Night Lights

One place we’d never visited in the DC area was the National Zoo (http://nationalzoo.si.edu/), another affiliation of the Smithsonian Institution that covers 163 acres. Like all the Smithsonian museums, admission is free but street parking is extremely limited so you have to pay $16 to park in their lot. Each December the National Zoo holds a winter holiday event called ZooLights that features thousands of LED lights on trees, walkways, buildings, and even animal outlines. Russ was wearing his Missouri tiger jacket so of course I had to get a photo of him next to the tiger outlines!












In the Visitor Center was a kids’ farm-themed model train exhibit featuring several trains and lots of miniature cartoon character figures populating the farm and hillside...Mickey Mouse, Pink Panther, SpongeBob Squarepants, Spiderman, Cookie Monster, the Simpsons, Winnie the Pooh, and so many more plus lots of animals! Nearby tables held entries for the gingerbread “habitat” display contest (not pictured), and elsewhere in the park you could ride on the “trackless” train or skate on the “iceless” rink for a small fee, but we did neither. Outside the entrance to one of the buildings was a giant Snow Globe featuring Panda Claws, the official ZooLights ambassador, dancing to the music several times during the night. As you can see, the kids loved it!

This year several of the exhibit buildings were also open so you could view some of the animals at night. We were able to visit the Small Mammal House, the Great Ape House, and the Reptile Discovery Center. These photos represent just a snippet of some of the cool things we saw: a sleeping prehensile tailed porcupine, a very active sloth trying to get from one side of the cage to the other via the ceiling, a couple of blue poison frogs, and our favorite, the thinking man’s ape! There was a large crowd of people right as we walked into the Great Ape House, and there on the other side of the glass up high on the “rocks” sat this ape looking at all of us like we were the ones behind the glass (which to him we were!)












We had arrived shortly before dark and were able to see the cheetahs roaming in their outdoor habitat but didn’t get to see any of the other nearly 400 animals housed at the zoo. However, we plan to go back during the day some time before we leave the area.

The night of Christmas Eve we drove into DC to check out the National Christmas Tree. On the way we passed the Capitol Christmas Tree all lit up and looking very pretty. It seems that everyone was downtown for the same reason, and nearby parking was non-existent. We parked several blocks away on the other side of the beautifully lit Washington Monument and took a leisurely stroll towards the Ellipse, the grassy area south of the White House where the tree is planted. For those who don’t know, the tree that had been used since 1978 was damaged in February of this year, snapping the 42 ft. tree to about 4 ft. above ground level. It was removed and a new tree was planted by the National Park Service this spring, and this helps explain some of what we saw. I was so excited to be able to have this experience of seeing the National Christmas Tree and maybe we set our sights too high because we were both extremely disappointed. We hadn’t known about the new planting so were expecting a much taller tree, but we also expected a better shaped and better decorated tree. Basically a net of large Christmas bulbs are draped vertically from the top of the tree down to the bottom, and there are some large snowflake lights hung here and there with a star at the top. We’re not sure if the tree is actually misshapen at the top or if the netting has caused it to look that way, but you can sort of see in the photo what we’re talking about. It really was not very pretty and rather disappointing. At the base of the tree, several model trains ran along sets of tracks, and surrounding the approach to the tree are 56 smaller, decorated trees called the “Pathway of Peace” representing all 50 states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia. Each year sponsoring organizations from each state provide the tree decorations that are encased in a protective plastic globe to shield them from the weather. Also nearby on the Ellipse is the National Chanukah Menorah, which was initially lit on Dec. 20, the first night of Chanukah, and this being the 5th night, 5 candles were shining brightly.

We took another route back to the car and walked through the World War II Memorial. Each of the 56 granite pillars stands 17 feet tall adorned with a bronze wreath and is inscribed with the name of the state or territory from that time period. And on this evening at the base of each pillar laid a green wreath adorned with red ribbon…a striking contrast and touching tribute. We'll be visiting this memorial again and will provide more photos and info next time.

