Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Vacay pt1: Washington, DC

Our goal for the 2018 family summer vacation was New England, where none of us had ever been.  We got to planning, and in the interest of breaking up the trip some, spent a day in Washington, DC.  We had been there as a family in 2012, but our kids were too young really for the Holocaust Memorial, and the Museum of the Bible has since been constructed, so we targeted those sites for our visit.

The Washington, DC, area has a large population of Ethiopian immigrants, and we were stoked to find an Ethiopian restaurant right around the corner from our hotel.

Getting ready to head into the city for the day

On the long metro ride into the city - all the way from the end of the line

The kids got pretty good at navigating the metro by the end of the day.

The first thing we see after coming up out of the metro station? A soccer game being played under the Washington Monument.

The U.S. Capitol

In preparation for our trip to the Holocaust Memorial, we listened to an audiobook of Elie Wiesel's Holocaust memoir Night on the way to DC.  We found this selection from that book in the museum.

This high-ceilinged room contained a multitude of photographs that were rescued from one Jewish community.



Replica of the gates of Auschwitz - "Work Brings Liberty"

A collection of abandoned shoes

In the Hall of Remembrance, the altar contains soil from each of the major Nazi concentration camps.


After some good lunch, we headed to the Museum of the Bible for some education that was a little less heavy.

The technology at the museum was really incredible.  This is a huge, changeable digital display that ran the length of the entry ceiling.

Some video of the digital ceiling

Our Asbury friends will appreciate this: Francis Asbury's ordination certificate.

Chloe hanging out with Galileo

Essie found her name on the Bible names wall.

This was one of the really cool displays in the museum.  It was a digital projection down on a table that changed from different countries and faith cultures.  The food on the table changed to be typical of the featured culture, and the prayers and rituals also reflected the featured faith tradition.

A facsimile of the Dead Sea Scrolls

One of just two first edition King James New Testaments known to survive

Of course, we were interested in the display of Ethiopic Bibles


Ethiopian religious art

More Ethiopian religious art

Our children's native dialect of Gumuz has had the New Testament translated.

Chloe pressing grapes

The kids gather around a 1st-century Galilee table.

Another place we missed on our last trip to DC was Arlington National Cemetery.

We went up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to watch the changing of the guard.

We were standing at JFK's grave when someone says, "Wait, are you all from Wilmore?"  Asbury University student.  Asburians are everywhere.


The twins were still smiling (sort of) after a long day.  Hang on...just 2,100 more miles to go.

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