Chapter 5: Washington DC

Welcome to Washington, D.C., home of the free and land of the brave! I know you are thinking I stole this picture off a website, but really, I took it myself. The view of the Capitol, which I could actually see if I stood in the middle of Beth's street, is just spectacular...



I've been doing so much flying on my trek to Canada, that I've been thinking a lot about airplanes...and what do you know?! I found the Kitty Hawk just today at the Smithsonian's Air & Space museum. I guess Spirit Airlines is probably a little better than the Kitty Hawk...but not much... it did only take me 12 hours to get from ATL to DC...unbelievable.



Hello, sir! What can I say, I love men in uniform! This is man number 4 during my time in DC. You think I might be crazy for this, but really, it is interesting to me because in South Africa we do not have men in uniform, no uniforms really, and I do enjoy the formality and the pride in which America takes in their men (and women) in uniform.



In the wild...at the Natural History Museum...reminds me of the bush...well, sort of.

I didn't go to the top of the Washington Monument, but I did go to the roof of a building on Capitol Hill (The Heritage Foundation where my friend Emily works), and I had a spectacular view of the city for free and without a line! All of the buildings in DC are very short for a big city, but that provides for amazing vistas. No buildings are allowed to be taller than the US Capitol.

Here I am at my first event on Capitol Hill, Tennessee Tuesday, a weekly breakfast held for Tennesseans and hosted by Senator Bob Corker and Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. My friend Beth works for Senator Corker and allowed me - who looks so much like a Tennessean - to attend the breakfast, provided I didn't speak. No, not really, but she did bend the rules so that I could come. It was in a beautiful room in the Russell Senate Building...and here I am, practicing my Rotary Speeches...

Me and Beth

Here we are at the Library of Congress. The child on the left symbolizes the USA, with the child motioning everyone to come in. The child on the right represents Africa, placing his hand on the country he is from.

One night we went to hear the Navy Band perform on the US Capitol steps. We took a picnic and enjoyed the show on the mall. It was a beautiful evening with wonderful company and music. Beth said it was her dream to have a picnic and listen to the band play while lying on a quilt on the mall -- so we made her dream come true. I had fun too.

Pacific Blue - In Real Life

National Geographic Society - saw some really amazing photographs.

At the Waterfront in Old Town Alexandria with Emily (left) and Beth (right).

Iwo Jima Memorial - My aunt had been telling me about this monument, so we just had to go and see it for ourselves. It's much bigger than I thought it would be and very impressive.

Me and Father Abraham. President Lincoln that is. I learned a good deal about him this week. He has many great quotes that I've read this week, but I have to say one of my favorites is a conversation he had with his son:

"You should learn more than I ever did, but you will never have so good a time." (Lincoln on learning that his son Robert planned to attend Harvard Law School)

and another:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave or half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall. But I do expect that it will cease to be divided. And will become all one thing or all the other."

The World War II Memorial. Beth and I toured the city on bicycles and stopped here on our route. Both of her grandfathers fough in WWII, so this Memorial is very meaningful to her. Of all the memorials, this one made the biggest impression on me because the creators took a lot of time, to remember specific aspects of the war and to remember the leaders of the time and the heroes too.

The White House