Washington DC

This is Abbie putting her Metro ticket thru the turnstile. We parked our car at arrival at the hotel and never got in it again until we checked out. We took the Metro - underground public transportation everyday. Abbie and I became experts at taking the correct train, changing trains, learning the different colored routes, reading the route map, buying the tickets, etc. This Metro stop was a few blocks from our hotel, but overall, we walked our feet off during this vacation. We taught Abbie the phrase "my dogs are barking."
Abbie and Paul on the Metro. One of our very favorite museums - a must see - is the International Spy Museum. This is the only museum that is not free, it is not a Smithsonian museum, but was so cool and so interesting! Abbie and I loved it. My next research project will be about the Enigma machine and Bletchley Park. Of course, I couldn't take any pictures at this museum - it wasn't allowed. I also did not take pictures of the Holocaust Museum. Abbie and I only toured "Daniel's Story" which was the only portion of the museum that was suggested for her age. I'd love to do the main portion of the Holocaust Museaum on my own some day. We also toured the Bureau of Printing and Engraving (where they make money) and was not allowed to take pictures there either.

This is a quote from the National Postal Museum - these are instructions that someone left for their rural mail carrier.
World War II Memorial - I took pictures of all the moving quotes at this memorial.
They had the back of the statue roped off, but supposedly, there is a face carved into the back of Lincoln's chair. It's a mystery.
Vietnam War Memorial - this was very moving and I couldn't talk while I was looking at all the tokens left behind - especially a poem that a mother left about her son.
We listened to a ranger give lots a details about the Vietnam War Memorial, and it was very interesting! I wish I could remember everthing he told us. Our feet were killing us so we had to skip the Korean War Memorial (but I really wanted to go to that one too b/c Paul and I have watched a lot of M.A.S.H. episodes).

The butterfly pavillion at the Museum of Natural History is worth the extra cost. It helps that all the Smithsonian museums are free. Hotels aren't cheap, but DC can be an inexpensive trip.
We were so psyched to see the pandas! This is the daddy. We got a picture of the baby panda too, but he was curled up sleeping.
"Munching on bamboo - look at my big belly."
We saw orangutans working on computers in the "Think Tank." They also have an elaborate overhead rope system the the oranguans use to get from each exhibit. They can only use it at certain times of day, but the orangutans can choose where they sleep, which exhibit they want to spend the day at, etc - they just use the overhead ropes to get from place to place.
Washington Monument - it is actually 2 colors even though the granite came from the same mine. They halted the building of the monument during the Civil War - when the started working again, the mine was producing a different color (we overhead a tour guide saying all that).

That's all I can think of for now. We had great weather the whole time. Not too hot, not too cool. No rain. Abbie got a good education about homelessness. She and I have volunteered at our local soup kitchen, but Johnson City's homeless people are different (in some ways) than the homeless people in DC. For one, here they do not push their possessions around in carts and buggies. Here, you do not see them on corners, shaking jugs, and asking for change. Here, you do not see them laying around on benches in the parks. There was one guy that really moved me, and I gave him all my change on the last day. I could be wrong, but I don't think he was an alcoholic.

We felt very safe on the streets downtown at night (although we were not on the streets past 9:00 pm). We really enjoyed taking the Metro. The drivers in DC are very aggressive and honk a lot. I had a fantastic (the best I've ever had) chili-cheese-hotdog at the cafe at the Spy Museum. Abbie was sad to leave and says she wants to go back someday. I will definitely work harder to get a tour of the White House next time.