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.

The Evening Parade

Thursday night is the highlight of our time in D.C., at least for me. This is the night of The Evening Parade at the Marine Corps Barracks at 8th and I, the oldest post in the Corps. Every Friday during the summer (it's Thursday this week because of July 4th), the Barracks hosts The Evening Parade at sunset featuring The President's Own U.S. Marine Corps Band (seen here), The Commandant's Own U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, and two infantry companies including The Silent Drill Platoon. It's really a phenomenal, breathtaking show. I highly recommend it when you visit Washington in the summer. Many thanks to my brother Kirk and his old Marine Corps buddy LtCol Meyers for securing tickets for us.

A room with a view

Our room here in Rosslyn (Arlington) is across the Potomac River from D.C. We have two balconies and are on the 10th floor, but our views aren't great. But if you lean out over the rail and around the corner you can see the river and some of Georgetown, as in this picture.

Mosaic ceiling

All the ceilings in the building are tile mosaics and are breathtakingly intricate in their design. Everything in The Library of Congress, at least in this building, has some kind of cryptic meaning- the statues, murals, mosaics, columns, stair rails- all have embedded within them some meaning that is deeper than their surface appearance. It's like walking through a Dan Brown novel, or being in a real live National Treasure movie.

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress now occupies several buildings, but this is the old, original one as seen in National Treasure, where the library was moved after it outgrew the space in the Capitol Building.

Texas statue- Sam Houston

Each state provides two statues for display in the Capitol. Texas has Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. Alabama's are General Joe Wheeler and Helen Keller, and Georgia's are Alexander Hamilton Stephens and Crawford W. Long.

The Capitol Rotunda

Our first stop in Washington is a tour of the Capitol Building, graciously arranged by David Lassester and his staff in Congressman Farenthold's office from the 27th district of Texas. Here we are in the rotunda looking up at the dome at the painting The Ascension of George Washington.

Thursday morning run

Here I am back on the bridge looking over The Potomac after an early morning run in Georgetown. There are so many great places to run in NY and DC!

Francis Scott Key Bridge

Our hotel is at the foot of Francis Scott Key Bridge. Here we're walking back from dinner towards our hotel (the building with the little pitched roof in the upper left corner). This bridge has some history for me personally. While in Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, VA (the officer equivalent of boot camp) we would, on the infrequent occasions we had liberty, take the train to Alexandria, ride the subway from King Street Station to Rosslyn and stay at the Key Bridge Marriott (the building in the center of the photo). From there we would walk our baldheaded selves across Key Bridge into Georgetown and try to blend in as best we could (not well, being 21 with no hair). You see, in those days being in the military didn't make you a hero. There were no applauding crowds at the airport to show their appreciation. We were happy just to feel normal for a few hours before we had to report back.

The Rumble Seat

For dinner tonight we walked into Georgetown to the historic Martin's Tavern on the recommendation of a friend. Martin's has been a favorite of dignitaries and politicians, including several presidents, for decades. In this picture Christina's seated in The Rumble Seat (table #1), the favorite seat of President Kennedy. Two booths down is the table where he proposed to Jackie, and in between was Nixon's favorite seat. Our table was singularly unfamous, but was right close to these other famous tables. The food was good and the service even better. Our waiter was a pleasant young fellow from the suburbs of Atlanta.

Union Station, Washington, D.C.

Gone are the days of truly majestic transportation corridors. I missed a pic of the main room at Union Station, but this one will suffice. Our rail trip was enjoyable and uneventful, and I even managed to take a little nap :-) The pleasant, quick and affordable nature of this trip leaves one to wonder- why don't we have easy and affordable rail all across the US? Somebody must be making a bunch of money to prevent it.

Leaving New York

The next morning we were up and moving, saying goodbye to the Big Apple and boarding a train at Pennsylvania Station bound for Washington, D.C.

After the show

We loved the show! The set design was phenomenal and the acrobatics were fun. Personally, I wasn't that crazy about the score, but then again I'm not a big U2 fan. But all in all it was a good show, and definitely a great night!

Inside the Foxwoods Theater

A lady with style in a stylish theater!

Spiderman!

Here we are at The Foxwoods Theater going in to see Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark! Big fun!

And a whale!

Sorry for the bad lighting. Big room, little flash!

Look out Christina!

There's a T-Rex behind you!

The Museum of Natural History

After a walk across Central Park and a quick lunch at the famous Shake Shack we went to The Museum of Natural History. It was more up Christina's alley. She loved it!

Street music

And here they are. There were a good couple hundred people sitting on the steps listening while we were there.

Christina goes to The Met!

Here she is in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. What an amazing place! Actually I think her favorite part of it was listening to the street singers perform on the front steps, but I thought the art and the history were fantastic.