My parents came to visit me this past Memorial Day Weekend. Ok…yes, I know this is July…but I can’t post anything until I get my pictures organized and on the web, and I’m a bit slow on that sometimes! As usual, whenever they come to visit, we make a list of things in the area that we’d like to see and do and then go about trying our best to check everything off said list. This particular visit was no exception…
The first destination was the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum. For those not familiar with the Washington, D.C. area, this museum isn’t on the National Mall. Instead, it’s out near the Dulles Airport. In many ways, I like this museum better than the Air and Space museum on the mall. The buildings are large airplane hangars and so the place is just full of aircraft from various eras. There are famous ones, too, such as the Enola Gay and the Enterprise space shuttle. It’s really quite fascinating and every time I go, I attempt to capture the fantastic images that are there. Most of the time, I fall short of the task, but occasionally, I get an image that I’m satisfied with. The rest of them just serve to document the day. 
When we were done at the museum, we drove to Great Falls, VA to have a picnic lunch. Neither of my parents had ever seen this place…considering it’s one of my absolute favorite places in the greater D.C. area, I had to show it to them. I have spent many hours on the Maryland side of this park hiking and biking. The Virginia side is less familiar to me, but it has the easiest access to lookout points to the falls along the Potomac. It was a nice day, and hearing the water roaring by is always a relaxing way to spend an afternoon.
The second full day they were here turned out to be a busy one. First stop: Arlington Cemetery. All of us had been to the cemetery once before to see the Arlington House and watch the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, none of us had been in town over Memorial Day weekend when they put the U.S. flags on every single grave. I had always wanted to see this, so we got off the metro at Arlington Cemetery and walked around for a little while.
After walking through the cemetery, we headed over to the Iwo Jima Marine Memorial. This memorial is not a far walk from the cemetery and was a nice sight to see on the way to the Rosslyn area for lunch. The walk between the cemetery and the memorial also provides great views of the city looking down the memorial bridge and to the National Mall. Many of the city’s memorials and monuments are visible from this vantage point.
After lunch, we took off on the metro and headed towards the National Zoo. What is it about a zoo that’s so fascinating? Occasionally, I love a good stroll through a zoo. Something about seeing the animals so close up is awe inspiring. The National Zoo has several fun exhibits to see…the pandas and the tigers are two of my particular favorites. We also were able to get up close and personal with a peacock in one of the aviaries. They are such beautiful birds…but boy, do they know how to kick up a ruckus. You can hear their call over the entire zoo!
After two very full days, we weren’t quite as active for the last two days of their trip. Sunday, we all attended church together — I even twisted their arms into joining me in the choir that morning! Sunday afternoon, we spent a little bit of time at Gravelly Point watching the planes land at Reagan National Airport. (This is a really neat thing to do, by the way…when they’re landing from that side of the strip, it looks like the planes are going to end up right on top of you!)
That Sunday evening, we went to the Memorial Day Concert on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol building. I was slightly disappointed in that concert for two main reasons: 1) we got there too late to get a good seat and I couldn’t see anything and 2) I was expecting a bit more “concert” and a little less “memorial.” That last sounds awful, I know…but I love music and there was more reading and story telling than there was music at this particular event. Oh well…it was an experience: I can say I’ve done it and check that one off my list.
The final day my parents were there, Memorial Day itself, we decided to take it easy…we didn’t even really leave my house until it was time for them to go to the airport. Instead, we just had a nice cookout lunch and relaxed from our busy weekend. I really enjoyed their visit (as always). If you want to see other pictures from this weekend, use the following link: http://gallery.creationsings.net/Photography/CloseToHome/Memorial-Day-Weekend-Adventures-2011
