Day 10: It's a wrap

National Air & Space Museum

After traveling across the Mid-Atlantic states for the past week and a half, it's time to go home and wash my socks.

As I sit in the Washington Dulles airport waiting for my flight and taking advantage of the T-Mobile wi-fi, I'll update one last time before this blog comes to an end.

This morning I stopped by the new National Air & Space Museum at Dulles. It's an addition to the one on the National Mall in D.C. and much cooler. They've got a lot of great planes: An Sr-71 spy plane, an Air France concord, the Enola Gay and the space shuttle Enterprise. I was disappointed to find out this wasn't a real space shuttle. It was only used for training. That sucks. But, there was lots to look at.

More photos here

It's been a long trip. I probably could have cut 2 days off of it and still saw everything I wanted to see. I drove my rental car about 1200 miles and charged up a storm. Saw my buddy Dave yesterday and got to hear some of his amazing stories as a White House photographer. If you think any of us have crazy, hectic lives - you're wrong. He does.

Sorry about not updating yesterday. I got hate mail from Brad G. today for not blogging. I took the day off and didn't shoot anything.

National Air & Space Museum

Highlights of the trip: Gettysburg, Wright Brothers Memorial, Mount Vernon, Murphy's Irish Pub and the National Air & Space Museum.

Disappointments of the trip: Jamestown

--30--

Day 9: Nothing to see here

This is going to be very brief and w/out photos. I took a quick trip into D.C. today and visited the Natural History Museum. After a couple hours there, I came back then hung out with my college buddy David the rest of the day.

Tomorrow I head home. But first I'm going to stop by the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. It should be real good.

Day 8; My dogs are tired

Arlington

It was an action packed day today.

Photo gallery here

First, I headed about 10 miles south to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. For some reason, I thought Mount Vernon was in New York. Anyway, it's a great place. It's amazing how much original items and structures still exist from 1799. I was surprised to find that George and Martha are entombed there.

George Washington's tomb

I toured the grounds for a few hours, had lunch then off to stop #2.

Me in George's backyard

Next on the agenda was a stop at Arlington National Cemetery. I've been to a number of military cemeteries, but this place was so impressive. The main highlights President Kennedy's grave and the Tomb of the Unknowns.

I got to the Tomb just in time to watch the changing of the guard then stuck around for a while to shoot photos of the guard on duty make his march back and forth. Luckily, everyone watching showed a lot of respect and kept their mouths shut and their cell phones off.


Afterwards, I headed next door to the cemetery and visited the Iwo Jima (Marine Corps) Memorial. Joe Rosenthal took a helluva photo that looks incredible as a statue.


With still more daylight to burn, I headed about 20 miles south of town to Manassas National Battlefield. I'm starting to think that all battlefields are beginning to look alike. Well, they actually do look alike. Still, they are impressive to see. The battle at Manassas was the first battle of the Civil War and the a defeat for the Union.

Manassas National Battlefield

Me and Stonewall Jackson at Manassas

After a long day, I finished off the day again at Murphy's Irish Pub for grog and grub.


Remember the other day about when I expressed my love for Golden Corral, this story affirms it.

Observations from the day:
File this under "not ever seen in the South Bay" a dead deer hit by a car in the middle of the freeway just outside of D.C.

Tomorrow: I'll head into the city to visit sites I missed 4 years ago. Also, lunch for sure at Old Ebbitt Grill for the best burger ever.

Day 7: The Road through Richmond

Hollywood Cemetery

Happy Mother's Day mom!

I took off this morning from Williamsburg in some rain. The first rain of the trip. I got out of town just before the Prez arrived at Williamsburg.

I headed to Richmond, the capitol of Virginia. I visited the American Civil War Center. It was a real nice informational museum about the Civil War. Learned a lot of things about the war. Things I probably learned in school, but quickly forgot.

After the Museum, I went a short distance away and went to the Hollywood Cemetery. It's the home of former Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler as well as Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The odd thing about this place is that the former U.S. Presidents graves are right next to each other and, with the exeption of Monroe's, blended in with all the other graves. There was nothing special about where they were buried.

President John Tyler

James Monroe's grave in the back

After the cemetery, I headed out of town to the battlefields outside of Richmond. This is where, for a week, the Confederates chased and beat the Union army. There wasn't much to photograph, but it was an interesting drive.

