Happy 4Th of July

There is nothing like the 4th of July in Washington DC. They go all out with parades, decorating, re-enactments and a world class fireworks display at the Washington Monument and National Mall.
In the afternoon we had a cook out with Steve, Diane, and Bob and Allie Hooker, who drove in from Florida Wednesday evening and are staying with Steve and Diane. Our cook out was done on good old George Foreman because the marina doesn't allow gas grills. The front deck on our boat was a perfect place to view the fireworks. The show started off like a grand finale and continued that way through the whole show. I have never seen such a fabulous display.
We decided to leave DC Saturday morning and head for an anchorage and chill out after spending two weeks there. I don't think our bodies would take much more. A great place to visit, but two weeks is long enough.
We are sitting in the middle of a beautiful anchorage on Port Tobacco Creek and loving it.

Ribs for dinner, YUM
September Song up to our elbows in sauce and out
Bob


4Th cook out

View from the front deck

Hi All!
Tuesday we took a long bike ride to the park across from our marina. We got as far as the golf course club house and Hains Point was blocked off. We asked two K-9 Police why? The reply was "we know". The next question Stephanie asked was, is there a reason? The reply was "ya". Then Stephanie said is this for security? The reply was "ya". All this while the second cop stood ready to draw his weapon. I guess we looked like terrorists on our little fold up bikes.
Steve and Diane arrived Tuesday afternoon and we all took a bike tour of the National Mall and the Monuments. What a great way to get around. People who had been walking all day were looking at our bikes with envy and lust. I know how they felt after walking all the Monuments with the kids last week.
Wednesday some person who shall remain nameless got up early and stood in line from 6:15 AM until 8:30 to get tickets for the 1:00 ride to the top of the Washington Monument and tickets to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The tickets sell out within 30 minutes. We headed to the National Mall to explore the Folklife Festival after breakfast before our tour of the Washington Monument and Bureau of P+E. Our first stop was the NASA section. So much to see and do there that we didn't get to the others again. We headed to the what the locals call Wamo (Washington Monument) which is 552 ft tall and the ride takes 70 seconds to the top. Talk about a view! The next stop was the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Have you ever seen money by the pallet being moved with a lift truck? Very interesting to see how they print money. 95% of the money printed is used to replace old money. No samples today. I'm sure they have been asked that question about a billion times. We went back to the Mall after our tours and again didn't get any further than NASA.
Today we are chilling out, cleaning our baby, taking the dogs to the park to play and get ready for the 4Th. The fireworks , I'm sure will be spectacular. We are in a position in the marina to see them from the seats on the bow of our boat. The dogs have been so good while we have been exploring DC that we decided that this would be their day.

Time to head to the park "throw the ball dad"
September Song out
Bob

View of the White house from The Washington Monument

The White house (George Bush waving at us)

View of the city from the Washington Monument

Bureau of Engraving and Printing

View of the Washington Monument from the base

View of our marina from the Washington Monument

View of the National Mall and the Capitol from the Washington Monument

View of the Jefferson Memorial from the Washington Monument

Newseum

Today we took the Metro to the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue, the avenue you see during the inauguration parade, the one you will see this January when our 44th president is sworn in. The picture of the avenue is from the observation deck at the Newseum.
The Newseum was another of the great museums in Washington. It was an interesting tour of news (radio, TV, news paper, journalists, and Internet). They had broadcasts of all the major news topic over the years, interactive displays, history of news and much more. This is another museum that is a must see if you are in Washington. We spent much of the day there and still didn't see everything. We finished up with a 4-D movie of the news. If you suffer from motion sickness this is not the movie to see. A couple of other interesting displays were the transmission tower from the top of the World Trade Center, a section of the Berlin Wall, and Check Point Charlie (a gun tower) from the east side of the Berlin Wall. I am sure you have seen the broadcast each year of the year in review and how it brings back memories and how interesting it is. Well, imagine that x 100.

And that's the news !
September Song out


Transmission tower from the top of the World Trade Center

View of Pennsylvania Avenue from the top of the Newseum

View of the Capitol from the top of the Newseum

Actual section of the Berlin Wall

Chill out and catch up

We decided to catch up on some maintenance, clean the boat inside and out (that doesn't sound like chilling out) and just hang at the boat Saturday and Sunday and get ready for more exploring next week in DC. Our friends, Steve and Diane are scheduled to arrive the first of the week and stay in the same marina we are in. We are looking forward to seeing them again and exploring together. I think the kids wore us out last week but it was worth it, we had a great time showing them around Washington.
September Song out and chilling out
Bob

Chilling out

View from the pilot house. another great sunset