Return to DC

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

We gave our feet a day to recover and then returned to Washington. What a difference it was to make that commute on a work day. The mass transit system in DC is great but i would not have the stamina to ride the trains in that crush of people every day. Blessings on those who do. We had dinner the night before with Fred's cousin Geri and her husband John who live in the area. We were amazed as they described their strategies for avoiding gridlock.

Architectural Detail on the Renwick Gallery

We started the day by walking to the White house. On the way we walked past the newly reopened Renwick Gallery of Fine Art and through Lafayette Square enjoying the statues and the architecture.

Ford's Theater 

We were able to see Ford's Theater and had a deli sandwich lunch in Freedom Plaza with General Casmir Pulaski.

National Archiives

We were so impressed by the solid and classical look of the National Archives, that library of our nations records, engraved with the inscription:

The glory and romance of our history are 

here preserved in the chronicles of those who 

conceived and builded the structure of our nation

We walked by the J Edgar Hoover Building and commented on its solid structure, evident security procedures and food trucks.

Our final goal of the day was the National Air and Space Museum. We got there via a stroll through the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden where I discovered a new favorite bit of whimsy, Thinker on a Rock by Barry Flanagen.

Thinker on a Rock

The National Air and Space Museum was everything we hoped it to be. It was a wondrous experience to be so close to the reentry scorched surface of the Columbia Command Module and the Spirit of St Louis. 

Columbia Command Module

Spirit of St Louis

The primary reason for our visit was to walk the exhibit The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Arial Age. We had visited Kittyhawk earlier in the year and wanted to see the actual 1903 Wright Flyer. 

1903 Wright Flyer, the actual real one flown at Kittyhawk

Minds full and legs tired we headed back to the train station for the long ride home.

To see more photos of our visit to Washington DC visit our Flickr Photo Album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thefamileejewels/albums/72157660962423883