Amazing

This has been an incredible trip to D.C. and I want to describe it but I don't have time! We've been out of the hotel for 12 hours, and now we've just dropped in to change clothes and head out to dinner.

In brief... yesterday morning we went to the Ford Theater -- just happened to be passing it on the way to breakfast -- and saw a fascinating lecture there. Eric and I were sitting no more than 10 yards away from Lincoln's box. It was chilling (something I didn't expect), and the person lecturing was a really good story teller.

Then we went the National Museum of American History. That's one of the Smithsonian museums... one of several we thought we'd visit yesterday. Ha! We could have spent four days in that one museum. Instead we spent four hours, and just barely scratched the service. It was amazing.

We saw Mama Mia last night. It was cute. After the theater we went to dinner. A hustling, busy, restaurant at midnight. (Oakland shuts down at 8:00 PM.)

This morning we headed out for the Capitol at 7:30 AM, for Diane Feinstein's constituent breakfast. Fienstein was polished, as expected, but she didn't mince words about everything . We appreciated what she had to say about stem cell research, for instance.

After breakfast, speech, question & answer session, and photo ops.... we went on an extensive tour of the capital building, led by an intern.

We rode in the underground trolley system that connects all the capitol buildings... and Edward Kennedy came shuffling past us & caught the trolley before ours. He's old and moves like it.

After the tour we sat in on a Senate session -- Kennedy making a speech & being very big and puffy.

Then we sat in a session of the House.

THEN we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Two hours in that place was intense. Tears & tears.

THEN we walked to the Washinton Monument, the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, and the Lincoln Monument.

We tired & we're off to dinner. Super Shuttle is picking us up at 3:30 AM.

Next stop Oakland.