On our last day in Washington we went to see the Capital Building. But the recent budget problems have given us such a bad feeling about our government that it wasn’t even interesting. We just took a quick look at it and left. We spent a little more time at the Supreme Court building. It sure is a fancy building for something that was built during the depression. Nearby is the US Postal Museum, where they have information about mail delivered by pony express, planes, trains and trucks. And lots of stamps.
So we went back to Smithsonian’s American History Museum, where they have some of the coolest things. How cool? How about the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz!
Julie Neumar’s Catwoman suit, and Fonzie’s leather jacket. Some Stradivari violins (hope those get played once in a while).
Lots of stuff from the country’s early days; I was surprised by the number of George Washington’s things that are still around - his field telescope from the revolutionary war, clothes, and battle sword. They have the gunboat Philadelphia, which was sunk by the British in 1776. And Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 telephone prototype, and the pocket compass used by William Clark on his trek to the ocean. From more recent history: part of the broken structure from the twin towers. The C-3PO costume worn in Return of the Jedi, and the broken file cabinet from Watergate.
By now we have really gotten the hang of the subway system here. It’s actually pretty good. There are a couple of things that could be improved; they have a good subway map but it doesn’t include any streets, so you have to use a subway map and a street map, and cross-reference between them. And in the subway cars, the maps are only located at the doors. But beyond that, it’s a useful system. There are 2 kinds of cards accepted - Smart cards and Fair cards. You have to have a Smart card to use the Metro parking lots but it costs $5, beyond how much you put on it to pay for parking and subway. The Fair card is just for the subway, with no extra charge for the card. So for us it made sense to have one of each. Once you put money on either one of those cards you don’t get it back, so we figured out how pre-pay just enough for the last trip. Not easy since every since trip has a different price. The fares between each point is different, depending on where you start and the time of day.
I would recommend the subway to anyone. I can also recommend Fro-Yo (frozen yogurt stores) and Old Ebbitt Grill’s, who have the best french fries I’ve had in the US. And for anyone who considers themselves a foodie must stop at the Smithsonian American History Museum to see Julia Child's kitchen - it just makes you smile.
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