Another View

The Jefferson Memorial, from across the Tidal Basin.

Keeping An Eye on Things

I think I knew this at some point in my life, but I had forgotten that the Jefferson Memorial has a direct line of sight to the White House. So when you stand at the base of the statue of Jefferson, you have an unobstructed view of the sitting president's home.

My Favorite Shot of the D.C. Trip

Taken from the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, looking back towards the Washington Monument, at dusk. Placing the memorial on the Mall outraged a lot of people, who also found fault with the design. While it doesn't have the dramatic impact of the Vietnam Memorial, I can't say that I had a problem with it.

"We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident..."

The Declaration of Independence; photo taken June 22.

Happy 4th of July!

Taken at the base of the Washington Monument, June 21.

I Don't Want To Be A Pirate!

Seinfeld's "puffy shirt," from the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Colossal Head

On the grounds of the Natural History Musuem.

Saturday Snapshots

Photos from Saturday, June 20 - the Natural History Museum, the Capitol from inside the Natural History Museum, and the Capitol from the National Mall. Hard to believe that it had poured in the morning.

Planes! Jets! Rockets!

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is a wonderful place to spend a day; definitely one of the highlights of our trip. We spent six hours there on Saturday, and then went back a couple of days later for a quick peak and still found things that we hadn't noticed the first time around.

There are exhibits from every era of flight, including a great room focusing on the Wright Brothers to an equally great room focusing on the Apollo astronauts.

And like all Smithsonian Museums, it is free. A wonderful place, for kids of all ages.

End of An Era

In order to enter the U.S. Department of Education building during the Bush Administration, a visitor had to walk through this little red schoolhouse, which was situated right at the front door.

In April, the schoolhouse had been removed from the entrance (and in fact, visitors now entered the Department on the other side of the building), but it still stood in front of the building.

By sheer luck, the first full day of our trip was the day that workers dismantled the symbol of "No Child Left Behind." I took this shot as we were walking to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and later in the day son #1 took some great shots from inside the museum (with his zoom lens) as the last boards were being pulled from the structure.

No doubt about it now...there's a new sheriff in town.

D.C.

On Wednesday, son #1 and I returned from a five-day trip to Washington, D.C., where we celebrated his graduation from high school. Although it was my fifth trip to D.C., it was my first trip that was strictly for pleasure, and it was his first trip of any kind.

We managed to cover a ton of stuff while we were there, and in the next few days I'll be posting some pictures from, and some commentary on, the trip. Even with all the awful things going on in the country and the world right now, it's hard to return from a trip to Washington and not feel inspired.

Here he is pictured shortly after our arrival, proudly wearing the CSU, Long Beach (his destination in the fall) that his uncle gave him as a graduation present.