The next day I had to myself. Since it was Hannah's birthday the day before everyone went to Mimi's parents' place for her birthday party (Saturday). Won dropped me off at the Suitland Metro stop and I took the subway into town.
My first stop was the White House. I transferred from the Green to Blue/Orange line and got off at the Federal Triangle stop. I ended up in the Ronald Reagan building. From there it was a relatively short walk to the White House Visitor's Centre and on to the White House.
I was a bit disappointed at the view I got across the south lawn of the White House. It seemed to be rather obscure behind some bushes and trees. I guess the President needs his privacy. I think I managed to get some okay shots anyway. I was probably there for 5-10 minutes snapping away before I decided to head around to the north side to take a look from there. It was then the rain returned. This time falling fairly heavily.
The north side wasn't much to look at. I guess that's why no one ever takes pictures of it. I did anyway. I figure someone might want to see it. If you do you can click here to link to my Flickr.com pictures. You'll find it buried amongst the other D.C. shots.
My next destination was the National Mall (between the U.S. Capitol Building and Washington Monument). That's where many of the Smithsonian Museums are located. I wanted to see the National Air and Space Museum. I was going to meet Won and Mimi later in front of the National Museum of Natural History to go to dinner. If I had time I'd check it out as well.
On my way there I passed the United States Department of the Treasury so I snapped a photo of it. It's pretty close to the north side of the White House. The rain was still coming down, so I ducked into the nearby Willard Hotel to dry my camera off and use the facilities. It's quite a fancy place. I walked down a hallway where they were serving afternoon tea to guests. It looked very appealing.
After a short break I noticed the rain let up, so I headed back out towards the Air and Space Museum. Again I was sidetracked when I passed the Old Post Office at Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street NW. I paused to take a picture of it and the statue of Benjamin Franklin standing outside. A park ranger came up to me and started chatting.
He gave me a lot of information about Ben Franklin that I didn't know. Among other things, he was the first postmaster general of the United States, he invented the bulk mailing system, he retired at age 42, he was 6-feet-tall and he was a really good swimmer. By the time I reached the museum it was nearly 2:30 p.m. I only had 2-1/2 hours before I was supposed to meet Won and Mimi.
The Air and Space Museum was really neat. For kids I think this would be the best museum for them. They'd get to see historical planes, spaceships, satellites and other flying machines. Much more interesting than going to see paintings and things like that (at least for them). I found it quite fascinating as well. The Wright Brothers 1903 Wright Flyer was there. It was the first successfully flown airplane. Charles A. Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" was there. It was the first plane to successfully complete a solo nonstop transatlantic flight. The Bell X-1, the first airplane to fly faster than the speed of sound was there. And they had the Apollo Lunar Module and other space exploration vehicles. I spent so much time there I had no time at all to check out the Museum of Natural History. That will have to wait until another trip.
The National Mall was quite busy. I walked 5-10 minutes from the Air and Space Museum to the Natural History Museum arriving just on time to meet Won and Mimi. They drove in from Mimi's parents' place in Maryland and were a few minutes late. No big deal. We drove to Georgetown to go to Sushi Ko, a restaurant that one of Mimi's uncles recommended (if I'm not mistaken). I have to say I didn't think it was that great. Won and Mimi really seemed to like it though.
Afterwards we head over to another area of town, Adams Morgan. We browsed a few different stores before settling on a bar, Columbia Station, that had a live band playing to relax with a drink and listen to music. It was there I had my first Sam Adams. I had seen their commercials on TV on occasion, but didn't know if they sold it up here in Canada. I guess since I'm not a regular drinker my taste isn't that discerning in that regard. I couldn't tell if it was any different from any other beer I had drank before. Won tried it and thought it was a good beer though.
We also order some dessert to eat while listening to the band. I ordered some cheesecake while Won and Mimi split something else. I can't remember what it was. Maybe it was apple pie or something. Anyway, we wrapped up the evening a bit before 10:00. We had to get Mimi back to her parents' place to take care of the kids.
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