• National Gallery of Art
• Smithsonian Castle
• National Archives
• National Museum of American History
• World War II Memorial
• Vietnam War Memorial
• Lincoln Monument

We got a later start this morning since it was a weekend day and things don’t open as early.  We began the day at the National Gallery of Art. We were very impressed by the Chester Dale collection of paintings.

Then we went over to see the Smithsonian Castle, which just ended up being an information place.

From there we went to the National Archives.  There were some really neat things in there – Original Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and Constitution. They also house all of the patents there, and we saw a story on the invention of the roller blade back in 1979.

We then headed over to the Natural History Museum and had lunch in their cafe. A couple funny pictures from there were Archie & Edith Bunker’s rocking chairs, and Fonzi’s jacket.  There really wasn’t as much there as I thought there would be.  The biggest exhibit was the evolution of Travel by GM which showed old cars, trains, trolleys, etc.

Next we headed back towards the Washington Monument and viewed the World War II Memorial and Vietnam War Memorial on our way to the Lincoln Memorial. We sat atop the Lincoln Memorial and enjoyed the great views of the Washington Monument and The Capitol.

We then had dinner a the Tex-Mex Austin Grill and headed back home. It was still a bit light out so we did not see many “street people”.  Ironically the last 5 blocks were the same as yesterday’s walk.

Tomorrow we are taking the Metro to Arlington Memorial.