I'm an American and I'm entitled

Day Three: Emily

This morning, I was tired. Due to cheap Old Navy sandals and a heavy messenger bag that I have carried all over the district, my body was sore. Sure, all of you over 30 are saying "Oh please, you're young!" but I'm serious when I say I looked at mom when I opened my eyes this morning and said, "Mommmmm I'm hurting!" Walking around so much yesterday hurt both of us so we slept in later than anticipated to rest up for another eventful day in our nation's capital.

One of the things I really wanted to do was visit the Newseum - I think mom is going to tell yall about it, so be sure to look at her post and see what it was all about. It was SO interesting and neat. Right up my alley. I loved it and hope to go back when they have the Hurricane Katrina exhibit in August.

I really wanted mom to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution at the National Archives because I can't even explain how breathtaking and extreme the experience is. Our government was created by one document in 1776 (The Declaration) and the Constitution is the foundation of laws that our country grew from beginning in 1787 - after the demise of the Articles of Confederation, of course. These two documents have such an intense meaning in American history, and being able to see, with your own two eyes, the same sheet that Ben Franklin and John Hancock touched is amazing. But....we didn't see it because the line was outrageous. I do suggest seeing it to anyone who comes - as long as you're willing to think back in history about how important the documents are! :)

We went to the Capitol and mom got mad when she couldn't climb up the front stairs which is the basis of my title. I laugh every time she says "I'm an American and I paid for this. I should be able to go in there." She's so funny. We're touring the Capitol tomorrow, which I'm excited for mom to see. It's very neat and interesting. After she talked to Officer Nunn for 30 minutes asking him every time someone would leave the Capitol "Is he/she famous?" and a suspicious package at the visitor's center, we did not get to go in for a tour. We also went to visit Senator Landrieu's office and everyone was so nice there. Poor things have so many complaints about the oil spill and these are college kids answer phone calls from people complaining. As if they can help the spill!

From there, we went back to Arlington Cemetery - by this time, we decided to do the "tourmobile" which was a trolly that took you around the cemetery instead of walking the mile to see the changing of the guard. Mom will tell you all about it - it was probably her favorite part of the day. I will add that during the changing of the guard, which is dead silent with about 100 people watching, an old lady could not control her bodily functions and I thought it was mom at first and was totally embarrassed. When I realized it was someone else's mom and someone else's problem, I couldn't stop laughing - of course, all the while still respecting the soldiers. Pretty funny stuff, though!

We also saw Embassy Row (embassies are represented by different countries) and I quizzed mom on flags and different countries and I have to say one of the funniest things was when I pointed to a flag with red, white, and blue and a white star and said "I'll give you $100 to tell me what countries flag that is" and she answered "Texas." It was amazing and I could not stop laughing - that should prove how tired we are!!

After that, we had a cab driver take us through Georgetown's campus because I really wanted to see it and OMG all I can say is it definitely rivals the beautiful oak trees of Tulane's campus. The buildings were breath-taking and the campus was soooo clean. I was very impressed and am in love with the whole Georgetown area. Georgetown is a town, not just a college FYI. It has such a small town feel to it and the cobblestone streets remind me of the brick roads of Minden and the neighborhoods remind me of New Orleans.

I'm VERY interested to see mom drive in DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia tomorrow. I think she should let me drive, but, that will never happen. I am going to bet that either 1. She will curse my TomTom the entire time or 2. I will be blamed for us getting lost in the ghettofabulous neighborhoods of Baltimore. Either way, we have had some of our funniest moments when we are lost and peeing our pants because we have no idea where to go and mom freaks out driving, so this is going to be a blast!

Until tomorrow....