Washington DC Day: 5

This was to be my last day going into Washington DC. I still had a few things on my list to see. I wanted to kill time at the American History Museum, but that got scrapped on the fly.

I was walking about trying to decide what to do when I realized that I was in DC and hadn't gone into the Capitol Building yet. So I changed course and headed to the hill.

It's very much like going through airport security. You had to take everything metallic off and run it through an x-ray machine. Once in, you could feel the tightness of security. I was directed to the tour desk and quickly got a spot on the next tour. It's pretty neat. You get a head set which allows you to easily hear the tour guide.

The tour was pretty short, I think only about 30 or 45 minutes. We got to see the rotunda and the old area where the House used to sit. The amount of art was amazing. Apparently each state is allowed to send one sculpture of a famous resident. There were many I knew and many I did not.

After Congress I headed back to the American Portrait Museum. It was actually still closed when I got there so I wandered Chinatown looking for lunch. I settled at a small place which had an odd odor. I ordered some chicken and rice and was feeling a bit uneasy about it. But then more customers showed up and allowed me to relax a bit.

The Portrait Museum was awesome. There are portraits of all sorts of people. The Hall of Presidents was the one I knew most about. I spent the most time there. There was so much to see there that I ended up only seeing about half.

I still had some time before I had to meet my friend, so I went to Ford's Theatre. The actual theatre was closed, but I went to the museum. It was interesting but honestly I was a bit museumed out by that time.

I had one more drink at the Hawk n' Dove and headed back to Virginia.

Washington DC has so much to offer and I feel that people tend to over look it. I wish that I had gone years ago as a child. When I have kids I will definitely take them to this gem of a city.