With everyone else still sleeping, I got up and ran on the treadmill in the hotel for 30 minutes and 3 miles. After getting cleaned up and having a quick bite to eat (Starbucks again!), Sharon, Morgan, Jack and I headed to the National Mall. For the morning, we had tickets to go to the top of Washington Monument. Although I am not a heights person, I have to admit this offered some amazing views of the city.
From there, we walked around to the Jefferson Memorial. While I have read biographies on Washington, Franklin and Adams, I have not read a biography on Thomas Jefferson. I am going to have to find one and add it to the growing pile of books that I have. We are planning to go to Monticello on Tuesday.
Jumping in a taxi, we headed to the National Archives and met up with Mary Maloney. The high point of this stop was the originals of the United States Constitution and the Bills of Rights. I was surprised by the size of the paper that both of documents were written on; the sheets were much larger than I would have expected.
The five of us had a quick lunch at a tapas restaurant called Jaleo. From here, Mary dropped off and the four of us headed to Ford's Theater. Both Sharon and I read Manhunt, The 12 day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. This is an excellent book about the assassination of President Lincoln and the subsequent search for John Wilkes Booth. Ford's Theater plays a prominent role in that book and ever since reading it I have wanted to visit the Theater. We had audio tours for a nice museum downstairs. I surprised to see the gun that John Wilkes Booth used to shoot Lincoln. The program finishes up with a lengthy recounting of the events surrounding the assassination of Lincoln by a park ranger while you are sitting in the theater. I really enjoyed this stop.
We walked back to the hotel from Ford's Theater. Over the course of the day while we were waiting in various lines, Jack and Morgan got very involved with each playing Zombie Farm on their iPhones!?!
Back at the hotel, we got cleaned up for dinner. Just as we were about ready to leave, it started pouring rain with lightning and thunder. We waited for the rain to subside a little and then went out to the street to flag down a cab. The plan for the night was to have dinner with Mary Maloney at the Capitol Grill. Sharon and Mary had eaten there before, really enjoyed the meal and wanted to go back. The five of us had a very nice dinner with lots of red meat.
After dinner, we walked all the way down to the Capitol Building with a stop to explore a water feature at the Canadian Embassy. Turning around at the Capitol, we walked back to the Navy Memorial and then to Mary's condo. From there, we caught a cab back to the hotel. By the time we were in bed, it was after 12:30 a.m. and everyone was beat.
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