MY ADVENTURES N AMERICAN HISTORY & OTHER ASSORTED SILLINESS TRIP REPORT; SEPT '18

[knewton64]

Until next time -

T-minus 48 more hours and the adventure begins.........

T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

T-minus 24 more hours.......
(I'm off work the day b4 the fun starts)

(some of the lanyard pins I have from Ebay)


and -

(ppppsssttt! Look up above the Eagles pin..... thats the Hard Rock lanyard pin.... cuz I will b making a quick beeline n2 that place for a soda, water or possibly even a milkshake... TO GO)........ since I plan on doing a lot of walking on Fri and esp Sat)




UP NEXT:
Heading for the Airport





T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

The Adventure begins....

My "in-flight movie"?

(starts at 11:30am at AMC)



Ladbybug gets checked n2 her "hotel for extremely spoiled Pooches" before that of course...........
then Friday early am -

Its time to
Prepare for Cross Check -







T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

Flight leaves in 6 hours .....and I’m just now packing .....





T.T.F.N.
&
Cheers Y'all

 

[knewton64]

The Christopher Robin movie??
luved it!!


Loved the Character of E-ore (sorry bad with spelling...im still waking up)



All rightee - time ta get on yer walkin shoes cuz we will b doing lots of walking today.......
Right now, I'm just a relaxin out at DFW Airport.


Things ta c today?

1) arrive at Renaissance Hotel around noon ish -

(luv the room)

followed by....

2) Spy Museum

to -

and -

3) Madame Tussauds Was museum.....

to seeing all the Prez's in was figures..... very lifelike -

*IMO, it is so much fun to the height of each President, their period clothing etc)


then boogy on over to the Nats ballpark to watch dem pesky Cubbies lose to the Nats.


Flight leaves n one hour -


NEXT UP -
Arrival n2 Washington DC.....and where's my cheeseburger?? I think I left it at the Nats ballpark -

T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

Bring yer rain poncho tonight to tha ballgame....
"HONEST" I tell ya-

60% chance rain....

hmmmm - ok that’s “ Where’s my beers And cheeseburgers ???

Just arriving into Wash airport ....


T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

Gas is 2.90/ gallon...... very creepy but fun and fascinating checking out the SPY Museum.......

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212746571598770

IMHO, some of the things I saw just made me shake my head and have my jaw drop literally to the ground.... like this pic -

and -

......followed by Tussauds Wax museum

(becuz on one hand you see Robert P Hanseen antics, then you contrast that with seeing all the US Presidents.... IMO, that's a wee bit spooky but.....

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212746571638771

.....imho, a must do!! — chilling out now 4 a bit at Hard Rock for that atomic burger

(that's a fried jalapeno pepper on top) FYI; Im "stealing" a phrase I heard from someone who works there whom I swear is a Jerry Garcia or David Crosby (OLD OLD OLD SCHOOL ROCK N ROLL) look a like as whenever you would make a request, he would come back with a , "No Probs" reply........


B4 I boogy on over to the Nats ball park

- having a total blast here in DC.... and yes, the Renaissance Hotel rocks!!!......

(my room w/pretty neat view outside the window)


....and so does the loaded tots at the Nats ballpark - YUM!!!!



Been taking a ton of video and pics so no worries there....



T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

Rain delay ....

Catching some zzzssss underneath the concourse -

TBC

 

[knewton64]

Too many rain delays at the ballpark -
Boooo - Hiss!!

Will say tho that Harper has one H of a stance when he bats and to me, it would b a shame for the Nats to let him go......


But due to all dem freakin rain delays -
I decided ta cab it on back to the Renaissance -
Believe her name is Susie (front Desk) gave me a fantab suggestion about a Frap and a cookie at Starbucks.....

