Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wahington DC day 2

On day two we took the Metro into DC. We were uncertain if it would be best to take it or drive in and decided that since it was a Friday and there was a lot of business traffic we would take the Metro. It cost $9 for an unlimited day pass plus we had to purchase $5 Smart card to load with parking money and we put $5 on it to pay for the parking at the Metro station. So, in all it cost us $64 for the Metro with parking. We could not pack a lunch or water because we had a tour scheduled to see the State Department Diplomatic Rooms and it was prohibited to bring in any food or drink.

We took the Metro to the Federal Triangle station. It is located by the Ronald Regan building.

Our first stop was at the National Archives building. It houses the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta, the Constitution, ship logs, military records, patents, etc. They did not allow photography so I do not have photos of this building. We did not find this stop very entertaining, other than the history of the documents. It was not something I would put in priority to see if time was limited.










Across the street from the Archives building is a sculpture garden with this fountain.











We then walked through the Museum of Natural History. It had a lot of mounted animals and the kids enjoyed seeing them and how large they are.





















We scheduled a tour to see the State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms. We had to be there 30 minutes early for security check so we walked there. It was a LONG walk. The rooms are furnished with early American antiques. They use these rooms to entertain diplomats. They were very beautiful.


This painting was unfinished when the painter died. It was unusual to see an unfinished work.


























































This room was huge and the rug is 90 feet long and is one huge rug.






We then walked back near the Federal Triangle Metro stop which is behind this building. We were hungry and a man told us that there was a food court behind this building. We went down and through security and through the building behind and ate lunch.








We then walked back to the Museum of American History. This was one of our favorite museums. It had a lot of hands on things for the kids to do. It also houses the Hope diamond, the First Ladies gowns, and Julia Child's kitchen.
I used to work in dentistry so had to take a photo of this chair. We had to explain to our kids how you used to have to sit up and spit at the dentist.













My favorite thing was seeing Julia Child's kitchen. I love it! The color, having everything accessible, the style.





































This is the Old Post office. It was built and there was so much opposition to it's construction that they planned to tear it down when the post office moved after 8 years to a different location. People thought it was old fashioned and ugly. I think it is beautiful.

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