Leaving DC

Sunday morning, Father's Day was our last day in DC.

We started our morning off with a visit to the American Indian Museum.  We were sorely disappointed.  While the museum was beautiful and very well done, the Indian history seemed lacking.  There were very few artifacts and a lot of them were reproductions.  An Indian museum with no arrowheads, odd.

This is the elevator, isn't it cool?

I did find this fascinating.  A treaty belt.  It was a treaty made with the Iroquois.  The two lines represent the path of an Indian canoe and the path of a European ship and they were to never intersect.  The Iroquois were to lead their lives and do their thing while the Europeans were to do the same.  Such a simple belt with so much meaning.

After the Indian Museum we crossed the Mall and headed toward the National Archives to meet the Barnes for one last thing in DC.  It was getting hot and the crowds were multiplying.  I was happy we were leaving.

The National Archives.

Here we saw the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.  We were not allowed to take pictures.  The documents are on the second floor in a circular room (rotunda) with great big large gates baring the entrance.  With the lighting dimmed to protect the documents the setting was awe inspiring and very grand.  It was hallowed ground.  I was shocked to see that the documents didn't look like what we see in the history books.  They are faded almost beyond reconnection.  The Declaration of Independence was the worst.  The signatures are no longer there.  You can make out a faint loop that might by John Handcock, others than that, almost nothing.

Right outside the National Archives there was a guy selling pop and water out of a cooler on the corner.  When we came out and got ready for the drive out of DC and to Assateague several of us bought some drinks from him.  Of course no one assumed he had a license to sell there, but the drinks were cheep and right next to the parked van.  While we were loading up a cop came up and started talking to them.  I took the conversation to mean that without having paid for a  license they were going to be arrested.  Pete understood it to be that they guys stole the pop from the store.  Either way, I got to top off my DC experience with witnessing an arrest!