Our Trip

We spent the weekend in Washington, D.C. at a Catholic conference. It's sort of like a retreat. We went on a pilgrimage to the largest Catholic church in the United States---Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. 

 The Church is two thirds the size of St. Peter's at the Vatican. There are 110 chapels within---all bearing a different name. Very interesting tour.

 All of the artwork is murals of mosaics. You cannot capture the immense size in these photos.

 This is one of my favorites. The Church is devoted to the Blessed Mother. Those 110 chapels each bear a different name for Mary. There's even one chapel dedicated to anyone that has the name Mary, or any derivative there of. That includes me---I got a special blessing for that. (My middle name is Marie).

 Looking out from the Church, you see Catholic University across the street. Below is another view.

We stayed at the historic Mayflower Hotel. It's a beautiful place. While there, I had an odd thing happen. I decided to wear my Jerusalem Cross stick pin. As I was putting it on, I dropped the back. I looked all around and found this up against the baseboard right below the mirror where I was putting on the pin.

I knew this didn't look right. I told Butch that I thought it was a little metal piece, so I must have somehow lost the casing and this part popped out. He was on his hands and knees with his flashlight app on his phone looking all around. He asked if I looked in my pocket---which I had. Then, I checked my top pocket and there it was.

What are the odds that I would lose something and find something that almost worked? Crazy. But it also makes me wonder about my mind that I can convince myself of just about anything, no matter how far fetched!

After wearing this pin several times, I found out that the black part is part of the packaging. What an idiot!!

I have just a few more things to report, but I'll save that for tomorrow!