We Walked All Over

 For the first time since moving to DC, this past weekend Mark and I acted like tourists. Technically I suppose we were hosts to my parents, who were tourists, but since I didn't actually know what I was doing, it feels strange to consider myself a host.

Essentially, there were two parts: the Religious, and the Not Religious [but not irreligious].

Religious

One of the museums we went to was the Museum of the Bible, which honestly I was suspicious about because balancing capitalism with spiritualism is a delicate thing.

I liked this jar because it had a baby jar

And there were parts that were a bit kitschy or overwrought (like the voiceover during the Virtual Reality of the Holy Lands), and parts that were overwhelming (like the collection of Bibles throughout the ages...or at least until the King James Version). And though I enjoyed the walk-throughs of the Old Testament and New Testament, I think my favorite part was talking with a Jewish scribe about the story of Hannah.

Hannah is one of my favorite women in the scriptures: she had a good marriage (ie her husband loved and honored her even though she didn't give him children for a while), she pled her cause to the Lord, and she kept her vow to return her son to the Lord.

The scribe in the museum told the story of Hannah slightly different from the account in 1 Samuel, indicating that Hannah was the first that ever prayed silently to the Lord in the temple (which is why the priest Eli had thought her drunk), and that Hannah told Eli that she was bitter; but these are stylistic points, so it doesn't much matter. There was just one point that I wasn't sure I had made clear to the scribe: I honor Hannah for her faithfulness alone, and not because her son Samuel became one of the greatest prophets of Israel. If a person were judged just by the actions of their children, then Samuel wouldn't stand on good ground, because even his sons weren't righteous judges of Israel. As I see it, the behavior of children reflects on the parents, but does not define the parents.

So, now that we've cleared that up, on to religious activity #2: the DC temple open house. I've never been in the DC temple before, but Mark and my dad had, and commented on some changes--different pictures, different lighting set-up, changed seating arrangement in the instruction rooms. Neither of
them had been to the Assembly room before, though. I don't know that it's commonly shown, so it was the part that stuck out in my mind the most.

Non-Religious

Much more of this was visual than the Religious part, which means more pictures. [And more pictures means fewer words, because it's difficult to format the two together in this program].

Mount Vernon--Grounds, Gristmill, and Distillery

George Washington's estate [which all of us had seen before] and the mill and distillery businesses he set up just prior to his death [which none of us had seen before].

My dad and I just before finding out the Ford's Theatre was closed

Biking All Over [16 miles] for WWI memorial, Natural History Museum, National Archives

Dumbarton Oaks Museum

I heard about this place from a website of things to do in DC, and what a find it was, considering it was free, close to Sprinkles Cupcakes [so we went and ate some...], and an amazing collection of really old stuff. Their current exhibit is on seals and liturgical items from the Roman Empire and Early Christianity, respectively, but they also have the Music Room [above] and pre-Columbian artifacts from the Americas.

This is a female statue. I think she's cute.