The metro is pretty cool. I mean, it's really not that different than riding Trax through a perpetual tunnel, but the idea of mass transit like this is neat. You buy a pass and then the system keeps track of where you got on and off and charges you accordingly. The stations (well, I only saw 1 like this) are underground and pop you up wherever you want to be. The DC area has 4 different lines (IIRC). One of my few disappointments with the trip is that I didn't make it to Maryland, which would have been pretty simple with the Metro (provided I could figure out which was the first stop across the state line).Upon getting above ground, I made a brief stop at the Smithsonian Institution Building (known as The Castle) once a figured out that the batteries I had for the camera were all dead. (This is a chronic problem with our rechargeable batteries.) It was there that I bumped into James Smithson:
While there, I also realized that it was already 3:30, and that all the Smithsonian Museums close at 5:30. This gave me 2 hours to tour the greatest collection of museums this side of the Louvre. So I headed for Air and Space Smithsonian. (Don't act like you're surprised.)
A word on museums: they're terrible for photography. Couple that with 8 bazillion kids on field trips, and my extreme haste and that makes for some bad pictures. Add to that the plastic coating on half of the objects in the museum and you've got this fabulous picture of the Apollo 11 capsule:
But it was still interesting to run through the museum, look at some nerd toys in the gift shop and move on. I left headed for the US History Smithsonian. . .
3 comments:
Since I was one of those who encouraged Clark to post stuff to his blog about his DC trip, I feel I should comment on it. Wow Clark, it looks like you got to see a lot, even if only for a short period of time.
Should've taken the shuttle, or trolley, or whatever it is. Rookie mistake!
As long as the walk was, I don't regret my decision to do it all on foot. My legs were weary, but I can say that I walked along the banks of the Potomac, and stopped to watch a half inning of a softball game in the park. I walked across the grass of the Mall, and made the trek along Pennsylvania Ave from the White House to the Capitol. Add to that the process of finding said shuttle/trolley, determining where it goes, waiting for it and all that.
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