Today was our last day here, and we started with a tour of the White House. At least a little tiny part of the White House. We had e-mailed our Congressman months ago and had all of the proper paperwork and security checks behind us, so we were ready to go. When we got in the line for the first of three security checks, the line was moving along pretty quickly, until we were second in line. Then a huge line of what appeared to be South American high ranking military officials and their wives arrived for their own tour of the White House. And our line stopped while these people were checked in. And boy did they check them carefully. In a couple of cases, a birth date from the person's passport did not match the birth date the security officials had in their book, and these people had to wait off to the side while lots of walkie-talkie official looking business took place. Eventually, they were all let in and then our line resumed movement. But we were at a standstill for about a half hour.
Once we showed our I.D.'s to two different officers at different points on the way into the White House, it was amazing how quickly the metal detector check went. Probably because you weren't allowed to bring anything other than a wallet, umbrella, and cell phone (no bags) today, but the security check at the Capital Building seemed much more difficult to get through. Anyway, the tour was self-guided and went through about 10-12 rooms. It was pretty cool to be in the White House and the kids seemed to like it, but I would have liked more information.
After the White House we stopped back at the hotel to get our stuff - bags, cameras, etc, and then headed to a quick lunch followed by a trip to the International Spy Museum. This was supposed to be a good place for kids, but we all really liked it. I learned a lot about things that I've heard about before, but since it was presented from the viewpoint of the intelligence agency it was all much more interesting. There was a lot of reading, and Sam wasn't interested in either reading it himself or having it read to him, so he was pretty impatient during parts of the tour. But I still think it was one of the best things we did on this trip.
Then we headed to the National Archives to get a quick look at the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We waited in a line for over a half hour and it never moved, the kids were tired and restless, so we finally left without getting in and instead went back to the hotel for a rest.
We had dinner at the Capital City Brewing Company, and then finally made the walk to see the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. We had never seen the Korean one before, and I was amazed by how big it was and how different from the other monuments. A quick stop to see the Einstein statue and we headed to our home-away-from-home. We had planned a swim before bed, but apparently the pool closes at 8:00 on Wednesday evenings for chlorination so the kids were disappointed.
Tomorrow morning we head home after a stop to see Falling Water in Pennsylvania. We've had a good trip but are ready to get home!
Picture note - two of our main destinations today - the White House and the International Spy Museum did not allow photography, so we don;t have many pictures to choose from today!
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