Seeing America's heritage
On Saturday we decided to be tourists!
We went down into Washington DC to try to get as much national heritage in one day as possible. The great thing is that we only live about 45 minutes from downtown DC. My wife's idea was for us to get up to the top of the Washington Monument, which is something that neither my wife nor I had ever done. We also wanted to visit a Smithsonian Museum, which subjects are many and varied. They have everything from American History to Art to the Air and Space Museum.
Our first stop was the Washington Monument. 
I had always been put off by the lines, which could exceed three hours in length. But they have instituted a ticket procedure, which allows you to get a ticket for everyone in your party before you even have to walk up to the base of the monument. It aids crowd control, but we couldn't get in right away! It was only 11:30 and we got our five tickets for 3 pm.
Since we had a couple of hours till our 3:00 ticket time in the Monument, we took the looooooong walk over to the Lincoln Memorial.
That was really neat, though our kids' little legs were tired by the time we walked the Mall. It was about 12:30 when we finished at the Memorial, and we walked back towards the Smithsonian Museum of American History, this time stopping at the WWII Memorial.
Off to the National Museum of American History... 
Saw a display of the inventions of Benjamin Franklin, since this past week was his 300th birthday. They sliced up a big birthday cake and shared with everybody.
I loved the pop culture artifacts, but I wish there would have been more. We saw Mr. Rogers' sweater, Howdy Doody, and Oscar the Grouch. We also saw Lance Armstrong's bike from the 2000 Tour de France, which he also rode in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Even Jerry Seinfeld's Puffy Shirt was on display, right by Dorothy's ruby slippers and Fonzie's leather jacket (which I always thought was black, but it is brown leather).
On the second floor, I was surprised and awed by one very cool exhibit.
Apparently after the Nauvoo Temple was destroyed, the Nauvoo Sunstone was owned by the local historical society. The Smithsonian bought it in 1989 and it's been on display on the 2nd floor of the American History museum ever since!
Also saw a large interactive exhibit about the history of transportation and how it has affected daily life. Awesome and very well done. Saw the restoration process taking place on the original Star-Spangled Banner, the one flying over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the British bombardment of the War of 1812.
Finally made it over to the Monument at our 3:00 ticket time. Went up in the elevator and was very impressed with the views.
We could also see the Capitol and had commanding views of the entire city, even across the Potomac to see the Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, and other sites of national significance.
I came away very humbled and awed by our amazing country. It is almost impossible for anyone to not be impressed by our rich heritage and our incredible nation. Visiting Washington DC is a wonderful way to experience and appreciate the heritage that makes our nation unique and interesting.