A few DC pictures

We were in DC last week (or was it the week before last?) for a few days of work, and I stayed for a few extra days of sightseeing with my parents.  Mom & Dad have seen a lot of me over the past few weeks!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to Memphis or Pittsburgh or Erie to see any other family or friends.  Hopefully, I will get back for the holidays. :(

I guess the timing of this post is pretty ironic.  Considering the US government shutdown, & the complete chaos & lack of leadership that we are seeing in our country (from both sides).  I get a lot of questions about it from the people I work with, and it's really hard to explain why we appear to be more screwed up than the Russian government!  And why our government is acting like they are in pre-school and refuse to play with each other on the playground.  Embarrassing. 

So here's a few of my favorite pictures from the trip to DC.  But again, there are no photos of each other.  And a certain someone who brings her camera everywhere actually forgot her camera on this trip (Mom!), so I can't even borrow one of her photos.

My favorite place to visit in DC is the Lincoln Memorial.  So powerful.  And such a grand monument for a man who was actually very shy & humble.

Built between 1914 and 1992, the statue of Lincoln is 19 feet in height. If he was standing, Lincoln would be 28 feet tall.

When I read this again, I heard Daniel Day Lewis's version of Lincoln (great movie if you haven't seen it)

 A nice morning for a walk around the Capitol Building.  It's too bad that very little productive work is getting accomplished inside.

 

 me

Back view of the Whitehouse

The World War II Memorial is definitely worth visiting. 

 

I recommend a trip to Arlington National Cemetery to anyone who visits DC.  I had been several years ago, but this time we (Mom, dad, and I) spent a solid 1/2 day walking through the grounds.  You need that amount of time to see everything and really get a good feel for the importance of it

 

Arlington with a view of the Pentagon in the background



A tomb dedicated to the Civil War Unknown soldiers, containing the remains of 2,111 soldiers gathered from the fields of Bull Run. 

Difficult to see, but the grave site and eternal flame for John F. Kennedy Jr., Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and two of their children.

I learned that JFK Jr. is one of two US Presidents buried at Arlington.  The other is William Taft. 

 

 

The Tomb of the Unknowns under guard.

 

On a boat tour on the Potomac one afternoon, we spotted several Secret Service helicopters.

 

 

The Korean War Monument

Cool statue of Albert Einstein, located near the National Academy of Sciences on Constitution Avenue.  Engraved on the documents in his hand are his "Big Three":  the Theory of Relativity, the relation between matter and energy (E = mc2), and the equation describing the photoelectric effect (that light behaves not only as a wave, but also as a particle, which has applications today in areas such as fiber optics & telecommunications)

"Nerding" out, I know.  But I always liked Albert.  :)

A big highlight of the trip was a private dinner at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.  The grounds were beautiful.

 

 

Finally, they put on a cool fireworks show for us!

 

 

 

Here's another picture of the White House, taken from the penthouse of the Hay Adams Hotel.  I took this picture on the day of the terrible shootings at the Washington Navy Yard.  Twenty minutes after I took this picture, they made all of us go inside because of an idiot who threw firecrackers onto the White House lawn.

I don't often think of DC as a place to visit churches, but there are quite a few old & interesting ones located throughout the city.

It wouldn't be a blog post by me if there wasn't at least one picture of an alcoholic beverage, right? 

Gin & Tonics at Jaleo!

Finally, a few nighttime pictures.  Good Night Washington!  Please get your act together........