Deny everything. You never read this blog post.

The rest of DC:

On Sunday the 10th we went to Uncle J's Southern Baptist church. They had the best music! They had a 3 octave bell choir playing along with piano, organ, and horns! It was amazing! They played A Mighty Fortress is our God, one of my favorite hymns. It was very, very nice.
After church we went out to lunch and then went to The Shrine of Immaculate Conception. It was a giant Catholic church nearly completely devoted to Mary. It was quite sad. Soooo many statues of Mary. Only one or two of Jesus. On the walls were painted things like, "Mary saves" and things. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but Jesus is the one that saves. Mary carried Jesus, but he is infinitely more important than she is.
The church was very, very beautiful with mosaics all over the ceilings. And a beautiful pipe organ!

Then we walked past the capitol buildings, which were closed.
The Supreme Court:

Library of Congress (and the steps that Ben Gates ran up during the Library of Congress scene from National Treasure #2)

Congress:

The Canadian Embassy!

Then we walked the memorials.

Memorial for those killed in the Vietnam War (I believe):

There were many many many names. Lining the whole wall. Uncle J said he knew some of these people. Uncle J was drafted into the United States army. They were looking for 3 volunteers to join the Marines. When no one volunteered they called names. My uncle's was one that was called. The Marines are known for being the toughest branch of the military. Luckily my uncle didn't see combat. He says that being in the Marines made him a better person and that if he were to do it all again, he would still go into the Marines as opposed to another branch. I think that's pretty cool.

Lincoln Memorial:

Washington Monument (nope, we didn't climb this one! It is closed due to the earthquake in the DC area last year. Also, the reflecting pool has been emptied due to the fact that it was mostly mud. I did, however, get a picture of the monument reflecting on a lake!).

Jefferson Memorial (as we were on Shank's Ponies, we didn't walk all the way to this memorial. Instead I just got a picture).

(sorry it's on its side)

Korean War Memorial:

Freedom is not free.

Martin Luther King Jr. memorial (see the rock in the background? The statue was carved out of it. The rock came from a mountain. This is significant because he was on a mountain top when he had a revelation... Or something along those lines. As Barliman Butterbur says, "One thing drives out another.")

Out last stop? The Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial:

Boy were our feet sore! We walked at least 2 miles, possibly 3 or 4 in one day. It felt like 10.
My poor mom has blisters a plenty.

Monday, the 11th we slept in a little later and then left for The International Spy Museum.
The information I am about to disclose to you is top secret. I am trusting you to keep it secret. Don't be alarmed if your computer self destructs after reading this blog post. Remember, if the police come for you, deny everything. You never read this blog post. Understand? Good. You may proceed.

After acquiring your tickets, you stand in line for the elevator. Above your head is the statue of Russian spy Feliks Dzerzhinsky. He was toppled from his base in from of KGB headquarters to symbolize the end of Soviet regime.
Finally the anticipated elevator arrives. You enter. As you go up, a voice is heard. She tells you that you are going to the briefing area where you will receive your orders.
Before you get briefed, though, you have to pick a secret identity from pre-written bios on the walls. I picked Colin Walker, a 21 year old art major from London. You have to remember your cover because two interactive displays in the museum ask you to receive and fulfill a mission.
Then into the briefing room where a film about the history of spies is shown. It was very good.
Then into the museum. It was filled with facts and artifacts on spies from all points in time. I was very impressed. Even Grama, who thought it was going to be a different kind of museum, was impressed.
The best part for me was all the different displays.... It was as if you were actually in the underground tunnels America build to spy on Russia. It was as if you really were in a 18th century parlor. In one part you could climb through the vents! (I thought of my friend Jessica's story Finding Lily).
Unfortunately, pictures were prohibited throughout the entire museum.
It is a very good museum and I highly recommend it to anyone who is into spies and espionage. (It makes it all the better that the first quote I saw upon entering was from Sherlock Holmes!).
The gift shop was just as fun as the museum. And the absolute best thing in the gift shop? Lord of the Rings! But not just any copy.... This version didn't have any words! Just a hole so you can hide things!
I didn't have $30 to spend on LotR's so instead I got these instead:

A postcard (at the top), a bookmark (to the left), 3 pins (to the right), and a CD ("Music to Spy By" at the bottom). The CD includes 19 spy themes from various TV shows and movies. Arrangements include, James Bond Theme, Pink Panther Theme, Mission: Impossible Theme, 007 Theme, Get Smart Theme, I Got My Spies on You, and many more! I haven't had a chance to listen to it all yet.... But from what I've heard it's really good music to write by.... er, spy by.

After the museum we ate lunch here:

The food was good but not out of the ordinary.

