Back from D.C.

As you know, I spent some time this weekend in Washington, D.C. (AKA, "The City of Angels"). Everything was fine, and I had a busy but good time. I'll let these pics speak for themselves, except to say that there was a pretty cool moment in there. As we were leaving the Washington Monument on Friday night, the police came by and insisted that we move. As we moved, a foam truck from the airport raced across the street with lights on and sat by the side of the road in wait. Our tour guide told us that this only happens when the president is coming back to the White House.

Minutes later, we were touring the Jefferson Memorial and heard helicopters approaching. We looked up, and two marine copters raced across the tidal basin, to the left of the Washington Monument (from our perspective), and sat themselves down on the South Lawn of the White House in plain view to all of our students. Seconds later, one of the helicopters rose and headed away. About two minutes later, the second one did the same. You know what it was, and so did we. It was a very surreal experience, and a very cool thing for them to see.

Here are some moderately well-taken pictures.


A nice photo of Arlington.


A sobering photo of Arlington (click to enlarge).


An important marker (though his body was not buried there).


The city from the top of the hill.


The changing of the guard being witnessed by wounded service personnel from Walter Reed.


The bugle upon which the Kennedy Note was played. BlogPong, if you ever miss a note at a gig again, don't feel too bad.


Brett in front of some house. Tony would not have his hands in his pocket.


Time lapse of the monument.


A photo that only gets about 1/3 of the WWII Memorial in the shot. You have to see this in person to get it.

Happy belated birthday to BlogPong. Sorry I missed it, man. I hope you had a great day.