Reviewing History

Today, we got down to the business of touring Washington, DC. As we emerged from the Metro Federal Triangle station, there was the Washington Monument in all its' glory. Breathtaking! Note that there is a hint of the moon at the (to your left) tip of the monument. I did not alter this photo in anyway. It is what it is. We were on our way to the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. This museum we liked. It contains artifacts of those things in the life of America, not just the political or war histories, though they are part of this museums. Often, the items shown were the prototypes that were submitted to the Patent Office and are now in the museum. There was a great display of Chicago's CTA subway and bus system. We spent two hours in the transportation section alone and there was a lot to see. But you know Mel, he loves those machines. My favorite section of the museum was the First Ladies' gowns. This one is one of our favorites but I can't remember who wore this particular gown. It is pretty though.
And here we got our kicks on Route 66. We actually got to walk on a piece of the pavement that made up Route 66.

Sad but true, they even have piece of steel structure from the World Trade Center, so everything is up to date in the History Museum. It made us feel quite somber. However, it was a great day of touring and getting close to real pieces of our history. While I don't have pictures, two of the most memorable items in separate parts of the museum were the two American flags: first, the one that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Stars Spangled Banner" during the War of 1812 that was later adopted as our National Anthem; the seccond, the one that was hung by the construction workers after 9/11/01 as they rebuilt the Pentagon. Both made us very emotional. Odd how symbols can do that to us.