Washington D.C.

I got the chance to take a trip to DC and it was such a great time.  I had no idea how much there is to see and do, three days was barely enough to get my feet wet.  Allison lived there for a long time and put together quite the tour which was great because I didn't have to plan anything.  Do not let the above picture fool you with it's blue skies, it was about 20 something degrees with a ruthless wind that was quite punishing.  

Day 1

I had a red eye out of LB and arrived after a bus ride and a metro ride into DC about 6:00AM.  We hit the ground running and went to the Pentagon for an inside tour.  After switching hotels and getting settled we hit the Mall which consists of a large portion of the memorials and the Smithsonian's.  One of the heights of the day was the Air & Space Museum.  It was packed with all sorts of cool stuff from Sputnik 1 to one of the Saturn 5 engines. No replicas, everything was the real deal.

9/11 Pentagon Memorial

Each bench at the memorial represents one of the 184 people killed that day. 

Kicking it with Abe

Walking down the Lincoln Memorial steps you can see the Washington Monument  past the reflecting pool

 A super old guy took this of us on the Lincoln Memorial steps and I was surprised how well it came out.  
Thank you old guy

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Cool reflection shot of the two of us

Vin Viz Flyer - early Wright Brothers biplane that was the first aircraft to fly coast-to-coast across the U.S. in 1911

Russian nuclear missile

more missiles at the Air & Space Museum

the original Apollo 11 command module.  So cool.

MQ-1 Predator UAV - holy shit this thing was big

crazy old lady recreating a piece at the National Gallery of Art

Day 2

I was really excited for day 2.  Allison was able to sneak us in last minute to a tour of the White House through one of her friends.  It guided you through about a dozen or so rooms like the Library, China room, State Dining Room, as well as the other smaller rooms like the Green, Blue, and Red.  All these rooms were just packed with a crazy amount of history, it was really surreal being inside walking around.  Photography was strictly forbidden and we found this out the hard way....but we still got a few shots when the Secret Service was not looking.

For lunch we hit the Old Ebbitt Grill which was established in 1856 and is directly across from the White House.  The walls are draped with animal heads that Theodore Roosevelt himself had killed.  His taxidermist sure made a good living.

The Capitol building tour and Library of Congress was surprisingly interesting too, again tons of history that I never cared about in Middle/High School but find pretty neat now.

Outside the White House

White House front door

Paparazzi shot inside one of the White House rooms.

Another paparazzi shot

Leaving the White House and on our way to the Old Ebbitt Grill for some lunch

Roosevelt's personal shotgun collection at the Old Ebbitt Grill

The Capitol

The white star on the floor marks the center point of D.C.

inside the dome of the Capitol.  Can you spot George?

Each state has 2 (either bronze or marble) statues throughout the Capitol building

Library of Congress

Fun day of touring comes to an end....time for a beer

ahh the Tune Inn.

Ben's Chili Bowl.  Really good late night food

Day 3

After packing and checking out we took a cab up to Georgetown.  Ate lunch and saw a little bit of the campus.  We had just enough time to do a quick tour then it was back to LB on a long 6hr flight.  What a great trip.

Healy Hall

Yes those are real cannons