Holocaust Museum in DC

Last winter I took a mini-break to Washington D.C. I have been twice before; once as a teenager and once with friends in 2000. I didn’t remember much so it was time for another visit.

Fortunately a great deal was found at Washington Plaza Hotel. I loved the view of the pool (that was too cold to use) and how close it was to things -> walking or by subway.

A friend who lives in DC recomends the Holocaust Museum. It is fairly new and supposed to be real informative. He did not lie. It was a very powerful exhibit of a dark time in human history.

When you enter the museum you take on a persona but you do not yet know if they are a victim or a survivor. You carry their story with you throughout the exhibit.

I was disappointed to learn how the United States failed the refugees. It is clear we could have done more to help but we didn’t.

Names of those who died are all along the windows.

What was most disturbing is reading how the history was laid out. Hitler and the holocaust didn’t just happen overnight. It happened slowly bit by bit. Little changes that eroded freedoms and livelihood of people. So many times where people could have stood up and say no; but not enough did because they thought there was no way it could get that bad. It is a lesson to all of us. Always stand up for injustices no matter how small people think they are.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

My aunt visited me in town for Thanksgiving and she really wanted to go see the Macy’s parade. I have seen it once before but not loving crowds I had little desire to go.
However I noticed a friend who is a Macy’s employee had extra tickets for stadium seating. I didn’t have to stand up the whole time? Sign me up. One catch, it will be the coldest parade on record.
We meet at 3:30 AM to get in line for the stadium seating. There are already many people in line. We try our best to keep warm.

We end up right up front at the beginning of the parade.  It is lots of sitting and waiting and we are very cold. Our blankets and hand warmers are not enough. We might die out there. We watch them rehearse and tape the beginning of the parade

And as the sun comes up it gets even colder.

Luckily the parade starts. We hear all the announcements as the balloons line up.

We didn’t get to see any celebrities perform but we did see them go by in their floats.
Here is Diana Ross.

And then we reached the end and Santa. Despite the cold, the whole experience was a treat and we had a great time.