Day 4 - Museum of the Bible - D.C.

A note about photos and videos - I am using a new lap top. It does not have movie maker on it (I discovered it can no longer be downloaded as an official Microsoft product) or Light Room.  For the time being - no watermarks, very little photo editing, and no videos -  but we took lots of video footage of our adventures and  I can't wait to get them shared. 

We were up early this morning for the drive in to D.C. We are staying at an Air BnB in Falls Church. This is far cheaper and works well.  Our goal today is to tour the Museum of the Bible. Maria is one of the founding members of the Museum and was here for the grand opening in November. In fact, she visited Krista during that trip. She was looking for a law school and Krista gave her a tour of Liberty University. She ended up coming back, enrolling in the School of Divinity, and she and Krista are now roommates. Fun story. My two worlds collided - my daughter and one of my daughters of the heart from our last Air Force assignment.

Some will not want to scroll through photos so here's the BLUF of the day. We'd heard it takes several days to see all 7 floors of the Museum of the Bible. We had tickets to get in an hour early and we had a plan..... They were in between temporary exhibits, so that eliminated a floor to explore. We hit the "Top 20" attractions and had a yummy lunch at Manna Restaurant. The Restaurant features Jewish food and it is GOOD.  After assuring we'd hit the major attractions, we went back and worked our way through several floors we had raced through. We walked through Nazareth, visited with characters from Ancient Bible days, and a printer using a replica of Gutenberg's press, traced the impact of the Bible on both World and American history, saw a replica of the Vinegar Bible* and the Kill Bible*, experienced God speaking the world into being, walked by a burning bush and through the Jordan, and traced the Bible through early days to the cannon and on to translations around the world. Debbie, a dear friend from our Goodfellow days, joined us at the Museum. It was a great day.  I have to admit, I wondered if this is how God would want the church investing their money.....but it is VERY well done and is right in the center of the Capitol. It is a powerful reminder of God and His Word that our nation, and the world, badly needs. I was incredibly impressed. The atmosphere in this museum is different from what we encountered anywhere else in D.C. It is well worth the time to add it to your D.C. touring.

*when mistakes matter - vineyard became vinegar
filled became killed 

In the evening, we met with Mary and Alicia, friends from our Japan days.  We ate together and then the girls were ready to head back to bed. Mary and Alicia took Stacia and I to a local oriental store. Joy - the very brands of yakisoba and treats we love from Japan. It was a great day.

We plan to come back to D.C. We never made it to the memorials due to the heavy rain. I'd like to tour the White House and the Capitol building.  There are museums deserving of a full day, EACH. Our plan is to go back next year in early May for Krista's graduation. We'll spend a few weeks touring D.C. in-depth, as well as Civil war sights, see what we can of the East Coast, and try to find an Amish community or two.

Photos are wonky due to the no flash restriction.

This quote....God send us loud voices with YOUR heart. 

Via Maria

Memorial stones with a tribe of Israel inscribed on each stone. A visual reminder to take time to REMEMBER that which God accomplishes in our lives. THEY didn't say that - it's what struck me.

Via Maria 

As always - I like the living  displays - making wine in Nazareth.

The sheep display caught my attention after our recent Gather Women's study on Jesus being the Good Shepherd. They had displays of tools of a shepherd and farmer. 

Yes.  May we do so. 

The sign says, "Provide and protect strangers," - not simply focus on Koinonia Fellowship (Christian community), as essential as it is....but Biblical hospitality....Xenophilia...protection, care, love of the stranger. It's been easy in this season to welcome strangers, as we are totally new to our environment.  May we continue to seek out and welcome strangers...as Christ sought us out, provided for us, and invited us into His family. Oops.....sliding into teaching. 

This spoke to me. 

 Many watched God deal with me to begin to explore Biblical hospitality...which led to changed thoughts, actions,  and even a conference workshop or two. ::wink::   I, who thought "hospitality" was just the fluff and stuff of women's ministry. ::snort::  Seeing the set table, an example of Biblical hospitality - which I've been pondering for six years, spoke deeply to private places in my soul.

Cooking pita - set me up for the pita and hummus at lunch. 

Brick oven from Nazareth. I'm thinking this could work in our outside entertainment area...which is just a dream at this point. LOL 

This gentleman welcomed us to the synagogue in Nazareth and then gave us info which didn't gel well with my study of ancient times....but it was interesting to see the synagogue.  Specifically, he said in Nazareth the males and females all worshiped together. I could swear my studies showed female courts and that they were on opposite sides of the building. I think I made him nervous. 

