Washington, DC

The Korean War Memorial

The lineups to pass by the wall of names at the Vietnam memorial were huge; many left flowers and/or pictures of loved ones

The motorcycle parade

A vet is searching the book of names at the Vietnam Memorial

We rented a car with Jim and Gloria and travelled the 30 miles to Washington. Beautiful city, with so much to see. We started with the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. You needed a prior appointment to actually get a tour of the White House, so we had to be satisfied with just looking on from the outside. Then on to the Washington Memorial, which is a huge obelisk. Visited the Lincoln Memorial, a marble statue of the president inside a structure of 36 marble columns. The Washington Memorial and the Capital building anchor a long mall, about 2 miles in length, with museums and statues along it's length.  Near the Lincoln Memorial is the Vietnam memorial. It consists of a wall with all of the names of those who lost their lives in the war inscribed on the wall. As we neared the Vietnam memorial, we saw a long, long row of motorcycles coming along the street, and many were flying the American flag. Apparently every Memorial Day, thousands of veterans come to Washington by motorcycle to participate in this motorcycle parade. Today was just a practice run, the real parade is tomorrow. At the Vietnam memorial we saw many veterans, including one group that had on vests that said Canadian Cav. I asked them where they were from, one girl is from Winchester, one man from Renfrew, another man from Gatineau. They have come down, along with many other Canadian vets,  to participate in the motorcycle parade as well.

Dorothy's ruby red shoes, in the pop culture display at the Smithsonian

Spent most of the afternoon at the Smithsonian, could have spent several days. Visited the Natural History Building and the one on  American History. Saw dinasaur bones, fossils, a display on global warming. Also saw a display of dresses worn by first ladies at inaugauration balls. Interesting to see the changes in fashions over the years.  Then walked to the other end of the mall and saw the Capital building. They were setting up for a big concert tonight, so we couldn't get a good picture of it.

Part of the WWII Memorial

The statue of Lincoln inside the Memorial

The elephant in the entrance hall of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Had dinner in Washington, then returned to Annapolis. Full day, but worthwhile.

In front of the White House

The Washington Monument stands 555 ft, 5 1/2 " tall, at one time the tallest structure in the world.