After The International Spy Museum we headed over to Ford's Theater where Abraham Lincoln was shot. A loooong line awaited us. They were out of tickets for the day! We hung our heads in defeat and wondered what to do for the rest of the afternoon when a school group asked, "Do you need tickets? They gave us way to many!" So we were able to get it after all! I guess school groups aren't so bad after all.... At least the older students.
The outside of the theater:

 

The booth where Lincoln was assassinated:

After Lincoln was killed, the theater was gutted and turned into a military building. Eventually the government or national parks service got a hold of it and re-did it to look like it did when Lincoln was shot.

Here is the house where Lincoln died:




We walked through it and I believe there was a museum next to it.... I was really tired this day and I really don't remember much.
Inside the museum was a tower of "books" (real books would be too dangerous so they were fake books). Every single book on this tower is about Abraham Lincoln (there are doubles... and triples... but still, that's a LOT of books about one guy!).

I still have one more day in DC to report on but I shall refrain from doing so at this moment because it is 11:00 and we have to get up at 7:30 tomorrow morning. You can look forewords to a blog about our last day in DC and probably Colonial Williamsburg (where we were today) as well.
Tomorrow we start the loooong 5-day journey home. We'll be driving all day tomorrow and we'll end up in Cincinnati Ohio where we will go to the Creation Museum and Underground Railroad Museum that are there. We will then go on to Illinois and check out the birthplace of Lincoln. Then 10 hours in the car later, we'll end up at Grama's house where we will stay for a few days before heading back to wonderful West Coast.
I must say I am glad.... Things are starting to go right over my head. I'm not learning much anymore. It's so much to take in!! We've been gone 23 days.
Plus I've been singing this song.....

Paramount Theater

The year is 1928.
Silent films are very popular, as "Talkies" (films with sound) are not possible yet.
To accompany these silent films are Wurlitzer Organs. These organs aren't your everyday church organs... They have many, many different sounds to accompany what's happening in the film. And they were always played live.
People would go to the theater to watch a silent film, while someone would be playing a Wurlitzer Organ in the orchestra pit.
In modern days, there are only about 8 people who play Wurlitzer Organs to accompany silent films. And although Wurlitzer is still making organs, there are only around 100 that are still around that were made especially to play with silent films.
The Paramount Theater in Seattle was built especially to play silent films. And, of course, they would need a Wurlitzer. They had one built especially to match the theater and that's where it's stayed since 1928.
Shortly after Paramount was built, the technology to make "Talkie" films appeared and silent films were slowly silenced... Luckily, not forever.
Theaters like the Paramount still occasionally show these wonderfully funny shows.

I was lucky enough to visit the Paramount this morning with my mom and my best friend and her mom.
Right now the Paramount is going through a "Silent Movie Monday" series, where each Monday evening they play a silent film.
This morning they were also doing a tour of the theater and a man was giving a performance of the Wurlitzer while accompanying a short, silent film called "Cops" by Buster Keaton.
(Here is it on youtube if anyone wants to watch it... It's quite funny! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8rf_w7w0IQ )
The Organist came all the way from Kansas to do this series. He said he started with piano but was completely self taught on the organ. He also said he only plays Wurlitzer Organs. He's been playing for 42 years. =)

Here is a video of him playing the Paramount Overture on the Wurlitzer:



Here are some more pictures.
The Mighty Wurlitzer:


Me admiring the Wurlitzer (it's such a fun name to write... Rachmaninoff is another fun name to write.)


All I can say is I was born in the wrong time period.... I think it would be SO cool to have been able to live in the early late 1800's-early 1900's. Vaudeville.... Silent films.... Women wearing elegant dresses to the theater, accompanied by men in top hats.
When the Paramount Theater opened, 10,000 people came the opening night, paying 60 cents at the door. Although the theater only held 3000 people, men and women came to mingle in the lobby. They came to be seen in their elegant clothes. They came to see silent films accompanied by the beautiful Wurlitzers.
As well as having a Wurlitzer, the Paramount has a "Re-enacting (or reproducing... I forget which) piano" which is different than a player piano. This piano was also made especially for the Paramount. It was amazing to see it play.... Sadly, I didn't get a video.

My family and friends and I also went to a flight museum recently to look at their exhibit on World War One planes.
Here is the first fighter plane, made in Italy before the first Great War. See how the gun is on the top? As planes became more sophisticated, the gun was moved lower down, so it could shoot between the front propeller. How could it fire between the propeller, one might ask? Well, the gun would shoot through the propeller, but would pause when the propeller was directly in front of the gun. It was quite the sophisticated technique!

Of course... I had to go through the entire flight museum and find the ONE mention of Star Trek.... I found it in this picture, when the cast from the original Star Trek series came to see the Enterprise space shuttle.