So, I'm relaxin a bit up in my room -
nice view out the window I add -


Gotta a HUGE day all day next day -
so Im gonna cheat -
(concerned its gonna rain)

and Cab it on over to the Library of Congress in early am

......have no idea what time im meeting the rest of our Tour group but I "should" be back at the Hotel around 4pm so imo, no worries -



UP NEXT:
Checking out the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Capitol Building and White House and...... ya never know whom I might just bump n2 on this day........
experience any fireworks today?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212746520717498

(and I promise to tastefully blog about it ta show our democracy working)



followed by a reception dinner of sorts in meeting the rest of the Trafaglar.com Tour group.


P.S.S. yes, gots lots more video and pics , give me a few days and I promise they will b up on this blog -
and did I tell ya I got schooled over do you call it the cursive "W" or the Curley que "W" Nats Logo?????



T.T.F.N.
&
CHeers Y'all

 

[knewton64]

WAKEY WAKEY......TIME FOR EGGS - and a milkshake

(had a quick bite to eat at the Hard Rock b4 headin on over to the NATS game)..

DAY TWO
SATURDAY
Sept 8th
Overcast skies


7:30a
R-laxing out at the Library of Congress until our tour begins......


Gotta buy a pair of sunglasses as I lost mine in all the rain delays from last night....


Possible name mismatch on on WH boarding pass vs my passport/ driv lic!! ! And I always tell people my legal name vs given name.... ah well- just goes to show you never to trust a beaurocrat; esp inside the Beltway.rrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!
Per se, my legal first name has a “tin” added onto the first name but my given name drops the “tin” and l legally have a middle name but the WH boarding pass 4 some crazy reason only lists my given first name and legal last name with no legal middle name .
Me over reacting?
Well.... keep in mind we are dealing with the Secret Service and a Beaucracy As thick as a jug of Mrs Butterworths syrup!!

So....
Crossing my fingers and toes I won’t get denied a tour of the WH at 1:30p-

Renaissance hotel has been alerted on ideas to help lift up my spirits should I be
Denied.....

T.B.C.——

T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

Q- how come we have no "J" street n DC?

ANSWER -

So, what did happen to J Street? Was it merely skipped over by accident?

The disappointingly mundane explanation is that J Street was likely omitted simply because the letters I and J were often indistinguishable from each other (especially when handwritten), and in 18th century English they were still largely interchangeable. (The 1740 “New General English Dictionary” published in London had a single section for I and J, and the standard identification Thomas Jefferson used on his personal possessions was “T.I.”) Having both an “I” and a “J” street would have been redundant at best and confusing at worst, so “J” ended up as the odd man out.
Q - How did the term "Water Gate" orginate here in DC?


and -

T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[NYCgrrl]

Q- how come we gave no j street n dc? And his did the watergate get its name

The Watergate got it's name due to it's proximity to a lock on the C and O Canal.
Had no idea that there is no "J" Street in DC. See that? You learn something new everyday.

 

[knewton64]

Like taking a drink out of an opened fire hydrant, taking a tour of the Supreme Court

(located very close by the Library of Congress...they have a basketball court there ya know ), to taking a tour of the Shakesphere Library , Capitol building, White house, etc... it is a lot of info to digest...

Keeping up....

(pic of Library of Congress).....look closely and you will see at entrance Busts of some important People in our Nations History....

hint - one bust is Ben Franklin, another is Mark Twain.....

and

Im one of only three people in the Viator.com tour group.

Here is a shot of the main lobby -

(IMHO, the view is just tremendous)

and -

Now one thing of many that I did not know about the place is there are actually THREE sections of the Library - with the main one I am the most familiar with -

(that's what I get for watching the movie, "All the Presidents Men").....

Now, ta back ya up a bit, it was very fascinating to listen to the tour Guide on how the Supreme Court works and how they cast their opinions on each case and in what order do they conference each other and how /who gets asked (lowest Seniority) to do IMO menial tasks inside the chambers...
How cases are heard, how they are won, how they are lost.... how each Justice Member writes their opinion, etc.

