Day 2 of the Smithsonian

Originally we had not planned to see the White House. I had figured that since nobody gets in for a tour, that there would be no point. My in laws have been inside for the tour on two different occasions. Hearing that reminds me that they have so many stories to tell. Like the time that Dad played on the National Basketball team for Jamaica, but the only other teams they could beat were the teams from neighbouring islands. Or of Mom climbing up the coconut trees in her bare feet. But I digress...once were were in DC, it only made sense to get a little closer to the White House and get the all too popular photos of this historic building. As we made our way down Pennsylvania Ave. a motorcade zipped passed us. With one flash of the red and blue lights, and a blare of the horn and all security stood at attention. The two black SUV's were waved through as if they were carrying the President. Maybe they were. Throughout the day I heard people talking that they had seen him get out of the SUV and go into the house. By the time we reached the viewing area all the action was over. It was fascinating and a little intimidating to see all the security surrounding the White House. We even got a picture of the snipers on the roof!

With the excitement over, we walked towards the National Mall. There were many more people out today, and the heat was a bit more intense than yesterday. We walked the long distance to the Natural History Museum, passing many street vendors along the way. You can buy anything here, cold water from some creepy guys cooler, to a very good knockoff of a 'Coach' bag (tempting...but no). I felt dwarfed by the immensity of the historical buildings along the way. The National Treasury seemed to go on forever. I wonder if the people who work in these buildings still look at them in awe.

Once at the Museum we headed straight up to the Butterfly Pavilion hoping to get our hands on some tickets to get in and spend some quality time with these beauties. As evidenced in the photo, we were successful. Diane was lucky enough to have one land on her hand, Dad was host to another and yet a third landed on Mike. This one, however, did not want to leave. It took the butterfly specialist a bit of work to remove the stubborn insect from Mike's hair.

In the Ocean hall we viewed a well preserved specimen of a Giant Squid. Considering that these animals are cephalopods and have no bones it was a real treat to view it up close. There were many other soft ocean creatures preserved in what I am guessing is formaldehyde. As we continued our journey through the lower level we learned about fossils, dinosaurs (although the Royal Tyrrell in Alberta is substantially better) and mammals through history. It feels like there in an unending wealth of knowledge to be had. Unfortunately, almost every display includes the words evolution and millions of years. In light of this, we chose to skip the 'Human Origins' and 'Early Life' rooms.

I am sad to see our short time at the museums come to a close. We never even made it to the Air and Space Museum,or the National Museum of American History there the original Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz are on display. Then there's the National Postal Museum...U.S. Botanical Garden...Arlington Cemetery...
Who knows, we're still here for a few more days.