Twenty three hours in Washington DC

Well maybe not twenty three hours but we sure packed twenty three hours worth into our day.  We woke to minus 6 degrees and rugged up for a day sightseeing around Washington.  Our trusty bus driver Linda picked us up at 9am and even provided us with her friend Chuck as tour guide for the day.  First stop was the Jefferson Memorial which is situated next to the tidal basin for the Potomac River.  The tidal basin was frozen over and the wind blowing across it was icy- thanks to our sponsors for providing us with lovely warm jackets because we sure needed them!  From there it was off to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  The highlight of this trip was the fighter jet simulator that some of the boys enjoyed. We quickly discovered that we should stick to basketball and forget any dreams of re-enacting Top Gun.  We spent an hour there and it was on to the Native American Museum.  The boys (and parents) were most impressed by the frozen water feature at the entrance to the museum and worked hard at chipping through the ice.  Sully managed to break through the ice and drench his shoe in iced water.

Boys working on breaking the ice outside the Native American Museum.

Our lovely bus driver Linda organised for us to visit the Australian Embassy to meet some of the staff and have lunch there. We had Aussie hamburgers, complete with egg, bacon, pineapple and beetroot. Burgers were great, quite authentic....even though they were made by a Korean in Washington!  Back on the bus and on to the White House where we all piled out of the bus, took off for some quick photos and were back in what our guide described as a 'D.C. minute.'  We then travelled to the Ford's Theatre where President Lincoln was assassinated by James Wilkes Booth in 1865.  The tour continued with a visit to the Museum of American History.  After an hour there we were treated to a sunset behind the Washington Monument.

  Sunset framing the Washington Monument

Our final stops for the tour were to Capital Hill, the World War 2 memorial, Lincoln memorial and the Korean memorial....all great photo opportunities, even in the dark!  By 7o'clock our tired bus load arrived at the Pentagon shopping mall for dinner and a quick shop.  All the boys are now resting up ready to move on again tomorrow as we fly to L.A.

 Team have become local celebrities.  This is our bus driver's god son who came to the motel to meet the boys and have his photo taken with them.