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After a reasonable amount of sleep, given the circumstances, I awake to NPR radio reports, and manage to get myself showered, dressed, and downstairs in time to meet Rita for breakfast. (Terry is moving a bit slower and will meet us later.) We walk back across to the mall and find a bakery called Au Bon Pain that has lots of breakfast things for a very reasonable price, then head for the Japanese Information and Cultural Center, about two blocks north of our hotel.
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Our next stop is the Jefferson Memorial, where Ed Jones and Migiwa Ishitani give a short description of Thomas Jefferson's achievements and describes his life-long commitment to education (the reason for choosing his memorial as a sight-seeing stop). Ed later steps in to help with translating as I attempt to explain to my partners the significance of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (to explore the lands gained through the Louisiana Purchase).
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Another stop is the Lincoln Memorial, and I indicate that, yes, our school is indeed named for this president. We also get to see the Korean War Memorial (new to me as well), and catch a glimpse of the Vietnam War Memorial; an unusual sight is the bottom of the reflecting pool, which has been drained to clean out diesel fuel that spilled from a tractor used during a protest by a farmer from North Carolina (he was protesting the lack of government support for tobacco farmers who are losing their livelihood). The farmer has finally been persuaded to leave late yesterday, and the pool was drained later.
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We drive by the U.S. Capitol building, but do not stop (it's closed, too), and head for the Smithsonian and the Museum of Natural History. Here we will leave the buses and continue our sight-seeing in small groups. This museum is open, but has mandatory bag checks at all entrances. My partners and I visit the Insect Zoo and check out one or two other small exhibits nearby, then head downstairs for lunch at the Atrium Cafe and some shopping in the Smithsonian gift shops. We then head back out into the rain and across the mall to the Smithsonian castle and the Air & Space Museum. |
Security here is much tighter; essentially airport security all over again, with X-rays of bags and metal detectors. We get to see quite a bit of the museum, but then decide we are all getting rather tired and would like to head back to the hotel. Out into the rain - it's far too wet and cold to think about walking to the hotel (15 blocks or so), so we hail a taxi and ride back, heading for our rooms to dry out and rest a bit.
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