Day at the Mall

The aroma of Amy frying up sausages and eggs lured our weary bodies from bed to plan our day in Washington DC's famous mall. The mall is a huge urban park surrounded by Smithsonian museums and crammed full of political and historical monuments. We caught the efficient metro past the Pentagon and into downtown DC.

We gravitated toward the phallic obelisk that is the Washington Monument, built in honour of General G-Wash. It is surprisingly tall up close at 555ft and shows a distinct change in colour where a lack of funds and then the American Civil war halted construction from 1854 to 1877.

After a few happy snaps we checked out the reflecting pool and tried to pinpoint exactly where Jenny waded toward Forest. At the western end of the massive pool stands the pillared marble structure housing a 30ft high statue of Abe Lincoln looking rather pensive. Inscribed in the walls are the powerful words from his 1863 Gettysburg address. Old Abe was a lyrical master.

The next stop was to peak at Baracks little cottage on the hill. It was white and a house as promised.

We could have spent the remainder of the day checking out the various government department buildings. The grand scale of the buildings and tonnage of marble and granite used was very impressive. Instead we called into the comfortable hunting lodge themed Old Ebbitts Grill for a very nice lunch and to rest our weary feet after miles of walking. The highlight of the day, maybe not for the girls, was to come in the form of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Important planes, moon landers, rockets and missiles from the ages were packed into the 3 massive exhibit halls. The quantity of the collections along with the historical significance of certain pieces - V2 rocket, original Wright Flyer and a couple of decommissioned nukes - was very impressive. There was far to many exhibits to see it all properly in a few hours but we gave it a good shot.

That's a Nuke Man

From there we stopped on the way to a pub at Capitol Hill for a few obligatory pics of where the politicians get it done. After a couple of Buds we moved next door for $7.99 Tortillas that were delivered to our tables concerningly fast. Do they just keep them stacked up in a warming draw out back? The girls enjoyed vast quantities of Margarita in pint glasses before we sleepily boarded the metro back to home base. 

Beer of the Day:
Budweiser - Draft served in Pint Glass - Nothingness would be the word to describe  Bud. No hop, very little malt, maybe a touch of a corny flavour. In no way unpleasant but not something I'd choose if it wasn't $3 during happy hour.