It has been years since I’ve been to DC; since I was a teenager actually. The city has changed so much, yet hasn’t changed at all at the same time. The city proper is much cleaner and taken care of than I remember, when it was the damn murder capital of the world. Three murders the first time I was there as a kid, and a friend from college who interned with the senate said that someone was killed every couple days for the whole summer he was there. But I digress.

The things about DC that haven’t changed are the memorials. Even when I was young, the Vietnam Memorial made an impact that stayed with me. It still feels the same, the weight of the history and significance of that place is incredible. It’s the only place stateside that has that feeling that I’ve been to, where you get a sense of the collectivity of souls bound together in sadness. I believe it’s one of the most impactful pieces of art ever created, and you just don’t get a sense for how it binds you to the moment until you step down into it. We did visit the other memorials as well, but that is always the one that sticks with me. Tho I was impressed that Caylo’s favorite was the Lincoln Memorial. He’s a big fan of “Mister Presidint Linkin” as he says it.

On day 2, we made it to the Smithsonian, which is also fantastic and not at all as I remember it. But the trip was cut quite short, as the boys started to get ill — fever and turning red. Really weird. (Turns out they came down with scarlet fever. The doctor has no idea where they picked that up).