WOW  WOW WOW…another day of mind blowing American nostagia …where do I begin? Well, we woke up, showered, dressed, breakfast then boarded the bus for the city tour, local guide, we headed off to The White House, they had already had breakfast, and so had we, so we said “Maybe next time” ..a few photos in Lafayette Park and back on the bus. Next stop the WW2 MEMORIAL ….I don’t have the words to explain this, let the photo tell the story (a picture paints a thousand words)…from this memorialyou look back to the Washington MEMORIAL..a very distinctive landmark on the skyline….then to acknowledge the nature of the area a squirrel provided us with a natural MEMORIAL …..next stop the Vietnam MEMORIAL ….here Wayne changed roles with the guide…..the statue was of three soldiers, a black American soldier, a white American soldier and an “all others” American soldier. The statue shows many of the “mistakes the Americans made in this war, as you can see they are not covered by their clothing, thus the risk from insect related diseases, the display of dog tags, on open shirt chests, causes them to refect in the sun, thus seen by the enemy, some wore their dogtags on their shoes, but the greatest problem in this war was landmines…foot blown off body …no ID!!! Also the Americans chose to wear repellant….which has an aroma …not a good idea! Beside this statue was the “Reflecting Wall” MEMORIAL where all the names of the deceased soldiers or “lost in battle” soldiers are inscribed on a reflective stone, thus the living are reflected by the  past .  Nearby to this was the statue as a MEMORIAL to the women of the war. Another moving statue ….from here we climbed the marble steps to the Abraham LINCOLN MEMORIAL…. a 19  foot white statue (there i sa reason for this, to be revealed later) and also there is an inscription of his second inaugeration speech…. in front of this memorial is the Reflecting Pool you will remember from Forrest Gump when Jenny runs to Forrest through the water….at the extreme opposite end to this is the Capitol….although it is a bus drive away …so off we go….an impressive building that is heavily secured and it is only from the West Lawn that you can view it. All inaugerations since Ronald Reagan have taken place on this “front” so as to enable more people to witness it. From here we wen to the Air andSpace Smithsonian Museum….we saw the Hubble Space Telescope (replica), the USA/USSR docking station, Neil Armstrong Buzz Aldrin and the Apollo langing module “Eagle”…and heaps more ….I touched a moon rock!!!!.. Our next visit wasthe American History Smithsonian…. Judy Garlands Red Slippers from Wizard of OZ, the “slapstick” Fonzie’s Jacket, Kermit, Archie Bunker’s chair, Phyllis Diller’s wig etc etc …much of this Smithsonian was dedicated to the Presidents….and their cause…..AS  you can see they wanted me to be President and I told them how we are supposed to be “moving forward”…we saw the  Watergate filing cabinet, Julia’s kitchen (Meryl Streep movie), C3PO, etc etc etc…After that we walked some more to see the Ford Theatre (where Lincoln was assassinated) and the house across the road where he died. Then our feet told us “enough is enough”so we went back to the hotel before going to an Italian Restaurant for dinner (glutenous servings that no one could eat)…..A BIG day …tomorrow off to New York …this means things are coming to an end …. our next 4 nights are in the big apple and then home to our own beds and bathroom…we won’t have to analyse the plumbing any more. Here’s Mr Right … take care Mrs Always Right XXXX 

As Lorraine mentioned above, Lincoln’s statue is 19′ tall. There is a statue on top of the Capitol Building that is 19’6” tall, that statue is a figure, called “Freedom”. Legislation was passed so that no statue in Washington can ever be taller than 19′, therefore nothing is greater than freedom. Done and dusted, we bought a 1.75 litre bottle of Canadian Club on the way back, for only $15!!, and some Canada Dry .. drinkies! Ooroo.