(Beth, Me and the Lincoln Memorial -- from the Washington Monument)We first walked up to the White House, then down to the Washington Monument. There was a big commotion -- news trucks, police cars, and a circling helicopter -- so we went to find out what happened. There had been a shooting at the Holocaust Museum (it's now on the front page of the BBC and all over CNN: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8094076.stm).
We walked past all the museums on our way up to the Capitol Building, and then spent a little while just looking around. There were a lot more police cars and ambulances, as well as, at one point, an FBI bomb squad truck, and we were going to ask some nearby Capital Police what was going on. Then we realized that they were searching the parking lot with a K9 Unit, and began shooing people away when the agents in bulletproof vests arrived. We decided that walking away from there was our best option, and poked around the Botanic Gardens until Beth's dad called, offering to pick us up.
(The Capitol Building)I wanted to walk up to the Supreme Court first, and we went right up Capitol Hill. You can get really close to the building. The Library of Congress and the Supreme Court building were just across the street, and so we went to see the Court. Beth's dad called to pick us up -- he had parked 7 blocks from our location -- and his phone died. By the time we got to the intersection of 7th and Independence, where he was, he'd already left, so we took the metro back.
(Beth at one of the Corinthian Columns of the Supreme Court)Later, we went to Josh's house in Bethesda for dinner -- his parents were really nice. Then I went to Beth's and Josh's dance lesson -- sadly, I was an observer only -- before coming back to Arlington. We're getting up early tomorrow so Josh can drive us into DC before traffic and we can get tickets to climb the Washington Monument.
