Washington DC, Arnie's Retirement, Briana's Baptism and Orla's Baby Blessing
Sarah and I had pretty much a 3-week vacation, all of which I can't recount here, at least not in great detail, because there was just so much that happened. But I will do some of it justice to the best of my ability.
Sarah and I were able to get a connecting Spirit flight to Washington D.C. for Sarah's brother Arnie's retirement ceremony. It was a red-eye flight and the connection was several hours long in Orlando, Florida. Sarah actually fell asleep on the hard wood benches after trying to stay awake and I walked around and tried to entertain myself. It was an interesting experience because we were three hours ahead and so our 3am, when we arrived was their 6am and there was light out.
The first thing I wanted to see was the White House. Then we saw:
- the back of the White House from afar
- EEOB
- WWII memorial
- beautiful memorial with a tribute to all the states and commonwealths of the United States and a fountain in which you can dip your feet in symbolizing the moment the War was won and the soldiers ran into the fountains in Europe. Also a nice tribute to the many "stars" who died in the war.
- Vietnam War Memorial
- Helen wanted to take pictures in front of the names etched in the black stone of those friends that had died in this war. Laura was a big help in finding the names.
- Lincoln Memorial
- I could tell this one really touched Sarah.
- Korean War Memorial
- This one was just amazing, reminding me of my Grandpa. I am really happy they honored him at this memorial. It is a triangular field with soldiers in raincoats and helmets walking along.
- DC World War Memorial
- The Washington Monument
- got to stand alongside it and touch it
- The Metro
- we took this home
We went to Arlington National Cemetery on Sunday with Lisa and was able to get a tour of the cemetery because Helen covered us. We wanted to find the grave of one of Sarah's relative's, Byron Quayle VanCott had fought in the war. Laura was also instrumental in finding that grave as well. Well-worth-it. As well as the National Basilica on the same day.
Sarah, Helen, and I went to the National Cathedral the next day. Beautiful church and place in the West Wing where Dolores' funeral was held. Took pictures in front of the pulpit. We also saw the plane that was flown by the Wright Brothers in the Air and space museum.
The next day we went with those that had arrived to tour the National Mall. This time with the whole family. We had told the family about DC Circulator to get around. We split off to go see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Then Lisa, Helen and I split off to see the White House, the WWI Memorial, St. John's church, and Helen took us to eat at Old Ebbitt's. It was really nice of her.
The next day was the Retirement Ceremony and the whole reason why we came to DC in the first place. About a month before the ceremony, Arnie asked me, John, to sing the Star Spangled Banner. The days leading up to it were kinda wishy washing because 1. I hadn't practiced all that much, and 2. My throat was sore every day we were in DC. However, when I finally did sing, it was perfect. Arnie's retirement ceremony was perfect and I saw Sarah be very proud of her brother and family. We then went to eat at Outback Steakhouse and Athena paid for our meal, which was so nice of her. It was a really enjoyable time. We then went to the Washington DC temple with the whole family. It was a nice night.
The last day of our time in DC, we took a tour of the US Capitol Building. It was a rather neat experience. I really enjoyed myself.
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We then travelled to California to witness Briana's baptism and Orla's baby blessing (we were 1 minute late to the blessing). We also went to go see Laura VanCott's tombstone.
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