SO BEAUTIFUL

DAD - THIS ONE'S FOR YOU

The three pictures above are ones that I took from the WW II Memorial Website. I really liked the one taken from the Washington Monument.

My Dad served in the Army in Okinawa during World War II. Thank you Dad, and all those who served so valiantly with you for our freedom and our country.

This memorial is the first national memorial dedicated to all who served during World War II and acknowledging the commitment and achievement of the entire nation.

The memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S. during World War II, the more than 400,000 who died, and the millions who supported the war effort from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people to the common defense of the nation and to the broader causes of peace and freedom from tyranny throughout the world. (Even the grates were designed to honor.)

Above all, the memorial stands as an important symbol of American national unity, a timeless reminder of the moral strength and awesome power that can flow when a free people are at once united and bonded together in a common and just cause.

The Wall of Freedom is filled with over 4,000 stars honoring the lives of the over 400,000 who died during this war.

The site was selected at the east end of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. President Clinton dedicated the memorial site during a formal ceremony on Veterans Day 1995.

When I read this I thought about my Mom who was left at home with a small daughter to raise when Dad went overseas. Not only did she keep the home fires burning she also went to work for Boeing and built airplanes.

THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

Nothing else needs to be said.

DON'T MISS IT

I tried to take a picture of the horrible traffic on the beltway around DC. We were coming back to the campground from Gaithersburg, MD about 7:30 p.m. Now, I knew there would be traffic at that time of the night but not like this. We were going about 10 mph and all the lanes were packed. Took us forever to go 30 miles. The next morning the news was talking the traffic because of the U-2 Concert at FedEx Field. 80,000 people went to the concert and I think we were in the middle of all 80,000. They can have it.

FRIENDLYS

When Jim and I were dating, we'd always stop at Friendlys on the way home. So, of course, we had to finish up our wonderful evening in Gettysburg with a stop at Friendlys. Jim's indulgence of choice is the Jim Dandy. I did tell him that he probably couldn't do that ever again. We just aren't very young any more.

DOBBIN HOUSE TAVERN

We only got to spend one night in Gettysburg so we wanted a special place for dinner. And we found it at the Dobbin House Tavern. The house was built n 1776 for Alexander Dobbin and his wife. They had ten children before Isabella died in 1800. Alexander then married Mary Agnew who had nine children so there were 19 children living in this house.

The house stands now almost exactly as it did over 200 years ago. In the middle 1800's the Dobbin House was used as a Way Station for hiding runaway slaves. During the civil way it was used as a hospital for both union and confederate soldiers. After the war it became a tavern.

The Colonial Bar was built in 1818.

GETTYSBURG

I want to share with you several of the pictures we took at Gettysburg. (It was extremely windy as you will see with my hair.) And yes, we did climb to the top of all the observation towers.

It is amazing that this battle was simply a chance encounter of the North and South troops. What a sad, sad three days in July 1863.