9th November - We arrived in Washington DC last night, got tickets to see the Washington Wizards basketball team for later today and got our bearings in the city. Our hotel is nice and has a free people carrier service to the metro station or the city centre, which is good as we will be in the capital for five days. The first things we noticed about Washington were how clean and new-looking it was, and it had an almost European look, apart from the width of the roads and streets that everywhere in America has.

We decided to get up early and head for the queue that dispenses the free tickets to tour Capitol Hill - where the Senate and House of Representatives are (the American equivalent of the Palace of Westminster where the Houses of Lords and Commons are). We got in line, queued for half an hour and they ran out of tickets when we had only five people in front of us! That meant we would have to get up even earlier another day to do the same thing. As it was a cloudy and very cold day in Washington, and a Friday, when the museums are quieter, we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum.This place has the original planes used by the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Chuck Jeager (that broke the sound barrier) and the capsule that took Armstrong to the moon and back - I was in my element, Kirsty was had the patience of an angel. We then headed off to the basketball game where the Wizards (who had not won a game yet all season) started off well but lost the game to the Denver Nuggets (seriously where do they get these names from!). Kirsty really got the basketball bug and is now an official Washington Wizards fan and follows their games on television. The entertainment throughout was brilliant with laser shows and games for the fans to play in the breaks.

10th November - We got up even earlier and queued for an hour from 8 a.m. outside the Capitol for the tickets to the tour round Capitol Hill.We managed to get the tickets this time (if you ever go make sure you arrive before 8.15 a.m. as that is when all the tour buses drop their passengers off to join the queue and you have no chance of getting a ticket if you are behind them) and got on the first tour of the day.The tour only showed you a few of the rooms in the building but it was very interesting and a very grand building.However, in our opinion, the Capitol is not worth queuing in the cold for an hour and being searched for another half hour to see so little.

As this was the day of the Veterans' Day parade we stopped on the sidewalk and watched all the Korea and Vietnam war veterans ride past on Harley Davidsons or march with their old comrades through the streets and again it was a great spectacle with far more enthusiasm than there would ever be in England.We also saw the most jaw dropping sight, members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketing the parade and trying to entice the veterans into arguing with them with hateful chants, songs and banners such as "Soldiers die, God laughs".If you have never heard of this Baptist Church they are famous in America for picketing events such as this as well as Soldiers funerals.They have just been sued, successfully, by a soldiers father for picketing his sons funeral and were the subject of documentaries by Louis Theroux and Keith Allen.We were totally amazed at the hate that spills out of this group, who take along their children to help with the singing of the vile songs and the carrying of the banners.The other horrible thing about this group is that, much as you don't want to watch and listen to them, you just cannot help it, they draw your attention in amazement.Kirsty was so shocked by their actions, she went to talk to them to ask why, as one of their placards states "God hates America", they live here.She was told that they live here because this is where God has put them, as they are the country in most need of their words.The most amazing thing though has to be the attitude of the police and veterans around them.Sure, a policeman looked at us after we had looked at their placards in amazement and shook his head and uttered dead pan "f*****g scum" and some veterans used hand gestures towards them, but the main attitude was, "that's what's great about our country….freedom of speech.We might not like what they have to say and think it is terrible, but people have the right to say it, which is the most important thing".

We then went to the National Archives Building to see the originals of the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights and the US Constitution.It was impressive seeing the originals of these documents, which affect every part of US history, no matter where you visit.Seeing the original signatures was really interesting, especially the famous John Hancock signature, so much larger than any of the others on the page!The thing that surprised us most was how faded the Declaration of Independence is.To say this is the most important document in American history, it does not seem to have fared too well in its preservation.

We then went on to look at the Washington monument, but you also need to get early morning tickets for that, which by that time had all gone for the day, so we headed to the Jefferson Memorial.The Memorial is very spectacular and, if we are honest, we think its more impressive than the more famous Lincoln Memorial.We then headed round to see the Lincoln Memorial which has great views from it up the National Mall.Between the Jefferson and the Lincoln Memorials you have to walk through the FDR (Roosevelt) Memorial Garden, which is often overlooked in favour of the other two.It is really nice and has lots to see including a waterfall, statues and monuments.We then headed for the White House and had another shock - its really small.We expected a large Buckingham Palace type building, and it certainly looks that big on television, but in real life it's actually really small.Going to the visitor centre for the White House a few days later, we discovered that it was built this way as they didn't want the Presidents of the US to get too settled there, as they only stay a few years, and they also wanted to remind the Presidents that they are in a house belonging to the people of America, it does not belong to them, and as a servant of the people they should not have some grand residence but rather a modest place where they can do their work.

11th November - A day of rest!Caught up on e-mails and did the Philadelphia blog…its just work, work, work!

12th November - Headed into Washington again as Kirsty wanted to see the Supreme Court and listen to some of the legal arguments that go on there.Unfortunately we did not realise that this was a US holiday (for Veterans Day) and therefore, like our bank holidays, most things were closed.We therefore headed for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing which Kirsty also wanted to see.This place designs all of the US banknotes and prints around $32,000,000 every day.We reached there and discovered that this was also closed due to the holiday, as it had been on the Saturday when we had previously checked it out.There is now a joke that everything I want to see is available whereas everything Kirsty wants to see seems to be closed.We will see if this continues to be the case throughout the trip.We headed to Washington Monument where we had managed to gain tickets on the internet.The tour takes you 555 ft up to the top of the monument for great views of the capital (although the windows could do with a bit of a clean!).The views are so great because no other building in Washington is allowed to be taller than this.We then headed over to the White House again to go to the visitor centre where Kirsty showed her immense love for this country by buying an American flag winter hat (you have to see the picture of that one!).Just as we reached the White House security started to tape off the area as the President was leaving the White House.Much excitement at the chance of seeing Mr Bush but they make sure that it's virtually impossible.All we did see were a large amount of snipers arrive on the roof of the building!We spent some time in the visitor centre (free) and then headed back to the hotel to try and plan the next part of our journey and pack our suitcase ready for uur next hotel.

13th November - Left Washington and headed to the Arlington Cemetery.This is just a mile or so out of Washington and can be reached by the Metro.It houses the tombs of the unknown soldier and John F. Kennedy amongst others.Whilst there we were witness to the funeral of a US soldier with full military honours.This was a really sad occasion but done with much pride, a procession including a band and flag carriers marched to the grave whilst the coffin was draped in the US flag, presented to the family following the burial.We then headed to another Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (!) which holds an amazing amount of original items, including the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, the Space Shuttle Enterprise and the Blackbird Stealth Bomber.We enjoyed a free 2.5 hour tour of the museum by a very knowledgeable ex aviation engineer.The great thing about the museums in Washington and the surrounding area are that most are part of the Smithsonian Institute and are therefore all free, including the very informative tours.

14th November - Drove from our hotel to Ocean City.Our guidebook explained that in the summer this coastal resort's population swells from 7,500 to over 300,000.Unfortunately this is not the summer and therefore the resort was devoid of any people and virtually entirely closed, including hotels and restaurants.We managed to find a crazy golf still open and so went and played the indoor and outdoor courses (we both won a free game so it turned out a real bargain!) and headed to the only eatery open - Pizza Hut!