A historical Saturday

Rachel decreed that Saturday would be "history day," so after we took Rachel Jones to the airport (she is spending this coming week in St. Louis, then she'll be back the 20th until she leaves for Kenya the 23rd) we zipped over to the National Archives because Rachel decided she wanted to see the REAL Declaration of Independence. That is the way cool thing about living here; if Rachel decides she wants to examine some part of colonial history, we can either drive or take the Metro straight to the original source -- something we could never do in Oregon!

We got to the Archives a little after 3, which only gave us two hours to wander through the building -- but, man, was it worth it. It was a bitterly cold day, and the line to get in to the Archives usually winds around the block, but probably because of the cold it was easy to get it. And the guards are a lot personable than at the bigger, more well-known museums. One of them, noticing Rachel's crutches, asked if she wanted a wheelchair but we said no. At the end of our stay, another guard commented on how fast she can move on the crutches, and he said, "You GO, girl!" which left us both with a smile.

We saw the Declaration, and the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, which are exhibited under glass in a low-light gallery. It was really thrilling to see them; I hadn't ever seen them before. Then we looked through some other galleries, including one that talked about genealogical records. Drew decided that for a school project someday, he and Rachel will research Luke Drury, for whom Rachel is named and whose powderhorn we have hanging in our dining room. Rachel got to design her own seal, while I looked at some examples of presidential camera footage (as well as the famous tape recorder that Nixon used in the White House). Toward the end, we went downstairs to see one of four surviving copies of Magna Carta. Drew really wanted to see it, since it will leave D.C. next week, and the exhibit was fabulous -- it went into the similarities between Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence, and just seeing it under glass was amazing. Altogether, a terrific way to spend a cold, miserable January day!

When we got home, I had a phone interview for a magazine story. Rachel and I played a couple of rounds of Connect Four -- she beat me every time, except the one time she let me win -- and she wrapped a gift for a friend of hers whose birthday party/performance of Cinderella she would be attending on Sunday. Then we headed downstairs for Family Fun Night with pizza, cupcakes, and another "Alpha and Omega" movie. After Drew put Rachel to bed, we watched "House of Cards" and wrapped up the first season (the third season begins next month; hopefully we'll get through Season 2 before Season 3 ends). Great way to end the weekend (my part of it, at least).