Again, a H of a lot of info to digest but WOWZERS! I was lovin every minute of it.

But.....back to the Library of Congress......

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212752934517839

(he has a TON of info to tell ya....)



T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

The Watergate got it's name due to it's proximity to a lock on the C and O Canal.
Had no idea that there is no "J" Street in DC. See that? You learn something new everyday.

No "J"
Street due to a fued between John Jay and the guy who Lavanieu( spelling?) the guy who mapped out Wash dc... who wudda think that?....

and something about they used wood to block that canal or to slow down the canal...hence the phrase, "Water Gate" ..


So.....after the Library of Congress tour.....

(was soooo much fun to see all the books Jefferson donated to the Library after the fire) - we were in this huge room and in a big circle like setting was all his books he donated. The Guide went on to allude that this is what Jeffersons life was like, etc so to me, I bet this is literally what Monticello is going to look like - more on that later I promise.


...... and outside the Supreme Court Building tour, our next stop was the Shakeshere Library (hope I said that right).

And I tell ya what, I there also experienced a lot of "I didn't know that" while visiting this building as well......


Now onto the Capitol Building -

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212752934477838

(and I mean, the Tour guide even when into detail about this statue that adorns the Capitol building......

NO, she is not an Native American due to the Eagle resting ontop of her head and that IF I remember right, she is as tall as Lincoln who of course is sitting inside the Lincoln memorial.....thus is how this whole fun BUT VERY INFORMATION OVERLOAD tour went.....I even told the guide 1/4 way into the tour how he would look at me in a strange way every time I would blink and rear my head back and scrunch up my eyebrows while I looking into his eyes and listening..... it was because he was telling us a HUGE amount of information...... by far the most enjoyable part of this adventure so far........... again this tour is a Viator.com tour and is called, "Small group walking tour of Washington DC" if I remember right -

and to that Tour guide -




T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

What a Capital idea to take a tour of the Capitol Building **

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212753802219531

(the Guy speaking is our Tour Guide)


Ok..... by now my head is spinning from all the facts and figures, etc but I tell ya - it was sooooo much dang fun jumping in like that and learning about all the symbolism and such of what we were seeing and before we all knew it, it was time IMO to go see the heart of the tour:

THE CAPITOL BUILDING -

and -

here is a pic of what the pic looks like tucked up inside the dome -

Now, I gotta say what surprised me the most about the place is I did not know that IMHO actually the Capitol building is quite small for its functionality as IMHO 99% of its workers there don't even have offices there...... for they are located across the street,

****** WHO WUDDA THUNK IT******


Now, there are very few exceptions -
theres this office -

and about 10 other chamber offices AND THATS IT.
How do I know this? I asked the Guide.

Now while on this tour, I swear is was just a wee bit surreal to see this place literally come to life

like seeing this -

and -

as I had a ton of flashbacks to when I was assembling the Legos version of the place a few weeks earlier (HINT HINT OF FORESHADOWING OF THINGS TO COME.......)


Ovrall, this was one heck of a tour as b4 I knew it, the bewitching hour had arrived and it was time for me to leave and head on over to another one of my FAV places -
**************** THE WHITE HOUSE*****************

So, as I was leaving the Capitol building, I saw this place and a smile just broke over my face -

why? Cuz IMO is quite fun to see that that's literally what the SAME building and title looks like on over in Colonial Philly but OOPS!!! Im getting ahead of myself just a wee bit.

ok - so now I am off to see the WH and I knew I had arrived when I saw -

ARE THEY GONNA LET ME IN??? Or am I gonna have a "name mismatch" issue??
AND IM THIRSTY as heck but remember.....there are NO bathrooms while you are in the White House -


STAY TUNED -






T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[NYCgrrl]

Score! Just got done with WH tour . Luved it! Now I’m at Ebbits grill nibbling on margaritas and key lime pie - yum !!

Happy hour will start in about 30 minutes. All oysters 1/2 price.

