Memories of Washington D.C. - Part 4

A great statue of Albert Einstein at the National Academy of Sciences

We really enjoyed the International Spy Museum.  We found that it had a lot more substance instead of the fluff and glamor we expected.

The National Cathedral

Statues at the Korean War Memorial

"The Three Soldiers" statue at the Vietnam War Memorial

The Vietnam Women's Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The spot on the Lincoln Memorial steps where Martin Luther King Jr.  delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Memories of Washington D.C. - Part 3

One day was spent visiting the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.  This is a Smithsonian Air and Space Museum annex near Dulles Airport in Virginia.

One of the retired SR-71 ("Blackbird") spy planes

The retired Space Shuttle Discovery

Discovery's thermal tiles scorched by its 39 space flights

The center has an incredible number of aircraft and other artifacts on display in a huge building.

A view of part of the huge shop where restoration projects are always taking place

A very important part of America's military history

They even have a couple of Soviet MIG fighters on display.

Memories of Washington D.C. - Part 2

The Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson's statue in the memorial

We quite enjoyed FDR's Memorial, which we had not seen before.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

We spotted this albino squirrel in our RV park (Cherry Hill Park).  This is only the second albino squirrel I can remember seeing.

Memories of Washington D.C. - Part 1

I've gotten away from blogging for a while, so I thought that it was time to post a few more pictures.

We spent some time over at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

The size of this cemetery is almost overwhelming.

 

 

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Part of the very formalized inspection ceremony during changing of the guard

NSA's cryptology museum in what was once the Colony 7 Motel, where many contractors stayed while visiting NSA (myself included)

Part of an "old" Cray supercomputer that was once part of NSA's vast collection of computing power

An original German Enigma coding machine from WWII.  Breaking the codes made on these machines was one of the great triumphs of the Allied forces during the war.

 

 

The Washington Monument the day after it reopened, following repairs to the damage from the 2011 earthquake

The view looking west from the Washington Monument, including the Lincoln Memorial

The White House from the monument

The view looking east, including the Capitol Building and the Smithsonian museums

An interesting specimen at the American Museum of Natural History

(I thought I'd sneak in a bird image!)