We started out Day 2 with the free breakfast at our hotel....and let's just say that the only thing that was worth eating was the yogurt. The waffles were okay, but they were running low on batter by the time we got there. We couldn't complain too much though, since it was free!
We took the Metro down to D.C. and started our "tour" of all the famous things you think of when you think Washington, D.C. We saw the White House, but no Obama sightings. Can you spot the secret guard in the photo? :)
Then we headed over to the Lincoln Memorial, which is SO much bigger than I ever imagined.
Unfortunately, they were cleaning the Reflection Pool while we were in town, so we didn't get any pretty views of the water.
We also walked through the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean Memorial. It's hard to imagine how many people gave their lives in those wars.
At the end of the Reflection Pool was the World War II Memorial, where they were getting ready to have a ceremony for veterans. We saw a group of them waiting off to the side, some in wheelchairs. I'm sure they were all telling some war stories and maybe even catching up. Cute. :) This memorial was really neat...each state/territory of the U.S. has it's own stone/monument type thing. So naturally, we took a picture with each one we've lived in.
We then walked over to the Washington Monument. We wanted to take the inside tour, but all the tickets had been handed out for the day, so we just took outside pictures and thought we could put it on the list of things to do tomorrow.
By this time, we were getting hungry, so we walked a few blocks trying to find a place to eat. Once we filled up our bellies, we were ready to head over to the Capital Building. Plus, the sun finally came out!! We took some pictures of the outside and then headed inside (actually, we had to go to the back and in a separate building/entrance to walk underground and then into the Capital), where we were just in time for a tour. This was pretty interesting, and of course the Rotunda was very cool. I wish we could have seen even more. I think the House of Representatives were even in session today.
(Grant with his namesake, Ulysses S. Grant) ;)
The Supreme Court and Library of Congress were just across the street, so we visited those next.
(a view inside the courtroom)
Inside the Library of Congress...beautiful architecture!
Most of the buildings and museums close around 5 or 5:30 this time of year, so since it was getting close to that time, we decided to start heading back to our hotel. On our walk back to the Metro station, we passed the National Archives Building, so we stopped in there until they kicked us out. :) This place was pretty cool...they have archives of EVERYTHING! Any type of paper record, video, sound recording, etc. of anything and everything that has happened to or in or with the United States. I wish we had had more time to explore in there. Maybe we can head back tomorrow if we have time.
Once we got back to our hotel, we decided that we didn't really feel like going out for dinner, so we just ordered some pizza and stayed in. The weather is supposed to be yucky tomorrow, AND I forgot my umbrella (of all things!!), so we're planning to go to the museums and indoor stuff to stay dry.
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