New England Day 3: DC and Baltimore

Before heading out of DC, we went back to the monuments to see the ones we'd missed the day before. We decided to drive them this time and blasted the AC in between. Best decision ever. We were extremely blessed to find parking spots close to each of the memorials (except the Jefferson Memorial, which has no parking nearby) and I was loving my remote start that allowed me to get the car running before we got there.

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial was much bigger than I would have expected, but it has tons of his killer quotes, which I loved. 

"They who seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order."

"We have faith that future generations will know that here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war."

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith." This reminds me a lot of a quote by President Thomas S. Monson, our prophet today, "The future is as bright as your faith." I completely believe that both of these statements were inspired by God.

The three memorials that we visited that morning - Jefferson, FDR, and MLK - are all situated around a tidal basin, so they each have a great view of the others, as well as the Washington Monument and the White House.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial also has some of his best work on the walls.

 "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." Love, love this one and I know that it's true. I tried so hard to help my middle schoolers understand that last year - you can't return negative with negative and expect a different result.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial was much bigger. A beautiful memorial to a great man. I really don't understand how people can argue that our country was not founded upon Christian principles. The words of our founding fathers and so many of their successors ooze faith in God.

While at the Jefferson Memorial, we had a unique privilege to see a marine commissioning ceremony. This marine had just finished Officer Candidates School and was taking an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. It was obviously a very special moment for him and his family, and it was cool to be able to witness it in such a special place.

 On our way out of DC we stopped by the Washington, DC temple. The quickest way there was to drive through the city and I couldn't believe how wooded it was. There we were in the middle of Washington DC and I felt like we were in the woods. It was gorgeous!

Speaking of gorgeous, have you seen the DC temple? All temples are beautiful, but the words that come to mind when I see this temple are grandeur, majesty, and splendor. It is absolutely stunning.

In the (air-conditioned) visitors center they have some models of what ancient temples looked like, including Solomon's temple and the portable tabernacle of the Israelites.

Our final destination that night was Philadelphia, but we stopped in Baltimore, Maryland on the way. We visited Fort McHenry, which was the fort over which the American flag was flying which inspired The Star-Spangled Banner during the War of 1812. It was cool to see the actual flag the day before then to see its original home.

 

The heat had subsided a bit as a result of some clouds and wind that were coming in. Luckily, I thought to grab the umbrellas as we were going in, which turned out to be a good idea. A tropical storm had hit south of us so the storms that were traveling up the East Coast were pretty strong. 

Our tiny umbrellas didn't do much to protect against the crazy winds, but Jaime was determined to get a picture with the cannon.

The inner courtyard of the fort, where the Star-Spangled Banner was definitely waving. Whipping is probably a more accurate description.

We visited Fell's Point - a historic waterfront neighborhood in Baltimore Harbor. There are lots of shops and restaurants in the area now.

We had dinner at a place called Bertha's Mussels. Jaime and I are all about trying local foods, and these mussels were apparently famous, so we had to try them. Neither of us had had mussels before. We started with a crabcake, also famous in this region, then finished with the mussels and some other dish I forget now. The mussels were quite possibly one of the most disgusting things I'd ever put in my mouth. The sliminess and the sucking straight from the shell and the grittiness...goo.

We headed up to Philadelphia that night and were hit with the highest tolls I'd ever heard of. The only tolls I'd ever passed through before were in Chicago or in Florida, both of which were a buck or two, I think. Over the next few days, we paid tolls as high as eight dollars. Nuts. We had not prepared for such high tolls, so fortunately we were able to scrounge together some dollars and change to get by. It made me grateful to live in Indiana where we just let people use whatever roads they want. Good ol' midwestern hospitality.