 

[knewton64]

Happy hour will start in about 30 minutes. All oysters 1/2 price.

for the fantab suggestion -



BUT.....ta back ya up a wee bit here.......
So I mosey on over to the far right corner of the east wing of the WH

and show the Secret Service my WH boarding pass and passport.....Im sweating bullets as I assume my "TSA pose".....you know, hands clasped together and down infront of you as you look down and SHUT YOUR MOUTH......

sure enough, there was a pause -
ON SNAP! here we go! rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

She asked me what time was my tour - I said 1:30pm - she looked some more and then realized that it was me and then shot me on to the next security checkpoint.

Folks - I went through 3 additional check points and it was the very same at each point so by then I was beginning to get a wee bit frustrated I will admit so I thought up a neat and creative way to express my point of view and at the same time put a smile on some of these WH workers who I felt.... well - look like they have been working non stop for like forever and were taking there job WWAAAYYYYY TOOOOOO SERIOUSLY.... I MEAN OVER THE TOP WWAAAYYYYY TOOOOO SERIOSULY..... More on that later I promise.
TTFN


But soon, all the silliness was over and before I knew it, she was right in front of me:

(the East Entrance of the WH)

Ok......by now my feelings over the SS being just a wee bit silly eased up a bit and soon I entered the doors of "the Peoples House" for a treat I will treasure for a lifetime.

I mean, here I am - walking down this corridor, and to see the outside of the house up close just left me speechless -

and -

everything was so lush, vibrant and alive. It was like a park. A park you can have all to yourself.......if you are willing to earn and win that "24 second commute to work."

Soon, we were all inside and again, it took me a while to get over the feeling of "is this place a museum" and view it as.... well - a house.

** A COOL HOUSE AT THAT **

I mean, from the digja know file -

in the Blue room, this used to be a door that Abigail Adams would open up to walk out onto the South lawn -

and here of course, is where the President goes to make special announcements -

To just think, here is where history lives -

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212754152588290

vERY VERY impressive to see all this -


and the portraits hanging up on the walls?
** VERY IMPRESSIVE**

AND -

To see this place was quite humbling and left me feeling very proud to be an American and I will truly treasure this experience.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212754180828996

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212754152548289

and -

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10212754180908998

So,
as I was beginning to make my way exiting the WH, I decided to step forward and show my shall we say creative way of saying to all that work there PLUS also help SOME (not all) smile.

STAY TUNED -





T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL
T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

Ok.....so where were we????

ok yes - my Picture -

you know how they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words - right?
well -

and it was this picture I showed to some (NOT ALL) people who worked there whom I felt needed a smile and it was so dang fun to express my thank you to them through showing them this picture AND at the same time, it was soooooo much fun to see one particular SS person who literally growled at me earlier attempt a smile ......he even pointed out to me whom he saw in the pic (Lincoln, the Hot wheel car and so on).


Now THAT made my day -

yes, I even turned around one more time to look.....before I left the place.

*** I was there ****

Soon, I was off for the White House Visitor Center -

BUT.....
I got sidetracked when I saw this place -

and I tell you what -

they have the most FAB key lime pie and margaritas = YUM!!

So of course, I just "had" to go check out their "Stuffed head animal place" (their bar)

and struck up a fun conversation with some people from Down Under while having some ritas and pie with a shots on the side....for extra kick.

They like sailing and so do I plus I was wearing my Disney shirt and they like all things Disney.


Had fun there for a bit by time was slipping by me so with a quick wipe of the napkin and a last bite of pie underneath me,
I was off to the WH Visitor Center

4 a bit and then back to the Renaissance to meet the rest of our Tour group -



T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

Been having a total blast seeing the sights and sounds of DC....

Tbc

 

[knewton64]

Neat bunch of people our tour group - and I can it’s gonna b a fun group to run around with these next 8 days or so -

(pic taken while on tour of the White House)

TBC