Washington, D.C.

On Monday, we took the Metro train from Maryland to Washington D.C. to take in some of the historical sights.  There were so many things to do and so many choices to make, given the amount of time that we had to spend.  We decided to make our first destination the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that there are no admission fees to any of the Smithsonian Museums.  Thomas Smithson, the founder of the museums, had the stipulation that no admission fees were to ever be charged to visit these institutions.  What a bargain!

We spent several hours admiring the exhibits.  Tina enjoyed the First Ladies exhibit that featured the gowns of all the American President's wives.  She also enjoyed the Pop Culture exhibit that featured Dorothy's ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz, the set of the All in the Family living room, the original Muppets before they were on Sesame Street, the Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist doll, and Phyllis Diller's file cabinet of original gags that contained more than 50,000 jokes on index cards.

Kevin enjoyed the exhibits pertaining to Science, Technology, Transportation, and War.  We were both very touched at the September 11, 2001 exhibit that featured two portions of the metal structures from the World Trade Center and also the charred phone and identification card that were found on the remains of a Pentagon employee who lost his life in the bombing.

Other items of interest consisted of exhibits pertaining to Slavery, the History of American Presidents, and the History of the Media.


We left the museum with sore and tired feet and decided to get a quick bite to eat.  We headed back to Union Station and were pleasantly surprised with all of the food and beverage offerings.  Tina had one of the best Chicken Salad sandwiches in her life (at a train station!) and Kevin had a tasty BBQ Chicken dinner.

After dinner, we decided to take the Monuments By Moonlight trolley car tour.  This was an absolutely breathtaking tour and featured sights that included the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial,  the Korean War Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the Arlington National Cemetery.  We took some awesome pictures and received a great history lesson regarding our Nation's Capital.  We definitely want to return to Washington D.C. in the future to spend some more time going through all of the Smithsonian Museums.

Iwo Jima Memorial

Korean War Veteran's Memorial

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

On Tuesday, August 17th we returned to Washington D.C. and spent the afternoon at the Smithsonian National Zoo.  It was a gorgeous day and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Giant Pandas, Lions, Tigers, and Monkeys to name a few.  We both felt like kids again and enjoyed all of the exhibits.  Once again, we had the good fortune of taking some amazing pictures.

We then boarded the crowded, rush-hour Metro train to make our way to the Washington National's Stadium for the 7:05 PM game.  Imagine the look on Tina's face when the ticket taker advised us that our tickets were not for tonight's game, but rather were for tomorrow nights game instead.  No harm, no foul.  We were both tired from walking all day and decided to go back to Maryland for dinner.  We made another trip to Rita's Ice for dessert and then relaxed for the remainder of the evening in our hotel.