Our first Smithsonian - Museum of Natural History. We only saw the section with the stones. Yeah, they were cool, but I think I didn't realize that there was a section of animals. Had I known that, I probably would have flown through the stone section to see the Hope Diamond, and gone over to the animal part. Oh well, I didn't. But I did learn that rubies and saphires both come from the same stone, they just have different impurities (or something) that give them different colors. At least I got to see the massive elephant you see behind us here in the photo.
Outside the museum, on our way back to the car, we saw this car. Erin and I were totally tourist about it, crossing the street, taking pictures, etc., while Angela and David stayed on the other side of the street and waited for us. I think Idaho's gotten to me. I can still hold my own in a big city, but I've become quite the tourist at times.
Monday, Angela took the day off and we went to Monticello - the home of Thomas Jefferson. It was pretty cool. Really, the reason we went was because Erin wanted to see the "dumbwaiter." I told her we could just go to a restaurant to see one, but that didn't seem to be sufficient for her. So, we went. I'm really glad we did. I love that kind of stuff. I love to see where people have lived and worked. Not just like last year, but historical people. So, we saw the main level of the house, the dependencies (the stables, cellars, ice house, kitchen, etc.), and his grave.
After seeing the main stuff, we went down the hill to Michie Tavern. It's an old tavern you can tour, but you can also eat (an incredibly expensive) lunch there. So we did. It was a fun experience. They have authentic looking plates and cups (that we're toasting with in this picture) and the people all wear period comstumes.
So, that's our last couple of days. We're still having fun sight-seeing. We have a Capitol tour scheduled for Wednesday morning, so that should be fun. I'll keep you posted.