Washington DC: Day 3 (the end!)

On the last day in Washington DC and of our trip, we awoke to a fire alarm at 6:15 in the morning, and though pitch black at that time, we soon went back to our rooms and back to sleep. When we awoke again, the sky was (relatively) clear. Gone were the rain clouds that hampered our last two days. With the second last breakfast buffet in our stomaches, we embarked on our last full day in DC.

Our first stop was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was in a word numbing. While no pictures were alowed in the museum, it is definately well worth the visit for anyone in the DC area.

The second stop was the mall, to finally get a good shot of the Capitol building.

We could also see the original Smithsonian building, known as the 'red castle'.


We headed off to the spy museum, of which we had heard rave reviews. On the way we went through a sculpture garden just off the mall.


A massive spider...

Something described as a bird fish...

Wheely big wheel...

We passed the national archives which houses the original signed copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

A view back down Pennsylvania Ave (note that the other way, at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue is the White house).

It's off in the distance, honest :)

However when we arived at the spy museum, the line was massive, so we went across the road to the national portrait gallery.

First up, suprisingly, was Joseph Smith, the founder of the Morman religion.

Edison's tin foil phonograph and...

The man himself.

Daniel Boone, an original American pioneer and adventurer who was known for founding/finding (depending on your point of view) the great state of Kentucky (there you go Shanna!).

Next, three of the most famous native americans, Black Hawk...

Sitting Bull, and...

Geronimo.

Andrew Carnegie (founder of the Carnegie foundation).

John D. Rockefeller (apart from anything, there is a tall building in NYC named after him).

Alexander Graham Bell, do I need to say more.

Quoth the raven, never more (Edgar Allan Poe)

Henry Longfellow, who wrote 'Paul Revere's Ride', a popular poem that immortalised the ride of Paul Revere to warn that the British are coming.

The Marquis Lafayette, a Frenchman who helped the Americans in the War of Independence (and whom the city that we now reside in is named after).

The famous portrait of George Washington, the nation's first president (to understand why it's the famous one, look at the $1 note).

A larger picture of Washington.

Lincoln pondering...

and live masks taken of Lincoln.


The final thing that we saw in the gallery was this great piece of art. Look closely and try to work out what it is...

Once we left the gallery, and on the way to beers, we passed by the Ford theatre, the site where Lincoln was assassinated,

and the house across the street where he died.

We finished the day with some beers and food at a locak micro-brewery. We headed home the next day after a great trip on the East coast.