Today was another day of D.C. sightseeing and there was quite a bit left. Today saw us visit the Pentagon, the Washington Monument, and the National Museum of Natural History before heading back to Philadelphia. As is the norm thus far on the trip - it was a blitz. We were out of Washington D.C. by approximately 12:30 pm.
First stop, the Pentagon. Down from the hotel we drove, past the Lincoln Memorial and along one of the boundaries of the Arlington Military Cemetary. A slow gentle curving road then lead to one of the entrances to the Pentagon.
There were no signs saying Visitors Welcome or even Visitors Centre. Foiled. All we saw were gates and steel blocades. Ack. Well that didn't quite stop us. The adventure continued as we tried another entrance. Driving along the stretch of road we were on previously we saw a sign labelled "Pentagon City". Woohoo! We took the turn.
As we drove up the road we quickly realised that there was no turning back. We were fast approaching a boom gate - a manned boom gate. Several emotions were all surfacing at once: surprise, curiosity and angst. My emotional state was a bit of a cocktail. My thoughts were also a jumble - What security measures are in place? Do the guards carry weapons? Are we going to be in trouble? I want to speak to my lawyer... all of these thoughts popped up. Most of all I was excited. I'm not too sure how the other two were feeling but... WOW. Adventure plus.
The first thing we were asked was What are you doing here?. Quickly thinking Jason mentioned that we were trying to get to Washington D.C., phew - saved from a free one-way ticket to Guantanamo Bay (or something similar). The guard then quickly gave us a complicated set of instructions to get back to Washington D.C. She then stopped talking, looked at me, and then sternly said No cameras! OMG, scary. My Canon IXUS was indeed in my right hand - I quickly fumbled around with my bag and promptly put away the camera. A tense moment that one... let me tell you.
We were soon moving back to Washington D.C. but I couldn't help but feel as though hundreds of eyes, whether mechanical or human, were trained on us as we departed the heart of the United States Military. Phew. Don't try this at home kids.
Next stop - the Washington Monument. The riddle of the evil eyes needed to be solved. If you haven't been to D.C. you may or may not have noticed that a pair of red lights flash periodically at the top of the Washington Monument. We ventured up to solve the riddle, and to see the view from the 550 foot observatory floor.
Some information on the Monument. The entire structure (external) is made of stone. There are no steel suports, nothing. It's just a big slab of rock that is heavy enough not to move. The monument was initially funded by private citizens before construction halted in the 1800s, resulting in an ugly stump in the US Capital. Congress wised up and passed on the required funds to finish the project.
The story must ring true, as you can tell from the outside that there is a difference in the colour of stone used in the bottom compared to those at the top. Furthermore, the mystery of the evil eyes was solved. It is just a simple pair of red lights mounted on each face of the wall. Such an anti-climax.
Following the monument it was time for some more museum viewing. Anoter Smithsonian Institute Museum was visited by us - this time it was the National Museum of Natural History. We only spent aobut an hour there, so obviously none of us finished looking at all of the exhibits taht the museum had to offer. However, there were quite a few impressive displays at the museum.
On the ground floor were Early Life, Dinosaur Era and Mammals exhibitions. All of these provided some fascinating reading. However, the most important/impressive of the features were the life sized displays of the dinosaurs. There were full reconstructions (of the bones, anyway) pf a Tyrannasaurus Rex, a Triceratops, and also a Brontesaurus. Very neat indeed. Being devoured by a T-Rex or implaed by a Triceratops are definitely not fun ways to die. Finally, On the second floor there were more exhibits - but I was unable to reach them. Apparently there was a natural rock exhibition which contained diamonds and gems. I missed out :(. Oh well.
The Lincoln Memorial
The Jefferson Monument
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