Via Maria

Debbie joined us for the day. We snapped a picture in front of the Sea of Galilee and dreamed of some day snapping a picture in Israel....with Steve and Michael along. 

We shared a sampler...

Food was so good I visited with the chef. 

Via Maria

Stacia was told she could touch a stone from the temple area

Stacia took a Biblical literacy test and scored 100% for 8th graders - which she will be next school year. The 12th grade quiz included much more about culture and the Bible than simple Biblical literacy. She scored about 85% . Debbie and I teamed up to score 100%.

This gals demonstrates printing a page with the Gutenberg press. 

Via Maria

Unfortunately, I did Polos of Mary and Alicia and I.....and I don't know how to make those a screen shot and then share...but we were smiling and we had fun. Spending time with Mary - whether it is in an onsen in Japan or Red Robins in Falls Church - is always soul refreshing. We discovered a great question to reconnect with friends is, "What is going on in your life that you've not shared online?" Wonderful discussions - not long enough to talk about all on our hearts - but a good start.

Day 3 - Exploring D.C.

*BLUF ALASKANS TOUR D.C. FOR 8 HOURS IN THE RAIN AND END UP SUNBURNED!!!! We had a great time and ate some fantastic Pizza. LOL 

The GPS said it would take about 3 hours to get to the parking garage in DC. We left the girls' apartment at 0600. We arrived at 1030....and were on our tour bus by 1050. At the first stop a lady getting on said, "Hello, De'Etta." It was Lisa B - an online friend for probably close to 20 years. What are the chances of meeting on a tour bus in DC with ABSOLUTELY NO COORDINATION?

The tour company gave us all ponchos as it was raining....and it rained all day. We looked pretty fresh getting on the bus.

Our first stop at the Capitol 

We asked Jared what we needed to see in DC. He said, "We, The Pizza." He loved it as an intern and it was in walking distance from the Capitol. We went off the beaten path and had some yummy, YUMMY pizza.

We toured the US Holocaust Museum. It was good; we needed much more time. There is MUCH to do here. I think we'll need to come back a week early for Krista's graduation (maybe more). When we got back on the bus, we opted for the top level. It wasn't raining, and we knew we'd get better photos. It did begin to rain - to POUR.  The photos were better from the top  - and the ride was certainly more memorable. 

Lisa saw us going around the corner and came back to join us at the top of the bus. YAY - I'd been thinking I should have taken a photo earlier. 

Ford's Theatre

 

  

Washington Monument

Chinatown

Reagan Building

 This is on the side of the Newseum. 

 

We were very wet and cold and came back inside. 

It was a fun day....with unexpected surprises and weather. 

Day 2 - Lynchburg, VA

The itinerary said we were to tour Lynchburg and Liberty today.  After a windshield tour of the historical area, we stopped at the White Hart to meet Claudia for a quick coffee visit. I met Claudia through PWOC. 

Look closely. Do you see how cool this is? The Farmer's Market is still slow, but inside the community market are various vendors. However, the cool thing is in front of the market? There five or six of these little covers with PIANOS inside them. Fun idea.

I love all the brick and antiques. 

Our next stop was Riverside park. We quickly discovered all walk in Lynchburg involve climbing hills. LOL  Stacia and I loved the green grass and trees, flowers and  cardinals.

Maria, Krista, Stacia

The James River IS behind us

Krista, Maria, Me, Stacia

 The girls took us to Wasabi for lunch. It was fun and yummy. It did remind us of Japan....

Maria, Me, Krista, Stacia

 One word about the campus of Liberty University - Ginormous!!! It is a beautiful campus. I can't imagine much it doesn't have. While on campus we visited the Scriptorium. A museum like room with exhibits of Bibles. This one was from the 1200's and is HAND done. It was awesome.

Bibles used to be huge! You won't be putting THIS in a purse. 

Model of the Guttenberg Press

Maria and Krista both attend the School of Divinity. Many of their classes are in this tower building.

Krista & Maria

 Look at this. Snowflex - on campus. The white is for skiing and snowboarding. The right side is for tubing. It was wet and the first couple of runs down the girls hit the barrier at the end. They adjusted things to make it slower, but Krista and Stacia had a blast. I have video but am not on my laptop so I'll have to capture photos later. 

Krista had heard about a good ice cream place. We tried it. 

Back at the apartment we relaxed at the pool. 

It's been a great day.  Tomorrow, we head to DC.  The girls have rented a Air BnB and we are going to spend a few days exploring.