Two Weeks in DC: Wk 1 Mount Vernon and Terracotta Warriors

Dave: I survived training in Arizona, and to Kristine's suprise, made it home a day earlier than I was suposed to. I had a choice. Stay and party after graduation or immediately go to the airport. American Airlines must have known I was coming home to my Kristine, because they got me on two earlier flights that were sold out and into her arms by 11pm that evening. We were more than a little excited to see each other. With that flight my two weeks of leave began.


After having heard how interesting and how well preserved Mount Vernon was, we decided to make that one of our first visits.

Here we are as George and Martha. Can't say I'm a fan of the wig.

Here I am getting sworn in.
As a bonus tour, Mt Vernon offered to take us to see the sights used in the filming of National Treasure 2 Book of Secrets. During the movie, Nicolas Cage's character takes the president through a secret underground tunnel from Mount Vernon's basement to the river nearby.

The film crew only worked during the middle of the night so as to not disturb the regular daily visitors. The movie depicts the presidents birthday celebration which was actually very similar to a birthday celebration JFK had here. They copied just about everything, even down to the giant "Happy Birthday Mr President" sign in the background.

So the tour guide takes us under the house, shows us a bunch of pictures from the filming, and lets us know that there isn't actually any tunnel at all, but they did film in the basement. They also used the old ice cellar(below) for the exit of the tunnel which is a ways away from the house. So basically we took a tour to see a tunnel that didn't exist. Kinda disappointing.

Nonexistant tunnel tour aside, Mount Vernon is very impressive and huge. George Washington's heart really was in his farms and fields. Through all that he did, he always kept in touch and a guiding hand over his land.


At the Washington Family Tomb

Kristine: On Thursday, we went to a special showing of a movie based on a book we read together called "Half the Sky". It was sobering, but great. The book is about women's issues around the world that don't make the headlines. Everything from maternal mortality and blocked deliveries that cause unnecessary deaths to sex trafficking. It makes me sad to think that millions of people are mistreated and disregarded around the world simply for being women. But, there are ways to improve the world. Check out the book if you have a chance.


Dave: The neat thing about Washington is that there is always something going on. We went to the National Geographic museum here in DC to see an exibit on the Terracotta Warriors from China. The Chinese cultural tradition is that in the after life people need everything they need in their normal life. When the first emperor conquered the rest of China, he started building his tomb so that he would be all set up in the afterlife. Not only did he want riches and luxury, but also he wanted an army at his command. So they made a full sized army out of clay and buried it with him. The really interesting thing is that they know where the emperor's main room of the tomb is, but the chinese archiologists don't want to dig it up. Supposedly there is tons of expertly crafted items along with a recreation of all the waterways of China flowing with mercury. Also it, like many rulers' tombs, is boobytrapped.

Here is a picture I got from the National Geographic site. They wouldn't let us take any pictures...

Except for the fake terracotta warrior at the end. We probably could have got a better picture, but the museum was closed and they were trying to kick us out. I would recommend going and seeing it if you can.

Kristine: I hate how this picture turned out, but at least they gave us a fake warrior to stand next to!