So a couple weeks ago I went to Baltimore for a conference.  My sister lives in Washington, D.C., a mere 45 minutes from Baltimore, so of course I went a few days early to go sightseeing.  I went to D.C. once when I was thirteen, so I was excited for another opportunity.

My older brother also went, and together the three of us had two days of sightseeing.

So, first on our stop was the Washington, D.C. temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I have never seen a more majestic building.  I’d seen it in photos, but nothing compares to seeing it firsthand.

Breathtaking…

Beautiful and powerful…

I was trying to think of the word that best describes this edifice, and I decided that MAJESTIC was the best word.  If you ever get a chance to see this building in person, take it.  It is well worth it.

After our trip to the Washinton, D.C. temple, we headed over to the Marine Corp Museum.  As you can see from the image below, my older brother was in the Marines (as well as the Army and Air Force).

Inside I got to wear a sample 120 pound backpack (what our soldiers wear, without a weapon or body armor… it was heavy).  Sorry the image is blurry – my sister doesn’t know how to take pictures with my camera lol

At the end of the tour, I found the part that hit me the most… I was in the Dominican Republic when it happened, but I still felt the shock of it.

I almost cried as I stood there looking at the memorabilia from that day: photographs, items found in the debris, and newspaper clippings telling the story of my nation’s dark day.

Part of me is sad I was not here in America to feel what everyone else felt; to see the patriotism; to feel the unity of the nation I love.  I hope a day like this never happens again.

After the Marine Corp Museum we went to the Capitol Mall (where all of the monuments are).  We saw the Washington Monument and then the Capitol building (I couldn’t help it… I had to take the next photo.  It’s me holding up the Capitol Building!).

Then we drove by the Supreme Court and visited the Lincoln Memorial.

After that we went to the Vietnam Memorial (it was cool seeing it at night, but unfortunately none of my photos turned out).  And our final stop on our 1st Day was the Jefferson Memorial.  We were dead tired by the time we got there, but it was my favorite site of the day, with the exception of the Washington, D.C. temple.  It stood all alone away from the other monuments, yet the structure itself was beautiful.  I didn’t get a good picture of Jefferson or the outside of the building, but I did manage to sneak in the following picture of myself…

My next post will conclude my photographic trip through Washington D.C.  We got to see one of my favorite monuments, and I had no idea it was so huge.  Tune in tomorrow (or possibly the next day…) for Day 2 of my trip

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