Washington D.C October 2005

J's cousin was getting married in Baltimore so we added on a couple of extra days and called it a vacation. We'd both been to Washington separately but never together. This is another of those historical cities that you wish you had time to really do justice to. Unfortunately, we only had a couple of free days to roam around and see the city.
What trip to Washington is complete without stopping by the White House? It's a lot smaller in person than what you see on tv. That front lawn looks like it's just acres and acres away from the street on television. My in-laws actually got to tour the White House earlier that day but we didn't get into town early enough to join them.
At the National Museum of American History they had a section on pop culture. This is the "puffy shirt" from Seinfeld. They also had the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Fonzi's leather jacket (from Happy Days) and the Edith & Archie's chairs from All in the Family. It was pretty cool.I thought this was by far one of the most moving memorials. This one is for the Korean War. I don't know what it is but this image stayed with me long after we left.
This is from the same memorial. I thought it looked really cool the way the soldiers reflected off the wall. The sign says "Freedom isn't Free".
This is a view of the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The fountain in between is the World War II Memorial that had opened just recently.
The World War II National Memorial. The 56 Pillars around the lake represent the 48 states, the District of Columbia, the territory of Alaska, the territory of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of the Philippines and American Samoa. There are two arches on either end represent the Atlantic and the other the Pacific. This memorial opened in April of 2004.
There are lots of amazing monuments in this town. Here's the Lincoln Memorial.
Abe was going through a little rehab.
This was really sad. It's the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall. It lists the names of all those that died. Unbelievable. So many lives lost.
The National Air and Space Museum. This was cool. They had lots of aircraft that you could actually climb into.
We made it out to Arlington Cemetery. This is the eternal flame. Both John F Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis are buried here along with the baby they had in the White House that died while JFK was in office.
Also in Arlington Cemetery around the corner from the eternal flame is the grave of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy.
The tomb of the unknown soldier.
Mount Vernon - the home of George Washington. This was really cool. They take you on a tour through the house (no photos inside, please) and then let you walk around on the grounds. Both George and Martha are buried on the grounds.
How would you like to sit on your back porch and have this view? This is the view of the Potomac River from the back of Mount Vernon. I think I could live with this.
Ford's Theatre - this is the box that Lincoln was in when he was shot.
Here's the actual theater. It's a lot smaller than I imagined. I think they still have shows here. Wouldn't that be cool? To attend a play here?
We didn't get to go inside the Capitol but we close enough for a photo.
And finally, the Washington Monument. This is one of those structures, not unlike the Eiffel Tower, where you can't stop taking photos. I think I took about 5 or 6 photos every time we passed it.

This was a nice little vacation. To do this town justice, you really need to spend at least a week. We barely spent any time at the Smithsonian. We probably could have spent a week there. We also went by the Holocaust Museum. That was a very moving exhibit. You walked though one of the cars that the Jewish people were stuffed into. The atrocities that people suffered were just awful. It was a very thought provoking place.

One of these days we'd like to come back when we can spend more time. So many places to visit...