Once back in the car we drove towards the Lincoln Memorial and found a parking spot (not hard this time of night) with plans to walk to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I had read that a Christmas tree is on display at the Memorial only during Christmas week, and as we approached the Memorial, we couldn’t see anything of the sort. The pathway along the Wall is barely lit with some lights softly shining upwards on the names, and we could not see a tree anywhere. We continued to walk along the path which has Christmas wreaths placed at the base of every other panel along the Wall, and there at the center point we finally saw what appeared to be a Christmas tree with no lights. Instead the tree is adorned with handmade ornaments, cards, and messages from schoolchildren from around the country that are placed there by visitors and volunteers. Each one serves as a reminder and recognition of the losses and sacrifices made by these brave men and women…truly touching tribute.

You may wonder about our Christmas decorations, and we’ve had to make a slight change this year. In the past we’ve hung icicle lights and greenery in the front window with our tree and nativity on the dash as we were comfortably parked in the warmth of FL. However this year we are parked in the chilly land of MD, and we soon discovered that the warmth inside the RV matched with the cool air outside created quite a bit of condensation on the inside of the front window every morning! We started running the oscillating fan to dry it each morning so it just didn’t seem conducive to our lights and greenery. One of the things we donated to the thrift store when we emptied our storage unit was our 2 ft. Christmas tree opting instead to display our little 10 in. Dept. 56 Celebration Tree from 2000. The little "2000" discs lights up at night and looks very nice with the nativity on our dining table, and we have a few other special decorations that we kept scattered throughout the RV.

We’ve had no snow yet (everyone keeps asking), but it has been chilly enough on a couple of occasions that Russ needed to scrape the car window before we could go anywhere. Hope that’s the worse it gets, but we kind of doubt it!

A Sense of Honor, Pride, & Inspiration

During a recent trip into DC, we noticed a reporter and his cameraman just finishing an interview with a lady as we were parking the car near a street corner. They came over to the car and asked if Russ would mind chatting on camera about Congress and the payroll tax cut expiring. The reporter was Scott Thuman, Senior Political Reporter and anchor who covers the White House and Capitol Hill for Channel 7, a local ABC affiliate. They chatted for about 3-4 minutes but only a 6 word sound bite was used on air. Scott had focused the on air report on what people thought of Congress taking vacation and not staying to hammer out a deal. He used just a snippet from each of 3 interviews, so Russ’ 2 seconds of fame was “seems like they’re always on vacation”. Never know what they’ll use!

We were on our way to The United States Botanic Gardens (http://www.usbg.gov/), the oldest continually operating botanic garden in the country. You may recall that when we visited the Gardens last year an exhibit was in the process of being put together by Applied Imagination (http://appliedimagination.biz/) based out of KY. The miniature replicas of DC’s landmark buildings are made of natural plant materials, i.e. twigs, seeds, pods, acorn caps, grapevines, etc. all overlaid on solid wood bases. We wanted to return this year so we could see the completed exhibit amongst the Christmas decorations of the Gardens. Every year since 2004 Applied Imagination has been creating these fabulous exhibits, which this year is entitled “Seasons Greenings”. The buildings are tucked among the plants, and it takes many painstaking hours to construct the exquisite detail of each building. In fact just the U.S. Capitol replica alone took more than 600 hours to create!

As part of the exhibit located in the East Gallery, more than 800 feet of track weaves above and through a woodsy wonderland where model trains chug along. This portion of the exhibit is called “Who Lives Here?” and includes cleverly named houses that resemble animals such as Giraffe Garage, Monkey Mansion, Porcupine Place, and at the end are a cluster of presidential homes with trains running through the “neighborhood”. Owner Paul Busse admits to being “an incurable model train enthusiast!” Just like last year, we were amazed at the workmanship and creativity displayed by the staff of Applied Imagination.

















Upon entering and exiting the Garden’s Conservatory, you pass one of the largest indoor decorated Christmas trees in the DC area with several “houses” around its base. We only toured the front portion of the Conservatory, and in the West Gallery is an interactive display of how plants provide therapy, tools, spices, and more to our everyday lives. Metal flowers contain spices or fragrant seeds so you can smell the differences and a tag will explain its purpose and/or use. There area a number of educational hands-on activities for kids (or adults) in this area.

