We began the day by riding the metrorail into the city, despite long delays caused by an earlier breakdown! But once we arrived in the city center we walked to the White House to view the South Front & lawn. Then we walked, via the Boy Scout & Washington monuments, to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
Here we divided into smaller groups to visit the exhibits, including the Star-Spangled Banner, the First Ladies' inaugural ball gowns, etc. We met-up inside later for lunch.
For the afternoon we divided into groups to visit the other museums - some went to the Air & Space Museum, some to the Natural History Museum, some to both, & a small group visited the National Gallery of Art to see the only Leonardo da Vinci in the USA plus other works by Botticelli, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne & Van Gogh.
In the late afternoon we met-up once more in the National Sculpture Garden, then went to see the 'Charters of Freedom' in the National Archives: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, & the Bill of Rights.
The walk to our dinner restaurant took us via the Navy Memorial & the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum (where the most popular exhibit is always the license plate Preamble to the Constitution!). Dinner was at a restaurant in Chinatown where we enjoyed a great meal with lots of choices.
Finally, at the end of a long & tiring day we rode the metrorail 'home' to our hotel.
Tomorrow we head to Maryland & West Virginia as we travel outside the Washington D.C. area to visit two important historical sites: the C&O Canal & Harpers Ferry.
No comments:
Post a Comment