The National Zoo

We didn't bother with the metro today and used the parking at the zoo, not realising this would cost us $20 for the day. But at least the zoo was free, Washington National Zoo is part of the Smithsonian institute and is thought to be the 2nd best zoo in the USA. (second to San Diego Zoo apparently) and it is quite amazing, we easily spent the whole day looking at all the animals on show and still didn't see everything. The highlights included: Cheetahs, Lion Maned Tamarinds, Naked Mole Rats, lots of different types of snake and a Giant Panda. Although Mae was grumpy for half an hour after the spiders... (they were loose!!!!!!!!!) There was also a great exhibit called Amazonia where you got to walk around a simulated rainforest complete with free roaming birds and Monkeys. Unfortunately the bear cubs are only viewable on weekends, but never mind since we already saw a wild bear cub in Alaska. At about 6 we headed back to the car where we found that the parking attendant had gone home early so we didn't have to pay after all!! :) We then drove over to see the Pentagon which is an incredibly ugly building and not worth the trip as the roads surrounding it are a maze. We also drove past the Jefferson memorial, the World War II memorial and the Lincoln memorial, which we only managed to see from the back due to the Americans failure to understand how a roundabout works... We also drove past a field of people playing Beach volleyball which seemed to be a very popular activity with all the courts full! After failing to get round the front of the Lincoln memorial several more time we eventually gave up and drove on towards Virginia where we found a rest stop to spend the night..