Friday in D.C.
This morning we got up early, and it looks like we're going to bed late. I have wanted to go to the place where they make paper money for a long time. I know I could go in Ft. Worth, but there's something about visiting the Bureau here in D.C. When we got in line at 8:00 this morning, I wasn't sure that we would get tickets for the line was already really long. The tickets are issued on a first come, first serve basis and only given out the day of your visit. We finally got to the kiosk an hour later, and yea, they still had a lot left. We had just enough time to wait in another line before our visit.
I did like the tour. It's cool to see several stacks of $32 million in front of you. But they say, at that point each $100 bill is only worth about 4 cents! They showed us a few stages: printing the paper with background colors, printing the front and back (after which it has to dry for 3 days), printing the seal on the note, and stamping them with serial numbers. I was hoping to see a stage where they actually make the paper, but that is done off-site by another company, and they even put in the presidential watermark during the paper-making process.
Next we toured the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Extremely informative, but also very depressing. And it was way too crowded today. The exhibit that always hits me the most is all the shoes. Men's shoes, ladies shoes, children's shoes... the little ones can be tear jerkers. I will never be able to understand how someone can hate others so much. When you arrive, you are encouraged to pick up an ID card which tells the story of one of the many who survived the terrors of the Holocaust. Men get male cards and women, ladies, so you can relate more to their narrative. The one I chose described how when she got off the train car, she was told to give her infant son to an older lady who would take care of it, and she could see him later that evening, when she was done working. Of course she later finds out that all the children and elderly were taken immediately to "shower." Oh, how sad.
We headed back to the hotel at this point to take a much-needed nap. Our feet already hurt from standing for nearly 6 hours. We rested during the heat of the day and then came back out in the evening, after dinner. Our visitor's book told us the National Archives were open until 9 p.m., so we headed there first. Wrong! They closed at 7. We got there about 7:20. So we walked around the Mall area, sat on the benches and enjoyed the cool breeze as dusk settled in.
We took our tripod and spent the rest of the evening taking pictures of the monuments at night. I think we got some nice shots, but they are still on the camera card right now.
I did like the tour. It's cool to see several stacks of $32 million in front of you. But they say, at that point each $100 bill is only worth about 4 cents! They showed us a few stages: printing the paper with background colors, printing the front and back (after which it has to dry for 3 days), printing the seal on the note, and stamping them with serial numbers. I was hoping to see a stage where they actually make the paper, but that is done off-site by another company, and they even put in the presidential watermark during the paper-making process.
Next we toured the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Extremely informative, but also very depressing. And it was way too crowded today. The exhibit that always hits me the most is all the shoes. Men's shoes, ladies shoes, children's shoes... the little ones can be tear jerkers. I will never be able to understand how someone can hate others so much. When you arrive, you are encouraged to pick up an ID card which tells the story of one of the many who survived the terrors of the Holocaust. Men get male cards and women, ladies, so you can relate more to their narrative. The one I chose described how when she got off the train car, she was told to give her infant son to an older lady who would take care of it, and she could see him later that evening, when she was done working. Of course she later finds out that all the children and elderly were taken immediately to "shower." Oh, how sad.
We headed back to the hotel at this point to take a much-needed nap. Our feet already hurt from standing for nearly 6 hours. We rested during the heat of the day and then came back out in the evening, after dinner. Our visitor's book told us the National Archives were open until 9 p.m., so we headed there first. Wrong! They closed at 7. We got there about 7:20. So we walked around the Mall area, sat on the benches and enjoyed the cool breeze as dusk settled in.
We took our tripod and spent the rest of the evening taking pictures of the monuments at night. I think we got some nice shots, but they are still on the camera card right now.
posted by Karen at 7/06/2007 11:45:00 PM
3 Comments:
I have always wanted to visit the Holocaust museum. I saw a special on it and I think it would help me keep things in perspective
I went to the Holocaust Museum the first time I visited Washington. It gave me a better perspective on how Hitler gained his power. But it is also a very sobering, sad, intensive experience.
I find it scary that there is a group of people who want to deny that the Holocaust happened.
BTW, Debra actually visited one of the concentration camps the first time she went to Europe. She said it still "smelled." Another sobering thought.
Yes, I remember the smells when we visited Mauthausen as part of the Vienna Studies Program. And it seemed to me that the shoes in the museum smelled some also.
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