Capital Capitol

We arrived in Washington DC yesterday evening and seem to have packed a lot in in the last 24 hours. It was raining torrentially as we came out of the airport - and still 96 degrees! Apparently they had their hottest July ever, and heatwave is still going strong.

We went to see the White House yesterday evening, which was very impressive...and made me hum the tune to The West Wing. It felt like President Bartlett...sorry, Obama, might just wander out of the Oval Office looking thoughtful and presidential. After we got back to the hotel we checked the White House website, and it turns out that the President was due to land on the South Lawn in his helicopter about 10 minutes after we'd been there. Major darn!

Today we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (like I could have kept Pete away). They have some amazing exhibits, including the original Wright brothers plane which made the first flight in 1903. Lindberg's 'Spirit of Saint Louis' and the Apollo 11 command module were also drawing some crowds! We also got a glimpse of the Hope Diamond in the Natural History Museum (not a patch on my engagement ring), along with some 50,000 year old skulls.

The Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the WW2 Memorial were all stunning in their own way. With the Capitol at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at the other, the Mall certainly seemed iconic.