I needed just one more round-trip on Southwest Airlines, in order to earn a free "Rapid Rewards" ticket.
I figured a short, cheap, down-and-back trip (Hartford CT to Baltimore MD) would do it. When I found out a few weeks
ago that my brother Rick and his friend Cynthia would be in Washington DC for a few days, we hooked up
for a day of tourist activities around DC. We tried to get into the Capitol building, no success. We did manage
the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, the National Archives, and the Spy Museum. Had a nice supper at
a spanish "Tapas" restaurant off of 7th St. It was quite a bit of walking, but I managed all my
connections, and next I'll have a free round-trip ticket that I can use to go west sometime within the
next year.
 Birds with no feathers. Southwest Airlines 737s parked at Bradley Aiport. Made my 8:05 departure time, no problem.
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 A north-bound Amtrak train pulling into the BWI (Baltimore/Washington International) airport station. I caught the next southbound train.
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 The interiors of the Amtrak coach cars are very nice! They had the heat up too high, but otherwise it was very smooth and fast.
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 Interior of Union Station, in Washington DC. Most of the complex has been converted to a shopping mall / food court facility.
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 My "hosts", Rick (my older brother), and Cynthia.
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 Exterior view of Union Station, behind us as we were walking toward the Capitol.
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 The dome of the Capitol building, through the trees along the street.
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 I don't think you can get more of the building into just one picture, than I did here. The white canvas awning in the foreground is a drive-through drop-off environment for the Senators, to keep the wind, rain, snow, and maybe even direct sunlight off of their tender bodies. :) hahaha
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 The US Supreme Court building. All this for just 9 justices? Wow!
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 The view of the Mall from the Capitol front steps. Directly down the middle you can see the tents of a big Book Fair, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial (at the far end). To the left, the Smithsonian "castle".
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 Rick and Doug, photo by Cynthia (came out fine after all!)
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 Here's what we think about all of the extra "security" measures that have established around DC. Thanks to the Homeland Insecurity office for keeping all those dangerous visitors away.
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 This bus was seen driving up and down the mall, it recommends reading Robert Bork's "Slouching Towards Gomorrah". Hmm. And maybe they're missing a space somewhere? I've never heard of "Youevil Judges"
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 The lobby of the Air and Space museum.
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 "Columbia", the command module for the Apollo 11 mission that took man to the moon for the first time, 1969.
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 Burt Rutan's Voyager, that flew around the world non-stop and non-refuelled, 1986.
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 A Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) from the days of Apollo. Twelve were built - this one was a flight-ready backup.
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 Due to open on October 11th, a new exhibit featuring the Wright Brothers and their legacy. I had to hold the camera up high over a partition to see this. The 1903 Wright "Flyer" is there (of course), and at least two of their gliders. A bicycle on the left might be an original Wright Cycle product, and what looks like a mandolin is seen in one of the display cases. Maybe one/both were musicians?
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 Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit Of St. Louis", first solo transatlantic crossing, May 21, 1927. The airplane was build by Ryan Airlines Co., in San Diego, CA.
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 "Glamorous Glennis", the Bell X-1. First supersonic flight, Oct. 14, 1947. Piloted by Chuck Yeager, named in honor of his wife.
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 X-15 rocket plane
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 Detail from a wonderful model of the "Enterprise" aircraft carrier.
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 A P-51D Mustang, WWII vintage.
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 A British Supermarine "Spitfire" Mk. VII, also WWII service. Used the Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 engine.
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 Detail of a B-17 from the mural painting by Keith Ferris (He's got a very nice web site at www.keithferrisart.com)
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 A Douglas DC-3 passenger airliner.
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 A view of the Capitol building from the mall side.
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 My brother, Rick. Great guy!
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 The National Archives building.
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 Rick and Cynthia viewing the architecture of the Archives building.
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| Excuse the quality of these next few photos, please. No flash photography is allowed inside the Archives building, and the lighting is quite dim; this protects the fragile documents. A tripod would have come in very handy.
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 The Declaration of Independence. You can sort of make out the "IN CONGRESS July 4, 1776" at the top, and the awfully fuzzy writing of a certain "John Hancock".
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 The Constitution - well, the top left corner of it, and the opening of the preamble.
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 Signatures, by state, of the delegates to the Constitutional convention. First of the Pennsylvania group (lower right) is Benjamin Franklin.
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 The Bill of Rights.
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 We stopped at a Starbucks for some coffee, and started noticing these "runners in red". Hundreds of them. It was a special event day for a local runner's club. Great costumes on some participants. Some dropped by the Starbucks for a coffee (didn't know that was part of the hobby).
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