MPH Travels: Hail to the Chief

For our final day in downtown DC, we began by going to the National Archives to view the original documents of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights and the Emancipation Proclamation. It’s heady stuff to be two inches from a piece of paper that directly cost tens of thousands of lives and changed the fate of the entire world for centuries to come. The only downside is that the documents are fragile and there are no photographs allowed. So if anyone wants to see them, they’ll have to wait until we get home…hehehe.

Having seen the White House yesterday, we decided to pay a visit to the White House Visitor Centre. Not only was it really informative to learn about the history of the building itself, and all the furnishings and art, but as we stood outside, some police swooped into place and blocked the intersection while the President’s motorcade drove by. For a few moments, the President of the United States was only 20 feet away.

Perhaps because the President isn’t born and raised to that position like a member of royalty, because he is a normal man of common background who steps up to the toughest job in the world, that makes him all the more impressive. Provided he does a good job, that is…

After that we went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, where we saw several great displays through the history of the USA to the present, both politically and socially.

There were displays on pop culture, art, transport, war, you name it.
But the best thing by far was a flag. It was the 24 x 32 foot (originally 24 x 42 foot) flag flown at the Battle of Fort McHenry during the war of 1812, against the British. During the battle, this very flag was seen flying over the battlements by the amateur composer Frances Scott Key and he was so moved by it that he wrote a song called “The Star Spangled Banner”. Many years later, of course, it became the national anthem of the United States.
Today it is simply know as the Star Spangled Banner.

For those who don't know, the words go:
"Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

We returned to our hotel for our last night in DC.