September 19, 2011 Washington DC

     Monday we drove into Washington DC with Matt and his girlfriend Amelia. As they had already been to DC many times we thought the Duck Tour would be different and fun. As our tour started out our driver told us you have to watch out for the 3 P’s; potholes, pedestrians, and politicians. First he showed us the C-span building that has several rooms on top with clear windows. He told us that if the news was reporting from Capitol hill and you could see the capitol building behind them, then that is where they are reporting from. Then as we drove by the carpenter unions building he asked if we noticed anything funny about it . . . there is no wood on the building. Apparently there is a city code that doesn’t allow the exteriors of buildings to have wood, because during the revolutionary war the British army came into town and tried to burn the city.

C-Span Building.

Japanese American War Memorial

     We passed the old post office, which has a tower you can go up to get a nice view, since the Washington Monument was still closed from the earthquake they had a few weeks before. We did try to go up it, but unfortunately it was closed for the day when we tried.

     As we turned onto Constitution Ave, our duck driver asked if we knew what the original road name was, which was a trick question, because originally it was the Washington City Canal. There was a small stone building that he told us was the Lock Keepers House. He also told us that the lock keeper lived there with his wife, 12 children and mother-in-law.

Lock keeper's house

     After the Civil War the canal was quite dirty and smelly from all the soldiers who protected the capitol, so they decided to build the tidal basin. They planned on opening the lock gates 2 times a day at high tide and they thought that it would wash the crap out of the canal, but after that failed to work they just filled in the canal leaving the tidal basin. What was built to clean up crap is now one of the prettiest places to visit, especially during the cherry blossom festival.

The edge of the tidal basin and the Washington Monument

     Next our driver took the duck down into the river where we got to see the Pentagon as well as the skyline. He also took us directly under where the planes fly over as they land. Planes are not allowed to fly over the city, they have to follow the river, so when they come into land it looks like they are going to miss the airport, and then the last minute they turn into the airport.

The Pentagon

Airplane flying over our heads to land

     At this point our duck master handed out duck quackers and encouraged us to quack at anyone we passed who was talking on a cell phone or looked like they were having a bad day. Which was quite fun, although after you get off the tour you have to fight the urge to quack at people on cell phones as it probably would get you a black eye.

Matt with his duck quacker

       After driving past the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument and Smithsonian we drove past the capitol. We learned why there are also no skyscrapers in DC. There is a building code that nothing can be taller than 210 feet so the view of the capitol and other monuments are not obstructed. The Capitol building has a statue of freedom on the top that stands 288 feet high, and nothing stands taller than freedom.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Money, Money, Money

The US Capitol

     After our duck tour we set out of foot to take a closer look at the sights. We walked through part of the arboretum, that has trees from all 50 states, on our way to the Capitol building. Then we went to the Castle Smithsonian which is pretty small, but gives you an idea of what kinds of things you can see in the other buildings. Then we rushed over to the Museum of American History. Inside we only had about 30 min before they closed, but we got to see the original United Sates Flag. It was huge and really cool to see. They also had on display different dresses from Presidential wives from Martha Washington all the way to Michelle Obama.

Matt and Amelia

The Smithsonian, the Castle

Ivory sculpture

Kristi Yamaguchi's 1990 figure skates plus more

James Smithson was born in Italy and he loved the idea of America, so when he died he left his money to the US if they used the money for the advancement of learning. He never visited the US while alive, but he is buried in the Castle.

A dress belonging to Mary Lincoln

Inaugural gowns of Nancy Regan and Barbara Bush

Inaugural Gown and accessories of Michelle Obama

Martha Washington's gown

a very early machine gun

A racist pistol of someone kicking an Asian man's butt

Dumbo

Dorthy's ruby red shoes

George Washington's clothes

A steel beam from the 17th floor of the South tower of the Worlds Trade Center that fell on 9/11/2001

The Treasury Department

The White House

The Lincoln Memorial

Part of the World War II Memorial

Part of the World War II Memorial

The Washington Monument

     When the Smithsonian kicked us out, we went and found a place to eat for dinner called Old Ebbitt Grill, which was really good and reasonably priced for where it was at. Maybe $2-4 more than Olive Garden but much better. After eating we decided to walk all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial since we were already half way down the Mall. So we went past the White house and down to the Memorial. By the time we got back to our car it was probably 9 PM at night and my feet felt like they were going to fall off.

     Tuesday we slept in, since we were all tired from so much walking the day before. After getting up Nate, Matt and I went up to a go-kart track where the guys did a couple of races. Later that evening we went mini-golfing which was quite fun, and I’m not just saying that because I won!

track map

Nate

Nate in front and Matt following