Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Third Time's the Charm

In my last real blog post, I mentioned that I was going to Washington D.C. Since I wrote that, I have been there THREE times, and it was always great. It's a fantastic city for touring on a budget. Since all of the monuments and most of the museums are government owned they are free of charge. (Free until you get to the cafeteria and bookstore -- then they gouge you.)

Among all the free things I did in the nations capitol, the following are a few of the more memorable.
  • Read the Gettysburg address in the Lincoln Memorial while Maddie colored nearby.
  • Saw both the Star Spangled Banner and the Ruby Slippers in less than an hour.
  • Fed the pigeons at the base of the Washington Monument.
  • Saw the collection of books that Thomas Jefferson donated to the Library of Congress -- he was quite a reader! ;)
  • Walked past the protester who has been camped outside the White House for 29 years -- years!
  • Met Santa Clause near the National Christmas tree.
  • Saw over fifty-seven Norman Rockwell paintings and drawings -- on loan from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. How nice.
  • Got out of the way while a group of veterans had their picture taken at the WWII memorial.
  • Stood on the spot where John Quincey Adams had his desk in Statuary Hall. I've told many classes about it, and now I can say that I was there!
  • Saw an honest-to-goodness pair of NASA adult diapers at the National Air and Space Museum. (They're used during launch and space walks. Yikes!)


It really is a great city. Can't wait to go back and see the rest.

Total Cost: $20 for lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian.

Friday, January 14, 2011

I Will Do One Thing Today

Today (and tomorrow) I am finishing up grading all of my exams. Then I'll be ready for Monday with the new semester and new blog entries. Have a good weekend!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

I'm Back

I'm back to blogging. What would you like to hear about?

Total Cost: $0 ... talk is cheap.