Just across the street is the Capitol building which we passed as we walked back to our car and got to see the Capitol Christmas Tree. Not be confused with the National Christmas Tree, this one is lit by the Speaker of the House a few days later. (I hope to get a night time picture of it soon.) From there we wandered through the first floor of the National Museum of the American Indian (http://www.nmai.si.edu/), another one of the Smithsonian museums. We had toured the entire facility last year and just decided on a quick visit this time. However, last year we had not ventured to the other side of the building outside and missed an exhibit called Always Becoming. It consists of five teepee sculptures that were hand-built by Nora Naranjo-Morse, the first Native American woman to create an outdoor sculpture in Washington, DC. They are made of organic materials and will gradually erode and change over time thus its name.

It was time to head across the river to Arlington National Cemetery (www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/) starting first at the Visitor Center for a map and to view several of the many exhibits. The Cemetery’s 624 acres contain the remains of over 320,000 servicemen and women from every war and major conflict in U.S. history. We’ve visited Arlington before but never at this time of year. Each December green wreaths with red bows are laid at a number of the headstones and it’s quite a spectacular site. It's quite sobering to see the rows and rows of white headstones that go on for miles. Since 1992 the Worcester Wreath Co. (http://www.worcesterwreath.com/) has donated wreaths every year to honor our nation’s fallen heroes starting with about 5,000 the first year. This year nearly 90,000 wreaths were laid by about 15,000 volunteers in roughly an hour. In 2006 Mr. Worcester expanded the project into Wreaths Across America (www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/), a non-profit organization whose mission is to “Remember, Honor, Teach” and coordinates the wreath laying ceremonies not only at Arlington on the 2nd Sat. in Dec. but also at veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states. In 2010 Wreaths Across America and their volunteers laid over 220,000 memorial wreaths at 545 locations in the United States and beyond.

After visiting the graves of the President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis, we made our way over to the Memorial Amphitheater where we would be able to view the Changing of the Guard at The Tomb of the Unknowns (also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier). It is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter the weather. Sentinels, all volunteers, are considered to be the best of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment headquartered in VA. Each sentinel must go through an extensive process to qualify for this honor; it’s not given to just anyone who volunteers. You can read about it on the website under Exploring the Cemetery and then click Changing of the Guard. Guards are changed every hour on the hour (and on the half during the summer), and each sentinel paces 21 steps alongside the tomb, pauses 21 seconds, and then returns 21 steps back to the other side, pauses 21 seconds, and repeats this ritual many times over the next hour.









Across the street from the Amphitheater are memorials to the Challenger and Columbia shuttle crews, the soldiers killed during the 1980 Iran rescue mission, the Battle of the Bulge, and several others with many more memorials scattered throughout the cemetery. In the distance of the picture below right you can see the mast of the USS Maine that was relocated to Arlington in 1915 to honor the 260 men who were killed when the ship was sunk in 1898.

As we headed back to the car, we heard a rhythmic drum beat in the distance and seemed to be coming from up over the hill. We could see the tops of flags waving and made our way for a better view. Coming down the road was a military band followed by rifled soldiers, an honor guard, and lastly soldiers on horseback in front of a horse-drawn carriage carrying a flag draped coffin. We watched as this funeral procession made its way along the route and the band played solemn marches. We had planned to make our way over to the memorial honoring those killed at the Pentagon on 9/11 and it just so happened that the burial was taking place not far from there. We pulled over and got out of the car to pay our respects as we watched the casket lowered from the buckboard and carried to the burial site where the family awaited. We felt honored to have been able to witness even a small portion of this solemn occasion. Out of respect we did not linger and went on our way finding the 9/11 memorial which we discovered is located within view of the Pentagon. Each visit to Arlington National Cemetery is a reminder of the sacrifices so many have made for our country and evokes a sense of pride, inspiration, and a humbleness that is hard to explain.

Back in DC there was one more place we wanted to visit this day, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial (www.nps.gov/mlkm), America's 395th national park and DC’s most recent memorial. At the entry are two granite boulders that are split in half by a walkway that takes you into the open plaza where stands a 30-foot high solitary “Stone of Hope” into which Dr. King’s likeness has been carved facing towards the Tidal Basin. On one side of this granite boulder is a line from Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, "Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope”, and the split boulders represent the “Mountain of Despair” with the “Stone of Hope” having been pushed forth. Surrounding the plaza is a 450-foot crescent shaped granite wall into which 14 of Dr. King’s famous quotes are engraved. It’s an impressive memorial and tribute to a man of vision, hope, peace, and faith.