Washington D.C.

Well, I have to admit, D.C. is quite a cool place. From the ease of getting around via the Metro, to the tremendous history and artifacts in all those museums, I really was amazed.

Luckily on Thursday we got out of our meetings a little early. We had about 4 hours to do as much as we could possibly do in the National Mall area, so as it was, it was the REAL quick tour of DC. (Note, you could probably spend a whole day in some of the museums). We were able to see the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, The White House (from afar), the National Archives, and finally about 45 minutes of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

It was a beautiful day, cold and windy, but at least sunny. We probably walked no less than 10 miles in those 4 hours. My feet were just about ready to fall off.

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The Washington Monument.

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The WWII Memorial...fountain turned off for obvious reasons.

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I loved the engravings of the sayings that people said during/after the war. I was very touched by the words and the aura of what the memorial was for. The other two guys that I was with were visibly upset as well. Powerful, moving place for sure.

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Looking back at the Washington Monument.

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Another very somber place was the Vietnam Memorial. On the picture on the right, I was trying to capture the beauty of the mirror finished granite as it reflected the sky on all of those who had died. It is unbelievable to see all those names. As a father now, I just am floored about all those men (I didn't see any women, but am sure they are on there) who were father's or were to be father's some day, that died. So ridiculously sad. Ridiculous sad.

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Looking across the reflecting pond at the Lincoln Memorial and up close at the LM.

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There's THE MAN and his big speech, the Gettysberg Address.

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Barrack Obama's new house!! and the most important document ever written in the US, The US Constitution at the National Archives

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It was quite the "airplane" trip, first the Udvar-Hazy Center and now below the Air & Space Museum. I don't think still it has hit me at just how famous those aircraft in that building are. It was kinda surreal, I've seen many replicas of the ones below, so I "knew" what they looked like. But seeing the actual ones....whoa...folks, these are THE MOST important and famous aircraft that the world has ever seen. I only had a short time to be there, so I shot as many pics as I could. I'm sure I'll make it back someday, but for now...all I have to say is wow, I can't believe how amazing these planes are.

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The original Wright Flyer, the first manned powered aircraft ever flown and the Spirit of St. Louis, flown by Charles Lindbergh, the first aircraft ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean non-stop
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The Bell X-1, flown by Chuck Yeager, the first aircraft to break the speed of sound, and the X-15 rocket powered aircraft, the fastest aircraft ever flown at over Mach 6

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Apollo Lunar Module and the Apoll 11 Command Module (the module that brought back Neil Armstrong and crew from the first manned landing on the moon).

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Finally, a real nose of a NWA B747 airliner. Big plane!

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Have a great night, thanks for letting me share my trip!

Tyler