Weekend Trip to D.C.

It seems a bit counter-intuitive to write about our time here at seminary with a story about getting away from the seminary for a weekend, but that is exactly what this is. I was asked to help video an important liturgy in Washington D.C., and everybody in the family immediately latched on to the idea of making it a family weekend.

Reception after Divine Liturgy

First, I simply must mention the occasion which brought about the trip. The St. Tikhon Choir, a professional choir directed by Benedict Sheehan, the choir director here at the seminary, was to sing Benedict's recently-finished music to the Divine Liturgy in the liturgy itself for the first time. That first use in liturgy was most certainly a video-worthy venture, and I was asked to come and lend a hand. The choir was absolutely beautiful; if you want to get a small taste, they have some clips of the liturgy on the St. Tikhon Choir Facebook page.

The key to the kingdom.

And still speaking of the liturgy, we had a funny thing happen. Having heard that we would need to arrive early to set up the video equipment, the priest in charge of the cathedral gave us the key to the building since we were going to arrive Sunday morning before him. Actually, he gave it to Senia. I had gone to bring the van back over to the church, but had to return a few minutes later, on foot, because I had forgotten to ask Senia for the keys. The priest jokingly added that it might be best if she held the keys instead of me. So, she faithfully held the keys—she took her charge quite seriously, meaning, I was not allowed to carry them—until she unlocked the main cathedral for the Orthodox Church of America on Sunday morning.

Though the main purpose of the trip was to video the liturgy, we certainly made sure we saw some of the sights, as well. The first night, with most locations closed, we went down to the National Mall and walked through the Vietnam War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and Lincoln Monument. I love the connections the kids are able to make in such a place as Washington: "Hey, that's the building in the penny!" They somewhat theoretically knew it was a Lincoln-related building, but had not really put it all together that we were walking toward Lincoln Monument.

The next day, we ended up choosing to visit the Museum of the Bible, a new museum, opened fairly recently in 2017. The kids enjoyed trying their hand at writing Hebrew, seeing an artifact example of what a shekel is, a wall full of Torah scrolls, and a beautiful room of religious art. I loved looking at the texts they had on display, especially a millennium-old, Greek Psalter with the Hours, including illuminated iconography.

As for other sights, in lieu of visiting the White House, which requires signing up two or three months ahead of time, we drove by it a few times going to and fro. That seems to be enough for the kids...for now. At the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the exhibit on mineral and gems was an all-around favorite. The kids liked the thousands of crystals, both cut and raw; I was more of a thousand-pound-meteoric-hunk-of-lead kind of guy. Unfortunately, by that time, we had already walked Senia past her limit, and she was not really interested in more exhibits at all. Next time, we need to walk less and spend more time enjoying a smaller number of sights.

We would love to see more of D.C., but all in all, it turned out to be a great excuse to drive down and enjoy. The whole family has been talking for months about the proximity of New York City, Washington D.C., Niagara Falls, and all the other not-yet-known destinations within our reach here in the northeast. Though it is hard to uproot and move to a new place, we can still enjoy what we have while here.