DC Entry - Day 3

Our third day started pretty late because of being out the night before, we were slugs until about noon. Finally up and at 'em, the first stop was lunch. Not just because of hunger, but we needed to settle the remnants left behind from Fur. We chose a place on the corner near the hotel called Potbelly's Sandwich Works. Think of Quiznos with a Panera wrapper. It was very tasty, the sandwich I had (Skinny Wreck) was perfect, and the Broccoli Cheddar soup was as good as it gets.

Back on the street, feet tired, bodies tired, we decided to cab it up today. I hailed a taxi and we jetted over to the Capitol building. Being Sunday, we couldn't get inside for a tour, but outside was just as nice. Looking out over the National Mall and whatnot, it's amazing to think that the entire area was packed with people during Obama's inauguration. We got a few pics, and then headed to the Capitol Reflecting Pool where the Ulysses S Grant Memorial is. It's pretty impressive, very fitting of the Civil War.

Speaking of the National Mall, that was the next stop. We had no clue of the festivities that were taking place today. The entire thing was filled up for an early Earth Day celebration and concert featuring The Flaming Lips. What luck! There were hippies galore all over the place. They were also the Sustainable Design Convention going on, where I snapped a pic of a solar powered car that was on display. Most of the major car companies were there too, promoting their new "Green" machines.

We walked on further down, passing by the Hirshorn Sculpture Garden. It had all sorts of wacky things, including what appeared to be a golden, half destroyed "Death Star."

About two thirds down the mall we hit what was probably the coolest place of the entire trip... The Smithsonian Institutes' Natural History Museum. And what do you know... FREE!? This is easily the raddest place in DC if you are in anyway fascinated with anything scientific, whether it be biological, chemical, prehistoric, etc. I have never been in a place like this. It reminded me of the Ben Stiller movie, Night At The Museum. Everything from that movie I swear was in this place. And something I didn't know they had, the Hope Diamond on display... tons of people waiting to see it. They also had a large, interesting exhibit about the people in early Chesapeake Bay, well I thought it was neat anyhow. The evolution of man, from caveman to modern person was cool, and the underwater biology was awesome. They even had the actual giant squid that was recently caught dead on display. Looked like an alien from Independence Day.

Next stop was the next building down the street, the American History Museum. This place was packed, which made it hard to see things and not want to punch people. They had an awesome exhibit featuring the wars we have fought as a country. It was really cool to walk through the progression of everything. They had an actor playing the role of a doughboy, reciting an actual letter written home from the front lines, it was pretty amazing. The line to get into the new area about First Ladies was too long to bear. We saw some neat things, would be great to go back there with about 2/3 less people though.

After that we on passed the Washington Monument. The fields surrounding it were packed with kickball leagues. That's not a joke, tons of teams of people playing kickball, weird. We walked on through and passed the Constitution Gardens Lake and ended up at the Vietnam Wall. I really enjoy this memorial. You have the Women of Vietnam off to the side, and then this wonderful simple, sleak black wall. I was wearing my Iraqi Freedom Vet hat, and I got my obligatory, "Thank you for your service," that I always get when I wear it. It was nice.

It looked like it was threatening rain, so we caught a cab back to the hotel. I didn't feel like going anywhere to eat, so I called up this place down on O St. called Wingos. I ordered 20 wings, some chili cheese fries, and some jalepeno poppers. Great dinner! The one weird thing that happened was that around 830p, there was a knock on the door. It was a maid coming in for turn down service!? At 830p? They came in around 2p and cleaned the room and did the bed, why would they come back at 830p? Probably being shady and trying to rob us. Anyway, last night in DC, and was in bed early