Washington D.C: A Living Classroom

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by. Here are the links to our previous Summer trip posts if this is your first time here: South Carolina & Virginia. Even as we faced a few hiccups on our way to the Northeast, we are piling up so many good memories than even the inconvenient gets categorized as an adventure once is conquered! More on that later, but for now let us highlight our stay at D.C, one of our favorite stops for sure!

For those tracking the places we lodged in for future reference, we stayed at Cherry Hill Campground. This has been the kid’s favorite campground so far. The place is huge! We highly recommend it. Very well maintained, staffed and family/kid friendly. There were local and out of state visitors coming just to spend time there, without even leaving the park! There were pools, mini-golf, daily events, tractor rides, etc. We enjoyed meeting & socializing with fellow campers during our walks and visits to the playground.

Once settled and ready to explore the city, we went first to visit the Museum of the Bible. This has been my absolute favorite stop so far. What a fantastic place to get inspired and to realize the impact the Bible has had in humanity. I loved the way the exhibits are organized. They have so many different perspectives to look, learn and appreciate the Bible from. Whether historically, from different disciplines, or diverse walks of lives, everybody could find a place to resonate and appreciate the instrumental role of the Bible. Even the non-Christian would enjoy visiting this museum. It really sheds insight and understanding on how the Bible has shaped the history of mankind.

For example, Michaela’s favorite exhibit was Gutenberg's printing press, it turns out the very first printed document was the Bible. This invention revolutionized humanity at the time, because it made information and knowledge more readily available to everybody, not to just the nobility. The printing and difusing of the Bible across socio-economical classes was an unprecedented driver for the increase of literacy and education. Garrick really enjoyed the exhibit about how the Bible has impacted United States and world’s history, even in ways that are almost unnoticed to the modern eye. For example, there were booths about the development of music throughout history, and it was very neat to see the influence of the Bible, providing rich ideas for composers and song writers throughout millennia. There are jingles that are unconsciously sung by people today that are rooted in scripture.

 

David-Elliot enjoyed their show about creation and God’s choosing of His people. It was a fascinating show on the origin of humanity in parallel with God’s redemption plan for humanity. So good. Evelyn, of course, loved the kid’s section. She got to catch a few fish from Noah’s ark. Ha! Dave enjoyed the exhibits of testimonies from common people. It was very refreshing to find places to resonate with the tangible ways God’s word has transformed lives, communities and empires. I enjoyed learning about the way God has protected the Bible through history. The story of how we obtained the Biblical cannon, and the role of Biblical translation was also fascinating! We totally recommend to visit this museum, check it out!

After filling our minds to our heart’s content here, we went for a stroll near the museum scouting for food. Most everything was closed because it was Sunday and later in the day. However, we found a dining joint were we ran into an old friend of mine from my nursing club when I first became a mom. What an unlikely, yet heartwarming encounter! It was like a nice ribbon to put on the gift of our day.

The second day of our stay we went to visit the Smithsonian Museum of American History. It was fantastic. Quite often people take multiple days to explore the richness of this place. We devoted just half of our day. We didn’t get to walk it all, but we covered a good portion of it. I’ll highlight the favorites again.

Garrick enjoyed the Spangled Banner exhibit. Seeing the original flag there and learning about its story was really neat. They featured the real flag in there! The one that saw the cannons blasting in the air! Quite an amazing sight. He also enjoyed all the ways American culture was described throughout the exhibits. He really grew in appreciation of the richness of it. David Elliot enjoyed an exhibit called “American on the Go”, which featured the story of transportation in America. We all enjoyed following the evolution of the engine and the the means of transportation in the States. From steam engines to rockets, we learned how this part of American history has been so influential in the creation of cities, industries and new ways of life.

Michaela’s favorite was the food exhibit. She loved to see the portrayed diversity..of course it made us so hungry! Dave’s favorite exhibit was “the Story of Democracy.” It highlighted the development of this type of government, the development of human rights, the conception and practice of voting and elections, along with all the issues our founding fathers had to struggle with at the inception of this new-to-the-world idea. All the world knew back then was monarchy, so democracy was quite revolutionary in terms of the establishment of a new country fully founded on the concept of being governed “By the people” and “for the people”. It was interesting to see the deep Christian roots of this new ideology and the main concern back then about the sustainability of such government by people that didn’t adhere to the Christian tenants. Democracy they thought, was only viable for a highly moral and religious people. Otherwise the deeply rooted human desire for money and power would bring it down as it has done to countless empires in the past.They also had an area devoted to the role of immigration in the story of America. It was special to share with my kids how some of the stories portrayed there resonated with my own story as an immigrant myself.

We also got to visit the National Mall on that day. The miles long walk around the monuments was great. However I have to confess that it was challenging to haul a toddler after a museum visit. I have to give much credit to Evelyn though. I think she walked double if not triple the mileage we did on that day. I would not be surprised if she grows up to be a marathoner! So proud of my girl!

The last day of our stay we mostly relaxed and enjoyed the campground. I took the morning to visit my dear friend from youth group Maralee. It was super heartwarming to reconnect with her after over a decade and see the fantastic adventure she’s up to these days. She started a one of a kind Non-for-profit called “Comunidad”, which empowers vulnerable communities in the D.C area. It was pretty neat to tour the facilities and see goals accomplished and get to know some of the staff and even some of the community residents. I was incredibly inspired and encouraged by seeing her faithfulness and vision bearing so much fruit. I also got to ride the City metro on my own..for the very first time in my life! (Dave stayed home with the kiddos letting them enjoy the park). It was quite daunting for this navigationally challenged Colombian-Floridian, but I did it! The little blessings people!

We wrapped up our visit and headed Northeast for our next adventure. Oh, well, and an adventure it was. So grateful we survived..because if you are in Christ you will never get lost, no matter what! That’s why I am here telling the story. Stay tuned!