Day 1 East Coast Trip 2008

East Coast Trip 2008





We had an incredible trip ~ filled with exciting events, fun times, touching moments and spiritual experiences. We love this trip as we visit American history sites and then Church history sites and see how the hand of the Lord is truly in all things. Our appreciation for our founding fathers and early settlers was deepened and our testimonies of the gospel and the restoration was strengthened.

First Day: Air & Space Museum. This was a museum Jaren actually truly enjoyed. : ) We saw airplanes, rockets, space ships, space modules, even space rocks! Yes, a real rock from the moon and we touched it. I thought it was pretty cool. But Jaren said it would really only be cool if the rock was still on the moon and we were touching it because we were also on the moon. "Now, that would be cool!" After walking through a real space shuttle module we realized astronauts must be small men. Jaren didn't fit in anything and had to seriously duck through every doorway.

The National Archives: where we saw the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

From there we went to the Museum of Natural History. You could spend days in there. You could get lost in there! I think we did! : )

Next Ford's Theater: April 14, 1865 John Wilkes Booth snuck into the private box at Ford's Theater where President Lincoln sat, aimed his derringer and squeezed the trigger. Booth's shot resonates to this day.

This is the Peterson home, across the street from the theater, where President Lincoln was taken and efforts were made to save his life. His 6ft-4inch frame was too long for the bed in which they laid him. Unable to break the footboard they placed his body diagonally across the mattress. That is how the great Abraham Lincoln ~ the man who had freed slaves, saved the union and nobly led the country during 4 years of bloody civil war ~ spent the last 9 hours of his life.

And so, of course, from here we went to the grand Memorial which honors this great President...

We also visited the Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, Washington Memorial and Jefferson Memorial.

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence

I love the Jefferson Memorial. We decided that it should be required that all American citizens visit American history sites. You simply cannot visit these places and not realize that these men were deeply spiritual and religious. They weren't perfect, they even had different views on religion and politics. But they all believed in God and recognized His hand in the great work they were trying to accomplish for this country.

End of Day #1.