After Einstein we went by the Vietnam Memorial. After having lectured Christina the day before on the role of government, it's structure, responsibility and authority, I think it finally hit home that this stuff is important when, as we sank deeper and deeper into that black wall with the thousands and thousands of names, I told her of people she knows who lost loved ones in Vietnam, and that's why it's important for government to behave responsibly. I saw the light come on in her eyes, and I think all the marble and granite started making just a little sense to her.

We then went to the Lincoln Memorial. This is just a pic of us sitting on one of the four score and seven steps leading to the memorial. If you want to see the memorial, Wiki has better pics than I could've taken.

The Einstein Memorial and National Academy of Science

One of the advantages of doing the guided bike tour was that the guide took us to some little known places. This is the Einstein Memorial in front of the National Academy of Science. Being the science geek I am, I really appreciated coming by here. The memorial is pretty neat. The artist gave Al a head proportioned like a child's because he was known to be very childlike in many of his behaviors. He is also wearing sandals, which he apparently wore regularly. Local legend has it that rubbing his nose will impart some of Einstein's intellect. Rub away, Christina! (I fell off before I could reach it!)

The White House

Next we rode by La Maison Blanche. You can't really get close to it and we didn't plan in advance to take the tour, so really it's just another building with snipers on the roof in Washington, DC.

The World War II Memorial

Most of my time in DC was when I was in the Marine Corps back in '85 and '86, and back then the World War II Memorial hadn't been built. It's tough to photograph with an iPhone so I just took a pic of Christina in front of the Texas monument, but it's an impressive work of art. I'm not sure how I feel about it's effect of breaking up the mall though.

The Washington Monument

I think, in retrospect, that my favorite part of the whole trip may have been the bike tour through the monuments. We rented bikes from the same company we used in New York (Bike and Roll), but this time we paid for the guided tour. It is THE way to see the monuments, especially in the summer. We saw almost all the important sites in three hours, a feat that would've consumed an entire, exhausting day had we done it on foot. They also have evening tours (my plan for next time) that would be substantially cooler. I highly recommend the bike tour if you are visiting DC.

Anyway, here we are at the Washington Monument, our first stop. We didn't go up but it was still pretty cool.

Arlington House

On the way to see the changing of the guard we walked through Arlington House, the ancestral home of Robert E. Lee's wife's family (her grandfather fought during the Revolutionary War, and was so taken with George Washington that he named his son, her father, George Washington Custis). She inherited it from her father only to lose it six years later when the War Between the States broke out. After the war, the grounds of the plantation were used as a cemetery that would become Arlington National Cemetery. The main house, pictured here, is absolutely beautiful on the outside (my picture doesn't do it justice), but the inside is still fairly primitive and is being renovated.

After leaving we saw the changing of the guard. It was touching, but nowhere near as inspiring as the Evening Parade at 8th and I.

Semper fi, Mac!

Friday morning it's time to put in another few miles, this time trough Arlington past the Marine Corps Memorial (seen here) and the Netherland Carillon, to the gates of Arlington National Cemetery. We'll come here today for the changing of the guard before heading into D.C. for seeing the monuments.