Day 4 - Washington DC

Date:  August 19, 2010 (Thursday)
Time:  10:57 PM

Going to bed soon since I need to wake up at 4, but wanted to update where I went today before I forget.

So today was the DC trip.  I've never taken the amtrak before, so from the get-go it was an adventure.  Only took 30min and 2 stops.  Straight out of the station was a bunch of shopping places.  Almost seemed like an airport terminal.

Stepping outside of Union Station, I was amazed at how large everything was.  Statues, buildings, parks, monuments.. it's crazy!
Bought our "tourmobile" tickets so we get shuttled around instead of walking.  Headed straight to Arlington cemetary at around 10 AM.  Got to see John F. Kennedy's grave, Arlington - Robert E. Lee House and a bit of the changing of the guards at the amphitheater and the tomb of the unknown soldiers (from the tram though).  Headed back on the tour mobile to go to the Lincoln Memorial.  Was able to take a couple pictures from the memorial of the reflection pool and Washington Monument.  Tour mobile next was to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum.  This museum was huge!  So got a ton of pictures from there and spent a hefty chunk of time looking around.  Headed back to the station since we ran out of time.  The tour mobile only lasted from 9:30 to 4:30 with the last pick up by 4.  Forgot to mention we visited the White House Visitor Center after lunch at the Lincoln Memorial.
Also around the Lincoln Memorial was the Korean War Monument and Vietnam War.  There's so many things that I keep forgetting what we did!

From the mobile, saw the Jefferson Memorial, Capital building, White House, Thurgood Marshall's grave, all the Smithsonian Museums, Holocaust museum and a whole bunch of other things I can't remember now.  All I know is, I got a hefty amount of sightseeing done.  Before headed back to the station, went to the postal museum and bought collectible Philippine stamps from a long time ago.  That's the only souvenir I bought on this trip so far.  That's kind of sad Haha.

Anyways, I'll explain more of this trip later.  Got to sleep early.  It's 11:17 now and got to wake up at 4! Yikes! Going to NY tomorrow. Update later!