Jerry left this morning. I left the Hyatt ($300+ a night – no breakfast) for a hostel in D.C. ($37 per night including breakfast). I checked into the hostel around 9:30 a.m.
I posted on Facebook the agenda from yesterday’s meeting. Well, Mike responded that he is in D.C. for the week too! I met Mike at the Smithsonian stop this morning at 10:30 a.m. We went to the National Air and Space Museum. We saw a lot including the Mars Rover, Sputnik, the Columbia capsule, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Wright Brothers’ Plane, etc. There were many highlights of the day, but I really liked the National Gallery of Art. I actually loved it! There were so many impressionist paintings! Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Cassatt, etc. etc. I made Mike circle back to look at them once more. I might even go back. The security was so lax I was concerned for the paintings.
Went to a taco place to eat lunch and then, we saw Ford’s Theatre and went inside there. We saw where Lincoln was assassinated and the gun that Booth used.
Finally, we went to the National Museum of American History. The Star Spangled Banner was there. It is huge – probably 1/4th the size of a football field. A lot bigger than I ever imagined. I could see how it could be the inspiration for the national anthem. We also saw the First Ladies Inaugural Ball gowns. There were a few more sections of the museum we didn’t get to that I would like to see including the U.S. involvement in different wars. You could spend hours in these.
I came back to the hostel and went to Safeway nearby for some groceries. I am in a four person dorm – all girls. Two are from Beijing and other Russia. I met another girl from Brazil. There is a refrigerator in the room. There are some hassles about hostels, but nothing to justify a hotel room in D.C. The hostel is about 2 to 3 blocks from the metro. Oh yeah, the metro. I know so many people who love the D.C. metro. I am not one of them. Beijing’s metro is so much nicer, cleaner, and easier to navigate. Rush hour in Beijing is quite a bit busier though.
Tomorrow, I am going to take a tour of the U.S. Capitol. Jerry’s friend, who we had lunch with on Tuesday, his wife works for Rep. Mia Love from Utah. So, I am going to her office tomorrow to take a tour at 10:30 a.m. Afterwards, I might go see the pandas, go to the Holocaust Museum, visit Old Alexandria, or to the Botanic Gardens. The cold rain is making miss Orlando, so we will see how much I can see before I leave on Sunday night.