We all handled it well. The airport is so small they would have just given him a new one at the gate.



The airport has one bar and one book store and one souvenir shop. The boys go to check out the souvenir shop. Tom goes to the bar. We have two hours until our plane. I pull out my book. Riley comes back with a new paperback. We read until boarding time. We have upgraded our seats for the extra 6 inches. It is amazing how much difference 6 inches can make. $25 each seat, it also makes us one of the last to board the plane. Stretch seats are in the front few rows only. My bag fits under my seat. I love not having to put it in the overhead. I like to get into my bag at least twice during a flight, pulling a book out or getting out a magazine or getting money or my card out.



I found that airlines don't take cash anymore, credit card only. I like not worrying about change.

We land in Denver only to find a storm cell right over the airport. Our connecting flight has been re routed to Colorado Springs. The boys play on the moving ramp for 30 hours. Finally the weather clears enough for our plane to land and be cleaned and re boarded. We are not going to get in at 7:45 pm, arrival time will be 11:00 pm.



My parents pick us up at the airport. They have brought two cars so they can go straight home and so can we. I drive this time, its familiar territory. We unload the bags and I throw on a load of laundry before falling asleep.



The next day I drive the car over our brand new roll away carrier that I picked up for $25 at Penn station. In the dark it had fallen to the ground behind the car and been missed in the unload.



The cats whined and cried at us all the first day home, because I didn't give them canned food like the boy who took care of them the last two weeks. The front lawn was beautiful and mowed but the back yard was six inches tall and took hours to tame. The exercise felt good and the house was in good shape considering we had abandoned the cats in it for 10 days. I had shut all the doors upstairs to keep the cats off the beds. the bribery of canned food every day seems to have worked. There was no revenge damage to be found.



Trevor went to sleep with a cat on his pillow and we had a dog on ours. Riley slept hard within minutes of lieing down, and then took a long soak in the tub the next day.



I went to see my sister and give her my condolences. She has house guests from the east coast that arrived to support her and do their own grieving. it will take time, a lot of time. What I have learned is to enjoy the moment. I am so glad we did this trip. I wish Tom had more vacation time, because I think we all benefited by having him around. Boys need their Dad. Tom had wanted to go because he was a civil war buff. I hope he feels as fulfilled as the rest of us. The boys will definitely remember this trip the rest of their lives.