Feel free to post or repost any photos that are related to this thread.
Feel free to post or repost any photos that are related to this thread.
I love the hammock is that you resting after all your hard work - great recap of the week.
Thank you for the precious Olivia with her President pic! It will surely become another classic.
I love the pics of the crowds greeting President Bush in Utah. It does the heart good to see those and of course those with his troops.
I kicked off Sunday at one of Dubya's favorite haunts, St. John's. We've all seen the outside many times on Sunday Doses.
Here are some inside pictures. The photos were dim even with the flash. I really miss my old camera. I left it at a friend's house, and when he finally returned it a year later, it didn't work anymore. The pictures were generally crystal clear. Still, the ones I took here turned out well enough to see what was important.
This is the front of the church. You can't tell but that gold cross on the altar just glows when the sun hits it.
Here is a closer-up view of the front window.
This is the side window nearest the president's pew on the right side.
Here you can see the President's Pew and prayer cushions for Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. I could not find one for Dubya. Maybe he uses his dad's, or perhaps it is put away for safekeeping so people don't steal it or use it on Sundays when he is not there.
After church, I walked around a bit and took pictures of a few more sites. I got another one of the White House's north side. This one shows the gate in front.
I also got the south side. 
If you turn your back to the White House, you can see the White House Christmas Tree with the Washington Monument in the background.
I also took a photograph of this building because I liked the architecture. It is one of the Smithsonian buildings if I remember correctly. I'm pretty sure it is the National Museum of Natural History. I did not get the opportunity to go inside because I was looking at the National Museum of American History next door, which will be closed for two years for remodeling.
Only one of my pictures from inside the American History museum turned out. I was looking at the flag that flew over the Pentagon on September 11. The flag itself did not show up well, but I took a shot of the plaque under it, and it turned out well. Most of it is legible.
I saw several exhibits while I was there, including one with several of the First Ladies' inaugural gowns. Laura's wasn't in there yet, unfortunately.
I also spent about an hour looking at exhibits devoted to transportation. They started with ships and then progressed to steam engines, automobiles, and even mass transit. I looked at most of the replicas but did not read most of the plaques in depth. I was more in the mood to see some of the other exhibits so didn't want to stay there too long.
Other exhibits I saw were "Whatever Happened to Polio?" and "The Star-Spangled Banner." The first one described the disease and how the vaccine eradicated the disease in this country. It showed how iron lungs, which help polio patients breathe when the disease destroys their muscle control, work to expand the lungs. There's a little machine that you stick your arm in that has a vaccuum suction inside. The negative pressure makes the lungs expand.
It's hard to pick a favorite exhibit, but I really loved "The Star-Spangled Banner." It shows the exact flag that Francis Scott Key saw flying after the British attack and which inspired his poem. It lies flat on a huge table in a room behind a glass wall. The light is very dim so as not to fade the fabric and you can see all the tatters on it. You can read information on earlier efforts to preserve and repair the flag, which is too old and damaged to hang because its weight stresses the fibers. You can also listen to the British song whose tune Key chose as the melody he wanted to accompany his poem. According to the exhibit, the flag was not really invoked as a symbol of patriotism before then. It was mostly used simply to identify the nationality of our ships.
The exhibit I was looking at when the museum closed was "The Price of Freedom: America at War." I got a good portion of the way through the Revolutionary War, but none of the other wars and conflicts. That is one exhibit I will want to revisit when the museum reopens. It was quite fascinating.
Hope you all enjoyed the virtual tour. I'll finish it off with a pic a didn't post before. It's a statue of a Hawaiian chief in the Capitol building. He's too neat not to include.
