Monday Monday 3.3.2008

Hello All,

I hope you all enjoyed a few days off this past weekend. I'm heading back to South Carolina this weekend after what will be about a two week hiatus. I'm looking forward to home cooked meals and lounging about in the townhouse.

As for the weekend that just went by:

Instead of heading back to the warm weather of South Carolina, Maggie decided to join me for a weekend's stay in the greater Washington DC area. Although we jut kept my hotel in Annapolis, we spent almost the entire weekend outside of Maryland. After doing some research on the Washington DC Metro system, I learned that I only had to drive 15 minutes to the closest station.

On Friday, we got up and enjoyed the complimentary breakfast provided at the Courtyard Annapolis. From there, we drove to the metro station where we hopped on a 10:00AM train that took us straight to the National Mall where we spent the day walking through American and Global history. Our day started with a visit to the National Archives where we saw original copies of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. As we prepare to elect the next President of our United States, the experience of looking back at our founding documentation is really invaluable. The documents were extremely worn, but the messages contained therein clearly resonate throughout the campaigns of our presidential candidates today. As I took in the 250 year old words written of our boy Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, I wonder what real effect the coming election will have on American history over the next hundred or more years. What will be the Clinton or Bush legacy in the years of my grandchildren?


We continued on to the Museum of Natural History, and the National Air and Space Museum stopping along the way at the Capital City Brewery for some lunch. One of the more disappointing parts of our trip to D.C. was learning that the Museum of American History has remained closed for renovations. Lady luck was in our hands though because the Museum of American History had a "satellite museum" in the National Air and Space Museum (please note the pun included in this statement). Because of the museums prolonged closure, the Smithsonian set up some of their more noteworthy exhibits in a special wing of the Air and Space museum. It was here that I saw some of our nations most iconic artifacts: Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, a Babe Ruth autographed ball, Archie Bunker's Chair, Lincoln's hat, and Star Wars robots: R2D2 and C3P0.

The other interesting D.C. stop happened on accident when walking down 10th street on the way back from lunch. We practically stumbled upon Ford Theatre and the house where President Abraham Lincoln passed. Although the famed theatre was closed for renovations, we did get to walk through the rooms where Mary Todd Lincoln sat waiting and where her husband spent his last moments alive. That pretty much rounds out the Friday highlights.

Moving on to Saturday, Maggie and I took the same train from Annapolis to Alexandria, VA. Here we joined some of Maggie's cousins for a special early St. Patrick's Day Parade. I can't really say how the parade was, but I did like the town of Alexandria, the live Irish bands, and of course the sampling of traditional Irish beverages: beer.


We spent our Sunday lounging about the hotel and getting some stuff done. I'm off to another exciting week with the NAVY's financial transformation. Enjoy your week.

Ryan