During the Week of April 18-23, 2001; I took my son Tommy and my sister Tina with me on a train trip out to Washington D.C.  It was a reward to my son  for passing all of his subjects in school and doing so well in the science fair.  I invited Tina along as well because she had never been to D.C. and I wanted to show her all the sitesl.  

During our trip we visited the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress, the Voice of America Broadcasting Station, the Mall, the D.C. After Dark tour of the monuments, Union Station, the FBI Building, Ford's Theater, The Kennedy Center, The Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Iwogima, and Vietnam War Memorials.  We also went to the Air and Space, Natural History, American History, Hollocost, and Hirshorn Smithsonian museums as well as the DC Zoo and National Aquarium.  Of course we also made sure to visit the White House.  We also visited the Ronald Reagan Building, the Supreme court and the Office of our local congressman.  We got to see the actual Supreme Courtroom and the Congressional Voting Room where the President delivers his state of the union address each year. We also went to see Arlington National Cemetery and the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception which is the fourth largest church in the world. 

Many of our lunches were provided by side walk vendors or an occasional trip to McDonalds.  For our dinners, we went to such places as the Hard Rock Cafe, the Old Post Office, and Union Station.  Each night before bed was spent soaking our aching feet in the hot tub that was in the basement of our Hotel.

While we were in D.C., most of our time was either spent in walking from place to place or taking the subway to get to where we needed to go.  It was a fantastic week that I don't think any of us will soon forget.  Contained on the pages below, are some snapshots of our experiences in Washington.  I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed sharing them with all of you.

Enjoy!

Mike Mayhew