Old Town Alexandria

After Richmond, it was north to Alexandria. Traffic was heavy most of the way north. Pulled in to my hotel, a quick call to mom then off to old town Alexandria for dinner. Since it was Mother's Day and the place was packed with moms looking for dinner, the choice for me was obvious. Murphy's Irish Pub. I was confident that no kid would take their mom to a pub for dinner. I WAS RIGHT. The Guinnesses was cold and the fried clams were good.

One of my kills

Observations from the day:
After a week on the road, I finally saw my first graffiti. There may have been some before, but I didn't notice it. I pulled into Richmond, VA and there it was. On the walls and signs. Feels like home. Richmond could be a really nice city, but it needs a power wash and a fresh coat of paint.

Tomorrow: ??? I don't know. Either I'll take the Metro into D.C. for the day or head in the car to Mount Vernon and Arlington.....

Day 6: Hot, muggy and crowded

Whew. What a day. Spent about 5 hours at the historic Jamestown Settlement where, 400 years ago today, the first English settlers built the first colony.


After parking at one of the 7 sattelite lots, lining up and taking a shuttle about 6 miles to Jamestown, we were dropped off into a sea of humanity. My fears were coming true. It was very crowded. It was hot. It was muggy.



The worst part was seeing the media parking lot right at the entrance. That's where I should've parked. VIP treatment is what i'm used to. I don't like paying for things when the media gets in for free. Oh well, I wasn't working. I saw plenty of news photographers working throughout the day. None looked thrilled to be there. Of course, I've never met a journalist who wasn't complaining about something.


I toured the visitor center, the settlement area with the recreation of the fort then boarded another shuttle bus for the historic Jamestowne site and the archealogy that's still being done today. I couldn't really make any photos that I really wanted because of the crowds. I had to settle with just snapshots.

Photo gallery here

Tonight I'm off to an Italian restaurant then perhaps back to Pints and Pipes or Hooters for drinks.

Observations from the day:
If you're walking in a sea of people with everyone heading in one direction at a nice flow, for God's sake, don't stop in mid-stream to look at your map. This causes human gridlock. Pull to the right out of foot traffic then look at your map.

There is a certain segment of our society that are notoriously bad drivers. A certain sex and a certain ethnicity. They are all over L.A. and you can spot them just by their driving techniques. It turns out they are on the east coast too.

Tomorrow: Head to Washington D.C. (actually Alexandria, VA) with possible stops in Richmond and Mt. Vernon.

Day 5: Delightfully Tacky.....

Hooters motto starts with "Delightfully tacky...." but at the Williamsburg, VA Hooters, they are just moderately tacky. Following Chuck's suggestion, I visited my neighborhood Hooters for some wings and a few Sam Adams. I kept looking for the hot waitress. Every Hooters has 2 or 3 hot ones and the rest are just delightfully skanky. Well, I guess the hot ones in Williamsburg are off on Friday nights. Anyway, the wings were good, beer was cold and the chocolate fudge cheesecake was one item too many. I'm stuffed.

Maybe if I go back tomorrow the hot waitresses will be there. Or is that just wishful thinking?

Day 5: Kill Devil Hills

Photo gallery here

I spend the day at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, NC. Took about 2.5 hours to get there, but worth the drive. I'd love to spend some summer time here on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It seems to be the place everyone comes to hang out on the beach.



The memorial consists of a 60-foot tall monument on top of a hill which overlooks the exact spot that the lads from Ohio flew their Wright Flyer including markers showing how far their first four flight went.




After touring the site, I took a drive further south to Nag's Head and walked out to the beach. It's amazing how different the two coasts are. In N.C., residents build their own fences and wooden platforms and stairs on what seems like public property. You can't do that in California - unless you live in Malibu and ignore the California Coastal Commission.



Photo gallery here

Observations from the day:
I spotted my first mullet today. Very exciting. It was in its native habitat too - riding shotgun in a Ford truck. I didn't get a good look at before it slipped out of sight, but I'm nearly positive it was the North Carolina species I've heard so much about. He was quick and flighty, but dag nabit, there it was.
Traffic in Norfolk sucks just as bad as L.A. There was a five mile backup getting back today through Norfolk. The radio people made it sound like an everyday occurrence.

Tomorrow: Colonial Jamestown as they celebrate their 400th anniversary tomorrow.