Family Reunion - Day 2

Washington Monument

Today we walked around Washington DC. We started out at 6:30 because we wanted to go up the Washington Monument to prepare for the Life of Washington tour we are going to do, but to get tickets you have to get there really early. After getting tickets we ate breakfast and came back and went up. After losing a few pocket knifes, we made it to the top. There are some really good views. Here are some pictures:

View of the capital from Washington Monument

View from Washington Monument with the WW2 memorial in the foreground and Lincoln Memorial in the background

After the Washington Monument we walked arround to different monuments including the World War II Memorial, Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and more. Here are some pictures.

The WWII Memorial

Washington Monument reflected in a pool at Constitution Gardens

Lincoln Memorial

After that we went on a tour through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. That is where they print all the fiat money. The tour was interesting and we were surprised they mentioned the fact that the money has no real value. They would not let you take pictures inside. Next we went to the National Museum of American History. It was a pretty good museum, but it was really big and we could not see nearly all of it. We went to the part on military history. They have lots of artifacts there, and one that was interesting to me because I am studying the French and Indian War was Lt. Col. Adam Stephen's coat, who was Washington's second-in-command during that war.

Lt. Col. Adam Stephen's coat