Holocaust and Natural History Museum (9/23)

Interesting last full day in DC.  We started with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Brings many tourists back to earth.  It is an extremely moving experience.  Each of us carried a card of a short biography of one of the victims.  We then jumped on the Hop On Hop off bus and off to the Natural History museum (Keep it a secret: we used our pass beyond its expiration time).  Plenty to look at in the museum including the famous Hope Diamond.  As we walked to the Metro we noticed the Clinton Federal Building. 

Dismantled Nazi symbol: Forever

Natural History museum

Hey Lady! Watch out! We're going to need a bigger boat

Butterflies are not always free

Hope Diamond

So many secretaries

We have enjoyed DC and leave on Amtrak for Western Massachusetts for the next five days.  We missed some things so it means a return trip is in our future. Special thanks to Dave Mineta and Congressman Jared Huffman for making it a special first visit.

Air and Space Museum and some significant monuments (9/22)

Air and Space Museum
We enjoyed this museum for the longest time.  It is amazing how one building could hold so many symbols of flight in America.  The most amazing part of the museum was the food service provided by McDonald's. Unlike the other museums that had prices from "outer space" McDonalds was more down to Earth. We ended the day with monuments to some of our military heroes.

Kitty Hawk

No it is not Amelia's original plane

Rover, rover come over!

Mary touches the Moon

Still under construction after 2011 earthquake

Abe.  What happened to your party?

Whew that was close! Luckily they didn't need my Army Cook skills in Vietnam

Friend: Medford Chrysler RIP-graduate of Terra Nova

Georgetown and the American History Museum (9/21)

Julia Child's kitchen: "I didn't cook until I was 32, I just ate"

Our first adventure on the Big Red Hop On Hop Off Bus.

We started with a short tour through Georgetown.  Our guide was a young irreverent Georgetown student.   He mentioned that we could find everything we wanted in Georgetown except a bargain.  We drove by the Paul Martins Tavern where JFK proposed to Jackie. Traveling though this part of town at 25 mph was enough of an experience for us so now on to the Smithsonian American History Museum.
A treasure trove of American memorabilia where words are not needed:

Air raid on Pearl Harbor: "This is no drill"

"Toto I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"

Just the car that Mary's Dad drove