Day 3.0 – Nerds In Space: Capitol Edition

Today was our designated tourism day in Washington, D.C., so we did it up right. We set out late morning and caught a City Sightseeing bus just a few blocks from our hotel. I’ve enjoyed using these buses when visiting other big cities on limited time and it’s usually a pretty good deal. We can hop on and off at any point at all the major tourist attractions and the tickets are valid for 24 to 48 hours. It’s a quick an easy way to see everything and if we’re staying additional days, we can pick and choose exactly what we’d like to spend more time visiting later.

Our first stop in D.C. was the National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.si.edu), but it was not open when we got there. So we killed some time at the Spy City Café where we got a quick bite. We got into the portrait gallery just as it opened and went directly to the courtyard (because I had to finish my cup of coffee) and then to the American Origins section of the gallery. We saw portraits of many key figures in American history including: Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ulysses S. Grant, Juliette Gordon Low, Elvis, LL Cool J and Tommy Lasorda.

Benjamin Franklin has always been one of my favorite historical figures. I admire Ben’s pragmatism and frankness. He has always been one of my favorite historical figures, so I had to pose for a photo.

Then there’s Tommy Lasorda. Growing up in L.A. in the 80’s there was no larger figure, so seeing him huge there on the wall in his awesomeness was perfect for another photo op.

Moving on…

We hopped back on the bus and rode around until we got to the National Archives to see the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. As you can imagine, it was amazing. And actually, you’ll have to just imagine it because no photography is allowed inside. (You can also look up the documents online.)




The next leg of the bus trip took us to past the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, the WWII memorial and then to Arlington National Cemetery. Mike and I went for a walk into the cemetery to pay our respects to President Kennedy and Jackie O.




Our final sight-seeing stop was set to be the National Air and Space Museum, so we took a bus and walked a few blocks to the site of super geekdom. Unfortunately, we were only there for an hour and 20 minutes (Mike kept tabs), so we had to rush through an amazing collection of air and spacecraft. I really like the way the museum is organized. Some favorite shots of mine were of Mike next to the IBM-SAGE computer, and shot of the a real lunar module, the second one built for the Apollo program.






I really like how the museum is organized.

One area of note was the Beyond the Limits section which "examines how computers have transformed flight in all its aspects." We saw some of the very first GPS units issued for the military use. Coincidentally, my friend Lee Ann’s father had just been talking about working that project during his career.







Wrapping up the day, we took another trip around the city at twilight and experienced some of the same sights at night before a late night meal at Capital City Brewing.

We really enjoyed our time and D.C. and definitely want to be pack for a longer visit someday.