Les is more Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 ...complete with tours of the White House, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, the Kennedy Center, a VIP tour of the Library of Congress and the Capitol Building (that one was a private tour, just the 2 of us and 2 Congressional Staffers). All that has been pretty remarkable but..drum roll, please...Now we have tickets to be in the gallery for the address by the Australian Prime Minister to a Joint Session of Congress!! How cool is that?!?! Each Member of Congress was given one ticket and one only. Jamie, who has always remembered the words Greydude passed along--"If you never ask, the answer is always 'no'"--asked. Calls were made, a Congressman was found who was not using his ticket and now it's Edmonds, party of two. Woo Hoo! Link to comment
plext Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 We too have sent a PM apparently. Don't expect much as our politicians are nothing to write home about, but having said that I hope you enjoy it. Link to comment
chrisd Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Woo Hoo! indeed. Sounds like a blast. What are your impressions so far? Any photos? How did you get your ticket to the joint session? Link to comment
Les is more Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 I think D.C. is very impressive. I remember bringing my kids here many years ago and getting my first real taste of what the country was about. You know, especially given your location, that California, where I've lived all my life is a bit like an island itself. We have history there but almost all of the early Southern California History is Spanish or Mexican. Because my ancestors and Jamie's came from Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, California history belongs to the state but not to us directly. Jamie and I both have ancestry that dates back to the mid 1600s in America. In fact Jamie has a 16th generation great grandfather who was a landowner in Virginia on the Corrotoman River not far from us here in D.C. I'm a direct descendant of William Bradford, signer of the Mayflower Compact and first Governor of Plymouth Colony. Shoot, one of my ancestors was Lafayette's physician during the Revolutionary War and another was Garfield's assassin. My point is that our history and that of our country lie here in this neck of the woods. We love learning more about it and walking in the steps of those who helped make it happen. There's something fascinating around every corner. We also love the Metro. Zipping underground all over the area on these remarkably clean trains is fantastic for people like us who come from an area with execrable public transportation. Jamie has been spending an uncompensated second job's worth of hours every week for the past 3 years working toward the betterment of the Fire Service in San Diego County. Because people are always wanting political endorsements, they come to the San Diego County Council of Firefighters of which Jamie is secretary. One of those people happens to be Chief of Staff for one of our Members of Congress. Knowing that we were here in D.C. he kindly arranged for us to get the tickets to the joint session. Link to comment
Glenn Reed Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 We too have sent a PM apparently. Now that's funny! Link to comment
Glenn Reed Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Some of us who live in the area take it for granted and don't realize how big a deal DC is until we get vistors from other parts of the country who open our eyes. I absolutely agree on the Metro, I don't bother to drive in DC, I just go to one of the end stations and ride the train to my destination. Les, if you get a chance, take in a museum or two, depending on your interests, there are plenty to choose from. Link to comment
Kathy R Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I'm leaving CSPAN on all day in the hopes of hearing a WHOOHOOO from the peanut gallery Link to comment
ltljohn Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 What an awesome opportunity, have fun, post lots of pics. Link to comment
Glenn Reed Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I'm leaving CSPAN on all day in the hopes of hearing a WHOOHOOO from the peanut gallery That would be funny! Link to comment
Kathy R Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Julia Gillard PM Austrailia. Brought me to tears! Great speech. One of the most patriotic I have heard of late. Perhaps her words will do the Houses good. Link to comment
marcopolo Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Way to go Les. That would be quite an experience. Washington is a great place to visit, even if you're not American. We spent Easter weekend there last year and liked it so much that we recently booked flights and hotel to do the same this year. The Metro is indeed very clean and an easy way to get around. That's particularly true when you fly into Reagan airport as we are. You can take the train right from the airport -- an easy way to get to our hotel near Dupont Circle. We will rent a car for one day as we want to go to Bob's BMW in Jessup, MD. Enjoy the rest of your visit. One last thing; last year we made a reservation for the rooftop terrace bar (called POV) of the W Hotel. It's got a great view overlooking the White House and other historic monuments and we watched the sun set as we polished off a bottle of Prosecco. Great fun. http://pointofviewdc.com/ Link to comment
doc47 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I've seen that city so many times in so many ways! With a million people between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, trying to stop the war in Vietnam. I've seen it with fires blazing and clouds of tear gas while Nixon cowered in the White House and the First Marine Division was choppered in to set up machine guns at the traffic circles. I've seen it when the cherry blossoms cradled the Jefferson Memorial in clouds of pink. Seeing the flag that flew over Fort McHenry and inspired "The Star Spangled Banner" and seeing the actual Bill of Rights in the Library of Congress. Goose-bump city! America: a work in process.... Link to comment
lawnchairboy Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Have fun, take a ton of pics. Make those guys up there work together better, will ya? Link to comment
ESokoloff Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 ...complete with tours of..... the Bureau of Printing and Engraving.... Did you get me some samples? Link to comment
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