White House Visitor Center, Ford’s Theatre, Petersen House, National Archives Museum & National Museum Of American History

We are so glad to discovered the White House Visitor Center, part of the National Park Service. We thought it would be interesting and it sure was. We highly recommend this place to visitors. This is a block or two away from the White House. The film (captioned, this place gets an A) and displays told about life in the White House and a little bit about different presidents. The letter to President Nixon from the little boy is precious! And such good advice. HA

On a dining table was a very fun display. You would read the words on the plate and then spin the handle to reveal the story. Mrs Nixon wanted her cottage cheese and President Garfield needed squirrel soup!

Outside it was lightly drizzling; so light that I didn’t need my raincoat. We walked several blocks to Ford’s Theatre – where President Lincoln was shot. Across the street is the Petersen House where he died a few hours later. We didn’t pay for the tours inside; it was just fine for us to see outside. 

Continued to National Archives Museum. In the rotunda you see some original papers from the founding of this country. The print was difficult to read due to aging but it was pretty special to see them. 

We went downstairs and ate at the tiny cafe. While eating, we got out our exploring cards to see what we wanted to do next. These “exploring cards” are just 3×5 index cards. Before going to a new area, I look up things to see and do. I write each place on a card. I add miles from whatever campground we are at, day & hours opened, costs, and any other information that might be helpful. We don’t always see everything on the cards but this also helps us not to forget something we want to see. 🙂

We walked to National Museum of American History. This place is huge!!! (It took us 3 – 1/2 days and a full day to see it all; and we sort of rushed through the top floor!) HA  This is an incredible museum. It is part of the Smithsonian and is free. It contains more than 3 million artifacts! Yeah, this will take a while. HAHA We saw the “famed Star-Spangled Banner” flag. The one that Francis Scott Key saw and wrote the words to what became the National Anthem. The music was put with an English song. The flag is 30×42 ft. Each star is 2 ft. The history of that flag is interesting. There is a section cut away where the owners had used it as souvenirs. You can’t take a picture of it and it is really dark in there. (In fact, a lot of places we visited had lights dimmed very low. They say it is to help preserve.) Seeing the flag and reading the story left us with an extra big sense of pride for our country. I can imagine the scene happening through the words. 

We saw a MiniMate by Igloo cooler. You know, like we all have had?! It was on display IN the museum! We feel old! It was there as a display for the technology of keeping things cool. Gave us a great chuckle.