Out of many, one!! Friday, June 17,2011

E pluribus unum,  Latin for "out of many, one"!  That describes our country today just as it did when the seal of the United States was created and first used publically in 1782.  It is important to remember that we are a diverse people with many thoughts, ideas and beliefs.  We must always work together to find a common ground on issues that divide us!  George Washington was one of the first to worn us of the dangers of political parties.  He remained an Independent throughout his political career although his policies were more sympathetic to those of the Federalists.  George Washington felt that political parties were too divisive and could easily split our country.

Exiting the subway at the Navy Memorial we headed to the National Mall once again.  Our first destination, the Capitol.  Kevin Brady arranged for us to tour the capitol at 11:30.  Excited, we arrived at 9:00 and were allowed to take a 9:10 tour.

Taking the underground tunnel to the Library of Congress proved to be a pleasant surprise.  The building is amazing.  Viewing the Thomas Edison library collection is breath taking. 

From there we moved on to the National Archives to view the Declaration of Independence that our Founding Fathers signed on August 2nd (that's right, not July 4th. The original document created by Thomas Jefferson and approved on July 4th sits unsigned in Philadelphia at Independence Hall).  The document is incredible, although it is very faded.  The Constitution and the Bill of Rights also sit near the Declaration of Independence. 

Randy decided that he would like to do some research at the National Archives and gather more information regarding his family.  Children under 14 are not allowed in so Caylin and I remained outside while Randy and Aaron went in.  They were given official researchers identification and parking permits.  Randy was able to find out and print out quite a bit of information about his family.

Walking to the Reflection Pool, we decided to sit at the foot of the Washington Monument under one of the many trees on the grassy hill and enjoy some ice cold water.  The afternoon was pleasant with a gentle breeze and temperatures in the uppers 70s. 

The Reflection Pool is undergoing a very rare event.  It is sinking and needed to be renovated.  We took pictures of the drained pool and read about the repairs.  Nearby is the World War II monument and The Vietnam Memorial.  Randy found the name of one of his cousins that was killed in the war on the wall.

Leaving the Vietnam War Memorial we were caught in a thunderstorm which lasted approximately 15 minutes.  When the storm was over we were greeted with a nice surprise. A rainbow from which we were able to see its beginning and its end went over the Washington Monument.  Aaron tried to capture the event in film.

Before catching the subway back to Cherry Hill we stopped by Ford's Theater.  Here,  John Wilkes Booth fatally shot a great American President, Abraham Lincoln.