T+5 days: Thursday

Today, after some storms rolled in last night, the temperature cooled off. (Hallelujah!) We visited a lot of places today and took a lot of pictures (312), but first, some minor items.


Both of my picks to win the 2011 Bee are still in the competition as of 5:50pm Thursday. I also realized today that I actually did better this year than last year, due to other spellers' performances. Last year I got 49th, and this year, in a wacky decision in accordance with rule 4, I got 42nd. Also, here is a link to the Herald Bulletin story (on me) that came out yesterday.

First thing today, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and went on a tour. Here are some a lot of photos.

Row upon row of gravesites - it's like this all over the 300-some acres

The Arlington House (Robert E. Lee's old plantation, FYI)

The eternal flame by the Kennedys' graves

JFK's grave

Thurgood Marshall - first African-American Supreme Court justice

 Me being the space buff that I am, I had to get these pictures.

Colombia memorial

Challenger memorial

The mast of the USS Maine - learn more about the ship here

A guard on patrol at the Tomb of the Unknowns

The Changing of the Guard

Korean War deaths

After that, we went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. No pictures allowed, but here's this.

Elli outside the museum

Then, on our way to the National Archives, we stopped in at the Museum of Natural History.

Us by the elephant in the rotunda

No pictures in the Archives either, so here's us by the entrance.

Us by the entrance

That's pretty much it for today. (I will, however, spare you from the rapidly-growing-tedious au revoir!) Goodbye until tomorrow! Catch you on the flip side! (FYI, that's a term astronauts use when they are orbiting the moon and have to travel to the dark side, where they can't communicate with Houston.)