Washington

Monday 20th May

Today was a BIG day.

It started early with breakfast at McDonalds. Maccas here have a product called a Biscuit which is like a savoury scone and I think I am addicted to them. Once on the street Steve pointed to the reflection pool and off we headed. Turns out it was the wrong reflection pool, he wanted to go to the one near the Lincoln Memorial which was one km away. So off we go through the Mall to the proper reflection pool.

Washington is beautiful, it is so green and luscious and the air smells clear. There were so many people jogging through the Mall that it made me wonder if anyone works here - they must all be in politics :).

We passed the Washington Memorial which was closed for repairs. There was an earthquake in 2011 and since then it has been locked down while scaffolding surrounds it and repairs are made. Ruined the photos a bit but whatcha gonna do? Once there we got to the reflection pool, you know; the one Jenny runs through when she hears Forrest talk about the Vietnam war and that's when I start crying the fourth time through that movie. Funny thing, you can't help putting everything you see to the movie that you have seen it in here in America. Maybe because that is how they want us to see them?

Once we passed the duck shit and Shaye threw a penny in the pool we arrived at the Lincoln Memorial. It is massive and so impressive. To think that great men have stood in front of it and have made history on the steps we were standing on was just humbling. I stood in the spot that Martin Luther King Jr stood when he made his 'I have a dream' speech and saw the same view he did minus the 100,000 people. It makes you stop for a minute and just breathe.

After the Lincoln Memorial we headed across the road to the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. Again, another beautiful sculpture that really makes you stop, look and think on things that were and could have been. One of the kids asked if Martin Luther King could have been president and having to explain to the kids what the world was like only 50 year ago for black people in America makes you realise that history is closer then you think.

It has started to drizzle by now but nothing hard it just made the place greener; shinier. We called into the Smithsonian Castle to look at some Civil War photography then headed to the Air and Space Museum - Jackson's new favourite place in the whole world.

Wow. This place is awesome and what you would expect a museum to be. It is two stories high with real displays of old planes, space capsules and newer models of both. Wow. Jackson was a pig in shit especially when we got to the space stuff. Just looking at it all made me feel how I did when we watched the Hubble movie in Florida - insignificant. The amount of things that they have learnt or knowledge used to create machines, systems, formula to explain findings is mind blowing and makes me realise how much work Jackson will need to do in the future if he wants to be in this world.

After about an hour we headed to the Indian Museum. The architecture of this building is amazing and then when you are inside you realise it is set up that way to create an amphitheatre in the centre so that Indians come in and tell stories, sing songs about their culture and the sound travels up the four stories, right to the top and it is as clear as if you were standing next to them.

Once finished here we were going to catch a tour bus but they turned out to be quite pricey so we caught a cab to take us past the White house where Jackson and I would get off to look at more museums while Steve and Shaye piked it and went back to the hotel.

Once out of the cab, Jackson and I took a gander at the protests happening out the front of the White House and tried not to look too suspicious as we stared at the most famous house in the world. After watching all the activity we walked to the Nation Museum of American History.

Another really great museum and lots of things to look at.

Once finished we headed to the National Museum of Natural History - we saved the best one for last. It was awesome. So much stuff and so much to look at. My brain was in information overload and so was Jackson's.

When we finally made it back to the hotel at 5:30 (which is when the museums close) Jackson and I were k-nackered. My feet and legs were so sore and my mind had been blown that many times I could hardly form words. It was such a great day and I am prepared to put up with the soreness to have the experience.