Flashback Friday - Mr. Blythe Goes To Washington

In July between High School graduation and my entry as a freshman at Iowa Wesleyan I went with Seaton buddy Ivan Ewing to visit Civil War battlefields and Washington DC.   Ivan was a big CW buff and I'd never been anywhere so off we went.  It was right after our last softball game of the summer.  While much is blurred now by time I do recall going to Gerald Ford's Congressional office and telling some staffer I was from Kalamazoo in order to gain an audience.  I was told he was back home, so I struck out there.  I also remember thinking Pennsylvania was beautiful. 

No fancy camera in those days.  This is a non-zoom picture so you get an idea of how far away you are when you see the White House from this angle.

I am atop the Washington monument.  This is the Jefferson Memorial.

Another shot from the Washington memorial.  You can see part of the Mall and the Capitol Building.

The Washington Memorial.  I can't remember much about the more mundane aspects of the trip like price of gas, or cost of going up or parking.  Ivan drove all the time, and I apparently had enough money since I didn't need any more sent from home. 

That's the Lincoln Memorial

I was quite smitten by the iconic Lincoln Memorial.  Simple, and if I remember correctly there isn't much else there except some more inscriptions etched into the stone.  I also remember the reverence, everyone was quiet, like they were at a funeral home viewing someone. 

We skittered away from the tour and wandered the halls of Congress on our own.  Today we would have been searched, scanned, frisked, felt up, felt down and with my little incident in high school, likely shown the door out, or worse.

It's a beautiful city and if given another chance to go I'd like to spend a week at the Smithsonian.  Hey Ivan, you up for another road trip?

One of my favorite pictures of the trip.  I caught the dome and sun at the perfect time; a fascinating angle and with the flag waving, thought it was a good amateur snapshot.

Of course they didn't have security in those days.  You could wander the place pretty freely.

Me standing in front of a statue somewhere, I can't remember where. 

Only picture of me on the trip.  A skinny kid from a small town in the big city.  I didn't have the cognitive wherewithal at the time, but this was the moment when I should have known that with college in the Fall I was growing up and ready to take on adult responsibilities.  The trip opened my eyes to the big world I lived in and the incredible possibility for adventure.  I couldn't have known then the roads I would take out of that small town,  where those roads would take me, the things I'd do and see, but always, always a small town kid.