Thursday, October 01, 2009

Defending the American Dream Summit

I'm in Washington, D.C., this weekend to attend Americans For Prosperity Defending the American Dream Summit.

Tomorrow consists of grassroots training and a trip to the Capitol for a rally and press conference. Saturday is filled with fantastic speakers and I'll be 'live' blogging each of them - actually posting my raw notes after their speech.

If you recall, it was at this conference last year that I was named the AFP Blogger of the Year. I'll be looking forward to welcoming this year's winner and celebrating his/her accomplishment.

As for today, this is my only post as I spent my afternoon at:

* The Navy Memorial - a circular monument with a map of the world engraved into the flooring,
* The Museum of Natural History - looking at gems - Hope Diamond - and sea life,
* The Museum of American History - where I spent a lot of time in the sea transportation area, the First Ladies exhibit and viewed the original U.S. Flag. The flag and history was quite moving, though no photographs were allowed. Interestingly, the most prominently displayed inaugural gown was that of First Lady Helen Taft - and it was magnificent with train and beading worthy of an inaugural ball.
* The National Aquarium - which was a bit disappointing after seeing aquariums in Charleston and Chicago, though still very nice. It's in the basement of the Commerce Department and isn't that easy to locate.
* The White House Visitor Center - where I purchased two of the White House Christmas Ornaments that I was missing. Here is the one for this year.

Tonight it's catching up with fellow bloggers ... look for periodic updates over the next two days.

2 comments:

Hooda Thunkit (Dave Zawodny) said...

Maggie,

The National Aquarium is/was a disappointment to us too, considering that it was the NATIONAL aquarium.

We've seen many more spectacular aquariums elsewhere in our travels...

Maggie said...

Hooda - I didn't realize it at the time, but the National Aquarium is NOT part of the Smithsonian Museums - it's a private, non-profit organization. Others later told me the 'better' aquarium was not in DC.

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