Weekend Fun

With all of the holiday fun now over, the house back together and my work project finally over with I knew I wanted to do something fun this weekend. I have been doing a lot of research on the Civil War lately. I know!! I know!! what you are saying. Oh no!! Another history lesson. Not this time. So far I have just been doing the research on the war and what is around here. Soon I will have my agenda all planned out for little day/weekend trips to these places. Until then you can just wait in anticipation. :-) For this weekend what I really wanted to do was go to the Civil War Museum in Baltimore. Saturday morning I was doing research and found out it was closed!!! Oh man, I didn't even have a plan B figured out for the day. It is now approaching noon and I am frantically looking on the internet for something to do. There are TONS of museums around here, but then I quickly do a little math. We have 7 people in our family. No one is showered or dressed for the day. The liklihood of us getting out of the house in the next little while is very very slim sooo I figured out a plan B. We did a few things around the house, had a couple of friends over that night and purchased tickets to go to the George Washington Universities Women Basketball game on Sunday. There are so many colleges here we usually can have our pick of games to go to. This one happened to be the only one playing in town this weekend. Plus they are 11-3 on the season so we thought it should be a good game.

Our friends ended up having to leave around 8:30 on Saturday. After they left we watched a couple of movies. I was downstairs doing laundry. When I came back upstairs it looked like it was Jonestown all over again. It was pretty funny. I especially like how Corrie is on the floor and Rusty is on the couch. Caitlynn is asleep in Jeff's arms and that is Dalton asleep with his blanky on the right of the couch. Austin had long since went to bed. (Apparently the only smart one)

Even the cat had crashed

On Sunday we headed to the game. George Washington University is about 6-7 blocks away from the monuments. Amazingly we were able to park on the street by the front door of the sports center. The game was pretty boring. They played Brown University which is 1-12. The only excitement of the game was the last few seconds when we were all cheering for GW to score 100 points. The score ended up being a mere 98-22.

Caitlynn did not find the game one bit exciting. Dalton doesn't like loud noises. So everytime the buzzer went off, the annoucer said anything or the refs blew the whistler he started crying. It got worse as the game went on because he was getting tired.

After the game Jeff drove by this firehouse he used to work at.

He mentioned this firehouse was the first to respond to the White House. So I asked, "Did you ever go to the White House". He nonchalantly said, only the Blair House to treat Chelsie Clinton for a sprained ankle". WHAT!!! I never knew that!!! It was no big deal to him. What a goof. So then he took us to Saint Elizabeths Hospital. A Hospital you say! Yes!!! This is where Hinkley is. (the man who shot President Reagan). This is the oldest building on the grounds.

When Jeff lived here before you could walk around some of the grounds. Now everything is closed to the public. As I was writing this blog I went out on the internet to find a picture of the grounds. I found out on the grounds is a Civil War Cemetery where 300 Union and Confederate Soldiers are buried. President Abraham Lincoln frequently visited soldiers at the hospitals. Overcrowding was inevitable during the war. Tents were erected behind Center Building to house convalescing soldiers.

Dr. Nichols, a volunteer surgeon for the St. Elizabeths Army General Hospital, often rode out to major battlefields around the DC area to treat casualties. He was introduced as one of General McDowell’s staff at the First Battle of Bull Run. Approximately one-fourth of St. Elizabeths’ male employees divided their time between the battlefields and hospital and patients stepped in to help provide hospital services.Gen. Joseph Hooker was admitted for treatment of gunshot wounds he received at the Battle of Antietam in the fall of 1862, and Dr. Nichols and his wife personally cared for him in their quarters. ( Not familiar with the Battle of Antietam?? Never fear... that will be a history lesson soon. The Battlefield is only about 1-1 1/2 hours from here. We were there when we came here for vacation one year. But now that I am here I have to go spend more time and really experience it. Stay tuned.)

Have I told you how much I love Washington, D.C. There is so much history here you just never know where you are going to find it. Jeff had no idea of the hospital's role in the Civil War and that there is a cemetery there. Great.. now another trip to add to my civil war agenda.