Washington DC Day 2

Another excellent day in DC. I woke up a little late but thought I could still make it to my 9:30am tour of the Washington Monument. I left the house about 9am. Not bad. I decided as I walked to Union Station that my best bet might be to take a taxi. When I got to Union Station, I realized it was Monday morning. There was a line of about twenty five people in suits waiting for taxis. Well there went that plan.. Plan B was to take Metro subway. It would take me two different rides and at this point in was 9:15. I hadn't given up yet. When I got down to the subway, I decided to pay a day pass. I put my day pass in the ticket slot and it spit it back at me and said see attendant. I walked over and the attendant told me the day passes start at 9:30. My heart sank. I figured my tour was now out of the question. I had about 10 minutes till 9:30 and I didn't want to pay for another Metro card. I went back up to see if the taxi line was shorter. Nope. So I decided on Plan C. Take Metro and see if there were any later tours available. I got to the Washington Monument at 9:50. By the time I walked up to the tour area it was almost 10 o'clock. As I was walking towards the Park Ranger, I noticed that there is a group of people sitting on a bench with a sign saying 9:30 tour. Next to them on the next bench it say 10:00 tour. I asked the Park Ranger if I was too late for 9:30. She said 'You just made, I am taking the last group from the 9:30 tour right now". Whew! I was soo excited. The view from the top of the Washington Monument was incredible. You could see each direction as if you were a bird. It was great to see the White House, the Jefferson Memorial, the mall, and the Capitol from 500 feet in the air. Check the pictures.. so cool. It got even better on the elevator ride down. When you go down, the frosty windows on the elevator doors turns become see through and the elevator slows down so that you can see a collection of stones built into memorial the represent different states and differnt countries. Each has a unique design that represent that state/country. I was unfortunately in the middle so I was unable to get any good pictures.

After the Washington Monument, I grabbed a quick bite for lunch. I had a wonderful salad that had mixed greens, goat cheese, figs, roasted corn, walnuts, and grilled chicken. Yum!

Then it was off to my Capitol tour. The building, like many historic buildings in DC, was incredible. Our tour leader was a cute old lady that knew a lot and was funny as well. We got to see several rooms including the inside of the dome, the crypt (where Congress wanted George Washington to be buried but he decided against it) and the room which original held the House of Representatives but know is a statue room that is used for special events. I decided after my tour to head over to my House representative to get passes to view the Senate and House galleries. The House was not in session but I was able to go in and see the House. It was much smaller than what I had imagined. I then went to view the Senate which was in session. When I got into the gallery, I encountered the senator from North Dakota giving a speech about oil. There is not another senator on the floor. There is a someone sitting at the front as well as several clerks. The man at the head looked beyond bored. He reminded me of some of the .teenages boys I saw with their families during the Capitol tour. Several of the clerks were on their computers and were also obviously not engaged in what the senator was saying. I stayed about ten minutes before I realized I had to leave before I nodded off.

Across the street from the Capitol is the Library of Congress. I wanted to check out the Library gift shop. I had been to the Library of Congress on my last tour so I didn't feel the need to spend much time there. When I walked down to the lower level where the shop is, there was a sign for a public tour at 3:30. I looked at my watch and it was 3:25. Well why not I thought. I hadn't done the tour the first time. Our docent was an older woman who's memory was beginning to fail. She was insightful at times and down right boring at times. The tour lasted about an hour and I felt luke warm about the experience. I then went to the shop and bought myself a mug (mugs are my weakness), a new water bottle, and gifts for my coworkers. I then headed back to my lodging to drop off my Library of Congress bag.

I saw a teriyaki place about a block from my lodging during my walk last night so I decided to check it out for dinner. I walked over and was delighted that they had teriyaki chicken breast and a nice selection of sushi. I ordered chicken teriyaki and a spicy tuna roll. I got it to go so I could come back and sit on the couch. The meal was very yummy. The grilled up a nice chicken breast and some vegetables and poured teriyaki over the top. It came with perfect rice and some great miso soup. The sushi was very spicy but good. I had enough left over to pack it up for lunch tomorrow. Score!

After dinner, I put on my tennis shoes and headed out to see the National Crime and Punishment. It wasn't free like most of the musuems in DC but it sounded right up my alley. When I walked in the door, there sat the VW bug of Ted Bundy. Creepy but cool! The museum was incredible..well worth the admission price. It went through crime chronologically, then walked through what happens after the crime. How are killers caught, what happens once they are caught, what is jail like, etc. The had a replica of a jail cell that you could go into which had a hole dug out of the back which you could crawl through. Fun! Then they had several rooms on the work of police officers. I got to sit on a replica police motorcycle. The light lit up, the sound of the engine reving occured, and the police siren turned on. Fun! The next floor was the CSI experience. Any fan of the show or of crime scene investigation will drool. YOu first walk into the scene of the crime, then walk through the process the police go through to solve it. They have a replica medical examiers lab (including an autosopy table with dummy victim). The last floor is the studio of America's Most Wanted. Very cool. John Walsh has done great work in bringing criminals to justice.

The minute I walked out the door of the museum, my ears were greated with music. It felt like I had been transported to New Orleans. I walked towards the music to find a group of men on the corner playing. It was incredible. I took video for your pleasure.


Next stop was Ford's Theater and the house where President Lincoln died. The visitor center was closed but it was worth the walk to see the buildings.

That was my day. I did end up with my first blister. My legs and feet are super sore. I still have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of exploring. Yikes. Thank goodness for IB and band aids. I am off to bed (should have been there about an hour ago) I have to be up at 5:30 to be at the White House at 7am. What a great finish to Washington DC. Then I am board a train for Philadelphia.

Talk to you tomorrow. Love to everyone! Below is a link to Day 2 photos.

Wahington June 21, 2010