Memories of Washington, D.C. Trip by Melady

I have wonderful memories of the trip I took with Aunt Nonie, Uncle Jack, and Delaine in June of 1989.  I remember that Delaine and I were on a band trip at Walt Disney World in Florida.  She had just graduated from high school and I had graduated from Junior High.  Aunt Nonie and Uncle Jack came to Florida and planned to pick up Delaine and take her on a trip to Washington, D.C.  They decided to invite me to go along and I remember being very excited!  Not only had I always wanted to go to Washigton, D.C. and see the historical sights, I had also always wanted to go on a trip with them and Delaine so I was very happy that they had asked me.

On our way north from Orlando, we stopped at a beach in Florida on the Atlantic Ocean and got to wade in the water for a little while.  After our short break on the beach, I remember that Aunt Nonie always had a supply of peanuts ready when we got hungry during the long drive north!  Part of our drive fell on a Sunday, and I remember her putting a cassette tape of one of my granddad's (Tote's) sermons on in the car for us to listen to.  It really made an impression on me that it was very important to Aunt Nonie to honor the Lord's Day in whatever way you could.

When we finally got to Washington, D.C., we drove by and saw the White House, went to Union Station, and we even rode the subway to Maryland and back after we finally learned how to get tickets!  :) That was the first time I had ever been on a subway and I remember us laughing about how fast it went!  We loved it though!  We also visited the statue of Iwo Jima and the church that George Washington attended.

We took a tour bus out to Arlington Cememtery and saw the grave of John F. Kennedy with the eternal flame and we also saw the grave of Robert Kennedy.  We had a tour guide named "George" who was constantly telling us to "stay with the group"!  Mind you, our tour "group" maybe consisted of ten people, none of which were straying from "the group."  We got a big laugh out of that and our whole group became so focused on pleasing George that part of the group ended up in a lot of the pictures with us that Aunt Nonie took on that particular tour.  I also remember our group asking Uncle Jack a lot of questions about where he was from because they were fascinated with his cowboy hat!

Aunt Nonie and Uncle Jack also made sure that we got to tour Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.  I remember being amazed at the beautiful furniture in their homes and also the servant's quarters, horse stables, ice houses, and vegetable gardens.

I have many fond memories of that trip.  Aunt Nonie and Uncle Jack were so generous in providing me with that opportunity and made it very special in so many ways.