Day one in DC!

Well, I'm happy to report that day one in our nation's capital was a success. No accidents, no getting lost, nothing. And I am on my way to being a metro expert. Not really, but I can fake it with the best of them. Sister Mautz and I set off in the morning for a fun day of exploring. We started out with one of the Smithsonian's museums: the museum of American History. 

One of the first things we saw looked quite familiar--yes, that is a sunstone and some china from Nauvoo. Go  figure. 

Dorothy's ruby shoes!

Check out this Stradivarius quartet. So awesome! The detail on these instruments is completely unbelievable. I want some inlaid jewels on my violin!

The doll house to beat all doll houses. Can you imagine? I should have taken a close-up picture of some of these little rooms, because the detail in each of them was incredible. That would be one spoiled rotten little girl to own this doll house. 

Other fun things we saw: Kermit the frog, first ladies' dresses and china, Benjamin Franklin's walking stick and suit, Babe Ruth-autographed baseball (maybe seemed cooler than it was since I just watched the Sandlot), lots of old sewing machines and old typewriters. Along with the ruby slippers, they also had the scarecrow's hat and boots from the Wizard of Oz. A giant statue of George Washington, one of the dumbos from the ride in Disneyland. They had this whole "America on the Move" exhibit about transportation--by sea, river, lake, road, rail, air, etc. It was pretty awesome. Nephew Lucas definitely would have thought so too. I'm sure there were tons of other cool things that we saw, I just didn't take enough pictures (mostly because I didn't think pictures were allowed until I saw everyone else taking pictures and figured that no one was stopping them so it must be okay). 

Next, we walked around a bit, saw this statue of Benjamin Franklin (notice the bird perched atop his head), and peeked inside the old Post Office building, which has restaurants and shops inside now. Pretty cool.

 Here we are waiting in line at the National Archives. We are pretty cute, eh?

Once inside, we watched a little movie about the archives, which was cool because it's so clear to see how much the spirit of Elijah touches so many people without them even knowing it. In the rotunda, we saw the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It was awesome!! It was super dark inside though, in order to better preserve the documents. But I think they should have thought of doing that a long time ago because, as I was really surprised to see, a lot of them are almost completely faded. You can barely see the writing at all! My advice: go see them while you still can! 

 National Treasure, anyone? Yes, I know that I am a nerd for loving that movie so much. But I do. Possibly even more now. I was disappointed that the entrance to the archives isn't up those stairs like it is in the movie, however. Oh well. 

After that, I walked Sister Mautz back to the metro and then did a little exploring of my own. I walked over to the treasury building, which is neighbors with this lovely edifice: the White House!! Now, for those of you who know me well, you know that I really dislike pictures that don't have people in them. Unfortunately, until the day that I am shameless enough to take pictures by myself, of myself, in front of cool buildings, this will have to do. But I just might have to change my philosophy, or else how will I prove that I was really there? That's it. I'm going back. And next time, my face will be featured in that photo!

Across the way:

So then I headed over to Chinatown, passing Ford's theater and the spy museum on my way:

To this delicious (I think it was South African) restaurant:

To help celebrate this girl's birthday--my friend Audrey:

It was quite the fete. And ironically, there was a couple there, and the husband used to live in the Mautzes' ward when Elder Mautz was the bishop. Small world incident #24. They were nice enough to drive me home so I didn't have to ride the metro back.

All in all, I'd have to say that I am a fan on DC! Can't wait to see what else there is to see!