We had to grab our tickets and jump on the tour bus by 8am this morning..so after a unnecessary tour of union station looking for the ticket booth we jumped on the bus and was ready for our 9 hour tour of DC. Our driver was a big jovial fellow by the name of Tony. He would drop us off at locations for a period of time and then come and pick us up at a designated time. Our first stop was the Capitol building. It is a magnificent building, both in and out. The security in Washington is very evident and very tight...you could see police and security everywhere. We had a guided tour of the Capitol ( by a lovely lady who was probably at the signing of the declaration of independence!!!.. She was a wonderful guide). We learnt a lot about the history and organization of government in the US. However, the greatest insight came from her personal account of what happened on 9/11 as she basically ran for her life and looked around to see the Pentagon, in the distance, on fire..they knew what had happened in NY... (we were really sheltered from the true impact of what happened on that day). Next stop was a couple of hours at the Smithsonian ( which is actually a series of 15 museums).. Visited the air and space museum and the American Indian museum. Next was a photo opportunity at the Whitehouse...security was unbelievable there ( of course).... As we waited to be collected for the bus we experienced a squirrel in the garden and then suddenly the police closed off the street for someone important to head into the whitehouse...some said it was the President..but they went so quick it could have been anyone!!! Our next stop was the WW2 memorial..but we diverted and snuck off to the Lincoln Memorial...which is an unbelievable building ( for an unbelievable lad!)... We were lucky enough to catch up with the bus at the Martin Luther King memorial...but Tony our driver was on to us...he was rather amused that we were able to sneak off and catch up !!! Didn't realize that Washington had had an earthquake last year ( 5.5) which damaged the Washington monument, union station and other buildings. Washington DC is a city definitely steeped in history. Our tour guide at the Capitol said that she realized that each morning she was going to work at the number one terrorist target in the US...and that it would be easier for it just to be closed to the public...but as she said that would mean that the terrorists would have won. Nearly everywhere we went they apologized for the inconvenience of the security checks...freedoms that we still take for granted in a lot of places in Australia....makes you ponder ! We went to the restaurant bar for a glorious tea...Hannah had steak and I had chicken and potato waffles plus the biggest hot chocolate ever made...the size of a large soup bowl !!! We head to Chicago tomorrow to start our route 66 tour...